Jackie Sherrill: The maverick who still stirs the Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry

Legendary Longhorns Mack Brown and Darrell Royal are two of Jackie Sherrill’s many Texas friends. Regarding this week’s historic rivalry renewal with Texas, perhaps the most colorful figure in Texas A&M history wants that to be known.

Sherrill, though, can’t help but be a little subversive. It’s a part of his identity. There was always something to do, whether it was leading the Aggies or collaborating with the NCAA. Despite having only been A&M’s coach for seven years in the 1980s, Sherrill, who turned 81 on Thanksgiving, casts a shadow over this week’s resumption of a fierce rivalry in the Lone Star State.

Sherrill remarked, “Horn chips for ball markers,” prior to Saturday’s first Texas game in thirteen years. They were well-liked. “..”.

He’s talking about a recent golf tournament between 50 former Aggies and 50 former Longhorns in Houston. Sherrill was acquainted with a rancher who would shave off horn fragments from his animals. Rivalry reminders to mark putts were developed from those bits.

As Sherrill put it, “Texas guys [would] ask what it is.”.

They were quick to wonder.

The rivalry resumed when the group was informed. In 1894, these teams began to play. What started out as a powerful state school versus… A small, all-male military school has long since developed into one of the sport’s most competitive traditional games.

That tradition simply hasn’t been observed in thirteen years. This makes it possible that this will be the largest of the 119 meetings.

Indeed, Sherrill said. Although it matters to both teams, Texas is under pressure given their position. “..”.

Winners advance to the conference finals on Saturday. But it goes beyond that. In addition to being richer than ever, both teams are in the running for the playoffs. Texas has dominated this series, winning 76-37-5.

And whether the Longhorns prevail or lose, Sherrill is aware that they will be mocked by a line that is so embedded in this rivalry that it is part of the Aggie War Hymn.

I cut them off.

In reference to actually cutting off those Longhorns’ horns, Sherrill had those chips made. Therefore, this week has two meanings: either you’re yelling at Texas’ Longhorn mascot or you’re trying to match Jackie and the boys.

“They’ve never pleased Jackie. Phil Silva, a native of Texas and Sherrill’s equipment manager at Mississippi State from 1991 to 2003, stated, “Never will and never has.”.

The same mindset and preparation will be used on Saturday as they were when R.C first started forty years ago. Slocum oversaw Sherrill’s defense.

“In Texas, in the tallest buildings in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth, as well as the deer blinds out in West Texas, I used to tell my players that this week’s most talked-about topic in the state of Texas will be the A&M-Texas game,” Slocum, who later became the school’s most successful head coach, recalled.

Since you will have to live with the results for the rest of your life, you guys should be prepared to play and play well. “.”.

Sherrill, a former Bear Bryant fullback/linebacker who won a national championship, was hired by A&M in 1982. Over time, Sherrill has developed into a somewhat endearing outlaw, and not just during his tenure at College Station.

In the main, he altered Aggies’ self-perception. The attitude that would knock blocks off with the Wrecking Crew defense was born out of all those Aggie jokes. One that covers kickoffs and uses the all-student 12th Man.

Sherrill received 252 responses to his volunteer recruitment ad in the school newspaper. They were both female.

“They just needed to learn how to win,” Sherrill said to CBS Sports. “They possessed the ability to win once they mastered it. “..”.

Sherrill finished in the top eight four times while playing for Pittsburgh, where he won 50 games in five years prior to A&M. His quarterback was Dan Marino. Future national champions themselves served as his assistants. Both Dave Wannstedt and Jimmy Johnson went on to become head coaches in the NFL.

To put it mildly, Sherrill won with style. Once, in 1979, when Pitt and Penn State were at the height of their rivalry, Joe Paterno was asked about retirement. According to Paterno, he would never let “the Jackie Sherrills and Barry Switzers” win the game. “,”.

While apologizing to Switzer, Paterno stated in his book, “I don’t give a damn about what Sherrill felt.”. “.”.

In the same way that he would later energize A&M, Jackie energized Pittsburgh. When Sherrill got there, Paterno’s record against the Panthers was 10-1. He was in western Pennsylvania when Sherrill won two of the five meetings.

At least temporarily, that was sufficient to disturb the delicate natural equilibrium in those areas. According to recent reports, Sherrill’s final Penn State game ended with the following: In 1981, following a 34-point victory over Pittsburgh, Sue, Paterno’s wife, sent Sherrill a birthday card that said, “Happy birthday, 48-14.”. “.”.

It should be mentioned that Sherrill and Paterno grew close in their later years.

Only in his third year did Sherrill lead an Aggie team that finished 6-5 to a 25-point victory in Austin. With that, A&M began a six-game winning streak against the Horns and recorded their biggest series victory margin in 59 years.

Sherrill remarked, “We beat them in ’84, and that’s what changed it.”. “We defeated them 37–12. They were a clear favorite. When we attended the Cotton Bowl the following year, the Aggies were allowed to display their chest for the first time. Texas had ruled over them for a very long time. “..”.

The change was cultural as well as athletic. Texas, the historically dominant state university, only suffered three losses to Texas A&M between 1940 and 1975.

The new coach in 1982 declared right away, “Get your licks because we’re going to be good.”. “..”.

In those seven seasons, Sherrill went 52-28-1 and won three consecutive Southwest Conference titles, proving his mettle. He had recovered from consecutive No’s. Coaches’ poll: two finishes at Pittsburgh. For six years, he reportedly earned $200,000 annually from A&M, making him the highest-paid coach in the nation at the time.

Arkansas coach Lou Holtz reflected at the time, “I just hope that our fans, as open-minded as they are, don’t expect a poor, old $40,000-a-year coach like me to be able to beat a $2 million coach like Sherrill.”.

The five consecutive Texas victories from 1984 to 1988 were won by Sherrill. As part of a 10-of-11 run that continued until 1994, Slocum took over in 1989 and made it six straight.

Sherrill remarked, “I got to attend all the AD and head coach meetings because I was the athletic director and head coach.”. “A&M was the most knowledgeable school. “.

The Aggies were at last equal in that regard. When the institution began accepting female students for officer training in 1974, it was sending a message and increasing enrollment.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Southwest Conference was at its most competitive point ever. We are aware of this because the NCAA imposed penalties on a number of schools. In 1987, SMU was given the death penalty. After one year, Sherrill left A&M amid a barrage of NCAA charges.

Sherrill claims today, “I never had a major violation charged against me that was founded.”. Everyone is free to express themselves. “.”.

Sherrill, however, had promised success to Aggies everywhere. Slocum went above and beyond, winning 123 games over a 14-year span. Currently, over 400,000 alumni are still alive. The price of oil reached $100 per barrel in 2014. A&M was starting a new chapter when you added Johnny Manziel’s 2012 Heisman Trophy victory.

In order to upgrade Kyle Field, A&M raised $485 million by 2015.

This week’s Texas game is predicted to draw a crowd that is close to the school record of 110,000. Without tickets, half of that number may be outside tailgating.

On both sides, a large number of friends will mingle. Sherrill had brief advice for Mack Brown when he arrived in Texas in 1998.

“Go to the Texas high school coaches convention, I said, and get yourself some boots, Levi’s, and a white shirt. Stay in the lobby and park your ass. Sherrill remembered, “That’s what he did.”.

After being fired on Tuesday, Brown went on to become the most successful coach at both North Carolina and Texas.

Sherrill requested that Texas legend Royal address the Aggies when he got to A&M. Royal consented, but Sherrill realized that the rivalry had stepped in after a month or two.

According to Sherrill, “Coach, you’re not coming, are you?”.

“Jackie,” said Royal, “I’m unable to attend.”. “.

There was nothing else to say.

It seemed that Sherrill’s ability to manipulate the Texas psyche had never diminished. As a source of inspiration prior to Mississippi State’s season opener against Texas in 1992, he had a bull castrated in front of his team.

Sherrill remarked, “I would have been fired in five minutes if that had happened today.”. “When I called the president, he asked me why I was doing this. It succeeded. “,”.

The remains of the castration, uh, were left in the visitor’s locker room as a memento of the Bulldogs’ 28-10 victory. Texas wasn’t happy.

“We got a big old gallon of formaldehyde,” Silva said. “We placed the “mountain oysters” in a jar. “..”.

Sherrill has declined to say whether he was aware of that specific increase in fighting.

Slocum recalled the time when A&M students drove the 80 miles to the Texas campus, where real women were present, because it was an all-male school.

Slocum stated that they would “make that little trip over to Austin.”. In the end, many of them married girls who moved to Texas. The mother of those children attended Texas, and the father attended A&M. The fact that there is so much family mixing adds to its uniqueness. “.”.

The ongoing comparison to the Longhorns down the road is still present. Since 1998, the Aggies have failed to win a conference championship. In 1939, they won their lone national title.

The July 2021 events brought the rivalry to its current state. Ross Bjork, the athletic director at the time, was the only athletic director present at SEC Media Days when it was announced that Oklahoma and Texas would be joining the league.

When Bjork opposed the migration of people from Texas, his presence transitioned from oddity to brand placement.

“Our goal is to be the only SEC program in Texas,” Bjork said to reporters on that day. There’s a reason Texas A&M broke away from the Big 12 in order to stand alone and establish our own identity. That’s how we feel, too. “,”.

A&M had joined the SEC in 2012, primarily to escape Texas and establish its own identity. Instead of living in the shadow of the Longhorns, Aggies preferred that. They exchanged accusations with one another.

It appeared that the two schools would never again play.

According to Slocum, “we were doing what we felt was best for A&M long term.”. “I felt really good about that. As you could see, collegiate athletics was undergoing significant change, but we were lining up with the main participant in the process. “..”.

Slocum claimed that the Big Ten was once considering acquiring some Texas schools. In 2010, the Pac-12 was just minutes away from acquiring Texas, Texas A&M, and four other Big 12 universities in order to reach 16.

The feelings that erupted three and a half years ago will resurface on Saturday night.

Aggies and Longhorns are eager for the hatred to arrive. Yet again.

To reach this point, both schools had to go through a realignment food processor. Texas has a good chance of winning the conference championship in its first SEC season. Unless it is won by A&M. The victor will play Georgia in Atlanta the following Saturday.

“The game should go to the state of Texas,” Sherrill stated. “The game should go to college football. “,”.

Sherrill currently serves as a consultant for Celltex, an adult stem cell bank that treats conditions like Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

A football game seems so unimportant in that way. Sherrill has not discussed Texas with Mike Elko, the Aggies’ rookie coach. Maybe it’s not his place. But not yet.

“I’ve stayed away,” Sherrill declared. “I will visit him after this weekend is over. “,”.

How will you respond?

“I’m not sure yet. Discuss the game’s significance. This game isn’t just another one. “.”.