University of South Dakota Athletics

Dr. Thomas Eyres came to Vermillion in the summer of 1948 as director of the newly formed Student Health Service. Until he moved to Georgia in 1968, Dr. Eyres served as team physician for the Coyotes. Eyres said: "Caring for the athletes was a very pleasurable experience, quite frustrating at times as so many athletes wanted to play when they really shouldn't because of injuries. The athlete was seldom seen in the Health Service unless he was definitely ill or injured. The minor and trivial ailments never seemed to bother him; however, it was always a mystery to me to see a young man who could take a crushing body block without complaints and yet would cringe at the sight and thought of a small hypodermic needle."