MGCCC Hall of Famer Eddie Khayat dies

PERKINSTON — Eddie Khayat, a 2003 inductee into the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Athletic Hall of Fame, passed away Dec. 6 in Nashville, Tenn. The former Bulldogs star was a member of the 1960 NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles and went on to a long coaching career. 

Khayat, who grew up in Moss Point, attended what was then Perkinston Junior College for one year and played football and basketball, graduating in 1955. Two years later, he was playing defensive tackle in the NFL.

After having played at Millsaps, he arrived at Perk and was starting on both offense and defense by the first game.

"We had a coach at Perkinston named Harold White, a real important man in my life," Khayat said in 1971. "That's where I became a man." 

He went on to play at Tulane, where he lettered in football and baseball. Khayat was named to the Green Wave's All-Time football team in 1979 and All-Century Team in 1993.

Khayat signed as a free agent with Washington in the NFL but spent most of his career with the Eagles. He started at defensive tackle on the 1960 championship team.

He began his coaching career in 1967 as the first defensive line coach for the expansion New Orleans Saints. Khayat was the Philadelphia Eagles head coach in 1971 and 1972 before becoming a longtime D-line coach in the NFL. He also was a head coach in the Arena Football League.

Khayat was inducted into the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Alumni Hall of Fame in 1975, and he's also in the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His 1960 Eagles team was also inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

Khayat, who was 89, is survived by his wife, Deborah, and two sons, Edward Jr. and Bill.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.