Coach Jim Lovin coached football at Taylorville High School from 1957 to 1962. During that time he led the Tornadoes to six consecutive winning seasons, attaining 41 victories against 11 losses and 2 ties. His teams also won three Mid-State Conference Championships and the 1959 team went undefeated, being tied 0-0 by Litchfield in a gamed remembered mostly for the freezing rain that fell throughout the night. The 1959 team was the most dominating team coached by Lovin at Taylorville as they outscored their opponents 334 to 13.
Lovin grew up in Benton, Illinois and was graduated from Benton High School in.1944 where he was chosen the Chicago Daily News and the Champaign Gazette's State
Teams in 1943. After High School, ',Mb entered the Navy for two years before attending Southern Illinois University where he was named an all conference football player all our years. He was also named the Salukis most valuable player in 1947, 1.948 and 1949.
In 1949 Lovin was named All- American and his jersey number 78 was retired at SILT. He was also inducted into the SILT-C Hall of Fame that same year. After college, Lovin played professionally for two years with the Hamilton Tigercats of the Canadian Football League.
He began his high school coaching career at Benton in 1953. He later moved to Virden then to West Frankfort before coming to Taylorville. After his successes at Taylorville., Coach Loving moved to Glenbard East for ten years and then ended his carrier as a head coach at Carbondale, retiring in 1985. His he ended his head coaching career with a record of 165-98 -5.
In 1986. the Southern Illinois Coaches Association created the "Jim Lovin Award" which annually recognizes the top two way lineman in Southern Illinois each year.