Jackie Sherrill

College coach infobox


Name = Jackie Sherrill
Caption =
DateOfBirth = Birth date and age|1943|11|28|mf=y
Birthplace = Duncan, OK
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
Title =
CurrentRecord =
OverallRecord = 180-120-4
BowlRecord = 8-6
Awards =
Championships =
CFbDWID = 2133
Player = Y
Years = 1962-1965
Team = Alabama
Position = FB / LB
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1976
1977-1981
1982-1988
1991-2003
CoachTeams = Washington State
Pittsburgh
Texas A&M
Mississippi State
FootballHOF =

Jackie Sherrill (born November 28, 1943, in Duncan, Oklahoma) is a former college football head coach. During his 26 years as a head coach, Sherrill amassed a record of 180-120-4.

Playing career

Sherrill played for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide under Bear Bryant from 1962 to 1965, helping Alabama win two national championships.

Coaching career

Washington State

Sherrill was the head coach at Washington State in 1976. During his one season at the Pullman campus, the Cougars won three games and lost eight.

University of Pittsburgh

Sherrill was the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1977 to 1981. Before going to Washington State, Sherrill had served as an assistant at Pittsburgh under head coach Johnny Majors. When Majors left Pittsburgh to return to his alma mater at the University of Tennessee, Sherrill returned to become the head coach of the Panthers. He has famously been remembered as the recruiter of Heisman winner Tony Dorsett, bunking with the then shy and introverted high school senior and staying at his parents house in order to have him commit to Pittsburgh.Fact|date=January 2008 He is also credited with grooming quarterback Dan Marino, who went on to a prolific Hall of Fame career in the NFL after being Sherrill's last quarterback at Pitt, from 1979-1982. In Sherrill's five seasons at Pittsburgh, the Panthers won 50 games, lost nine, and had one tie.

Texas A&M

Sherrill was hired on January 19, 1982 as replacement for Tom Wilson, signing a record six-year contract over $1.7 million. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60B12F73A5C0C738EDDA80894DA484D81 NY Times: Texas A&M signs Sherrill to richest college pact] ] Sherrill was the head coach at Texas A&M University from 1982 to 1988. While head coach at A&M Sherrill started the tradition of the "12th Man Kickoff Team", this tradition is still observed by A&M today only in a significantly scaled back form, including a single walk-on rather than an entire return team unit. In his seven seasons as the coach of the Aggies, Texas A&M won 52 games, lost 28, and had one tie. Texas A&M won three consecutive Southwest Conference championships under Sherrill, in 1985, 1986 and 1987. As a result, the Aggies played in the Cotton Bowl at the end of each season, defeating Auburn University 36-16 on January 1, 1986 and Notre Dame 35-10 on January 1, 1988, and losing to Ohio State University 28-12 on January 1, 1987. He is also one of the few coaches to leave Texas A&M with a winning record against the Texas Longhorns.

In 1988, Sherrill's Aggies were put under probation by the NCAA for a period of two years. Violations included improper employment, extra benefits, unethical conduct and lack of institutional control. [ [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8G2BLJ86.html Slocum enjoys new role at Texas A&M] ] [ [https://goomer.ncaa.org/wdbctx/lsdbi/LSDBi.MajorInfPackage.ProcessMultipleBylaws?p_Multiple=0&p_PK=454&p_Button=View+Public+Report&p_TextTerms=ThisIsADummyPhraseThatWillNotBeDuplicated&p_TextTerms2=ThisIsADummyPhraseThatWillNotBeDuplicated&p_Division= Public Infraction Report at NCAA.org] ] In part due to the scandal, Sherrill was forced to resign. When asked about retirement, Joe Paterno once said that he would not, because it would leave college football in the hands of "the Jackie Sherrills and the Barry Switzers". [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE3DE103CF931A25751C0A960948260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fP%2fPaterno%2c%20Joe SPORTS PEOPLE; Lingering Hurt] ] The comment was made off-the-record and in jest during a party at Paterno's house, but it was printed anyway. Sherrill and Paterno have since become friends, and Sherrill and his wife were [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04308/405762.stm guests] of the Paternos in State College in 2004.

Mississippi State University

After three years away from the game, Sherrill was hired as head coach at Mississippi State University in 1991. In thirteen seasons in Starkville, Sherrill coached the Bulldogs to a record of 75-75-2. He led the team to an SEC West title in 1998, a 10-2 record and #12 final ranking in 1999. That #12 ranking was the highest final ranking achieved by any NCAA Division I-A school in Mississippi in over 30 years. Sherrill, along with Bill Snyder of Kansas State, were among the first to use the rich JUCO systems of Kansas and Mississippi to help their programs progress. It should be noted that outside of the last three seasons, Sherrill was a winning coach at Mississippi State despite the excellence of rivals like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. He also finished with a winning record against in-state conference rival Mississippi.

Sherrill also achieved notoriety by castrating a bull during a team practice as a motivational technique prior to a game versus Texas. It worked, as unranked Mississippi State beat the #13 ranked Longhorns.Mark Schlabach, [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3084918 Richt's motivational gamble pays off for Georgia] , ESPN.com, October 29, 2007.]

Sherrill retired after the 2003 season from Mississippi State, which was followed by the NCAA levying probation for four years on the program. [ [http://sports.chron.com/default.asp?c=chron&page=cfoot/news/AFN3570480.htm Mississippi State penalized for violations in football] ] Mississippi State was [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1910571 not found guilty] of any major violations, and Sherrill was never personally found guilty of any NCAA rules violations at either Mississippi State or Texas A&M.

Head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Washington State Cougars
startyear = 1976
conf = Pacific 8 Conference
endyear = 1976CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1976
name = Washington State
overall = 3-8-0
conference = 2-5-0
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Washington State
overall = 3-8-0
confrecord = 2-5-0CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Pittsburgh Panthers
startyear = 1977
conf = Independent
endyear = 1981CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1977
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 9-2-1
conference =
confstanding =
bowlname = Gator Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 7
ranking2 = 8CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1978
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 8-4-0
conference =
confstanding =
bowlname = Tangerine Bowl
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1979
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 11-1-0
conference =
confstanding =
bowlname = Fiesta Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 6
ranking2 = 7CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1980
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 11-1-0
conference =
confstanding =
bowlname = Gator Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 2
ranking2 = 2CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1981
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 11-1-0
conference =
confstanding =
bowlname = Sugar Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 2
ranking2 = 4CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Pittsburgh
overall = 50-9-1
confrecord = CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Texas A&M Aggies
startyear = 1982
conf = Southwest Conference
endyear = 1988CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1982
name = Texas A&M
overall = 5-6-0
conference = 3-5-0
confstanding = T-6th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1983
name = Texas A&M
overall = 5-5-1
conference = 4-3-1
confstanding = T-3rd
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1984
name = Texas A&M
overall = 6-5-0
conference = 3-5-0
confstanding = 7th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1985
name = Texas A&M
overall = 10-2-0
conference = 7-1-0
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Cotton Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 6
ranking2 = 6CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1986
name = Texas A&M
overall = 9-3-0
conference = 7-1-0
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Cotton Bowl
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 12
ranking2 = 13CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1987
name = Texas A&M
overall = 10-2-0
conference = 6-1-0
confstanding = 1st
bowlname = Cotton Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 9
ranking2 = 10CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1988
name = Texas A&M
overall = 7-5-0
conference = 6-1-0
confstanding = 2nd
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Texas A&M
overall = 52-28-1
confrecord = 36-17-1CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Mississippi State Bulldogs
startyear = 1991
conf = Southeastern Conference
endyear = 2003CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1991
name = Mississippi State
overall = 7-5-0
conference = 4-3-0
confstanding = T-4th
bowlname = Liberty Bowl
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1992
name = Mississippi State
overall = 7-5-0
conference = 4-4-0
confstanding = 3rd (West)
bowlname = Peach Bowl
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = 23CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1993
name = Mississippi State
overall = 4-5-2
conference = 3-4-1
confstanding = 4th (West)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1994
name = Mississippi State
overall = 8-4-0
conference = 5-3-0
confstanding = 2nd (West)
bowlname = Peach Bowl
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking = 25
ranking2 = 24CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1995
name = Mississippi State
overall = 3-8-0
conference = 1-7-0
confstanding = 4th (West)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1996
name = Mississippi State
overall = 5-6-0
conference = 3-5-0
confstanding = 4th (West)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1997
name = Mississippi State
overall = 7-4-0
conference = 4-4-0
confstanding = T-3rd (West)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = division
year = 1998
name = Mississippi State
overall = 8-5-0
conference = 6-2-0
confstanding = T-1st (West)
bowlname = Cotton Bowl
bowloutcome = L
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1999
name = Mississippi State
overall = 10-2-0
conference = 6-2-0
confstanding = 2nd (West)
bowlname = Peach Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 12
ranking2 = 13CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2000
name = Mississippi State
overall = 8-4-0
conference = 4-4-0
confstanding = T-3rd (West)
bowlname = Independence Bowl
bowloutcome = W
bcsbowl =
ranking = 22
ranking2 = 24CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2001
name = Mississippi State
overall = 3-8-0
conference = 2-6-0
confstanding = 6th (West)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2002
name = Mississippi State
overall = 3-9-0
conference = 0-8-0
confstanding = 5th (West)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2003
name = Mississippi State
overall = 2-10-0
conference = 1-7-0
confstanding = 5th (West)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Mississippi State
overall = 75-75-2
confrecord = 43-59-1CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 180-120-4
bcs =
poll = two
polltype =

References

*"MStateAthletics.com" (31 August 2000). [http://web.archive.org/web/20031119100324/www.mstateathletics.com/fbo/fbc/fbccoachsherrill.html "Head Coach Jackie Sherrill"] . Archived page of 19 November 2003.
*cite web | url=http://www.aggieathletics.com/index2.php?SID=MFB&pageID=188 | title=Aggie Football Through the Years | accessdate=2006-02-14
*cite web | url=http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/pitt/datadump/sports/football/mediaguide/2005/record_book.pdf | title=2005 University of Pittsburgh Football Media Guide | accessdate=2006-02-14
*cite web | url=http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/wast/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/history-records-mg05.pdf | title=2005 Washington State University Football Media Guide | accessdate=2006-02-14