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Texas A&M
The Battalion Sports
August 31, 1982 Page 15
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iherrill at Alabama, 1964
Editor’s note: Texas A&M’s
Jackie Sherrill, who spent the
past five football seasons as the
Pitt Panther head coach, opens
the 1982 Aggie schedule with a
career record of 53-17-1. In the
second of a two-part series,
Sherrill’s family, friends and
former associates discuss his suc
cess and the factors that moti
vate him.
by Frank L. Christlieb
Sports Editor
It wouldn’t be surprising to
look up the word “winner” in
Webster’s New Twentieth Cen
tury Dictionary and find the
first, and possibly the only, de
finition stated in two simple
words.
Jackie Sherrill.
That would be more approp
riate than “one who or that
which wins,” although Sherrill
fits that description perfectly.
•It seems Sherrill, the Aggie
head football coach and athletic
director since Jan. 19, has been
nothing but a winner through
out his life, which began 39 years
ago in November.
Playing football at Biloxi
High School in Mississippi, then
moving on to the University of
Alabama, Sherrill played line
backer, center, fullback, defen
sive end and nose guard during
his career. Transition from play
ing to coaching didn’t detract
from his success, since Sherrill
was able to compile a .758 win
ning percentage in five years at
Pittsburgh and one year at
Washington State.
Sherrill, one of eight brothers
and sisters, grew' up in Duncan,
Okla., until moving to Biloxi
during his sophomore year in
high school. At that time, Sher
rill moved in with his brother,
John, who at 57 ranks No. 2 in
age among the family’s children.
Early life wasn’t easy street
for Sherrill, who grew up with
his mother, his brothers and his
sistefs, since his father left the
family when Sherrill was four
months old.
His mother, Mrs. Dovie Sher
rill, turned 79 in August. She
still remembers when her son
began playing organized foot
ball during his fourth-grade
year.
“He was always ambitious,”
Mrs. Sherrill said. “He used to
bring in every old football uni
form that they’d have over at the
school and say: ‘Momma, wash
these — all we’ve got to play in
are these dirty uniforms.’ So, I’d
wash them and he’d go right out
and get them dirty again.”
Mrs. Sherrill, who has been
partially blind for the past five
years, recalls that her son always
kept his mind and hands busy.
“Jackie was always a-doin’
something,” she said. “He didn’t
come up the easy way — he did it
the hard way.”
In the aspct of being a hard
worker, Mrs. Sherrill said, her
son hasn’t changed to this day.
“He says he’s going to
win. I say as long as
(Jackie) feels like they’ve
got the material, they’re
going to win. He feels so
sure of his players and
has so much confidence
in them. He’s always
been that way. ’’ — Mrs.
Dovie Sherrill
She said that, even in appear
ance, Sherrill seems to have re
mained constant since he was a
junior in high school.
“When he comes home,” she
said, “everybody says he hasn’t
changed a bit — and he really
hasn’t.
“He’s one of those people
with his nose in his work, so he
doesn’t get a chance to come
home too often.”
Her son, Mrs. Sherrill said,
has always maintained “a policy
of loving the other guy” in his
Pitt AD Edward Bozik
work, and she considers this to
be one of his strongest assets.
“He never forgets anybody,”
she said. “If you do him harm,
he’ll walk off and leave you
alone and not have anything to
do with you. Otherwise, he’ll
never forget you.”
Mrs. Sherrill expresses optim
ism about the possibilities pre
sent within her son’s new team at
Texas A&M.
“He says he’s going to win,”
Mrs. Sherrill said. “I say as long
as he feels like they’ve got the
material, they’re going to win.
He feels so sure of his players
and has so much confidence in
them. He’s always been that
way.”
Her son, Mrs. Sherrill empha
sizes, makes a determined effort
to bring success to his teams.
And although he’s often re
ceived top-notch performances
from his players, Sherrill’s
values sometimes urge him to
achieve even greater heights.
“Sometimes, the best, he
thinks, isn’t good enough," Mrs.
Sherrill said.
Serafino “Foge” Fazio,
chosen to succeed Sherrill as the
Pitt head coach in January, was
an assistant at Pitt during Sher
rill’s five years there. Fazio, 43,
said he’s found determination
and persistence to be two of
Sherrill’s keys to success.
“I think the thingJackie has is
Dean Billick, Pitt athletics
that he’s a hard-working coach,”
Fazio said. “You know when
you’re an assistant coach under
him and he asks you to do some
thing, you do it, because he
would do the same thing for
you.
“The players respect him a
great deal. He was tough, but he
was up-front and honest with
the players, and they respected
him for that.
“He knew how to discipline
his players, too,” he said. “Coach
Sherrill always had an express
ion: If you ever get your hand
caught in a cookie jar, you’ll get
your hand slapped. So he knew
just how to handle his players.”
Fazio, also an assistant at Pitt
while Sherrill was assistant head
coach between 1973-75, went to
the University of Cincinnati for
four years until Sherrill became
the Panther head coach. After
one year coaching the Washing
ton State Cougars, Sherrill re
placed Coach Johnny Majors at
the Pitt helm.
Sherrill then called Fazio and
asked him to join the Panther
staff, which had been depleted
when Majors took most of his
assistants to Tennessee.
As usual, Fazio said, Sherrill
seems to have done his home
work at Texas A&M and is pre
pared for the 1982 season.
“I think that Jackie’s done ev
erything a coach has to do prior
to the (season) to perfection,”
Fazio said. “He’s got some good
returning players, he hired a
fine staff ... they had a good
spring and the players know
where they stand with him.”
Along with Majors, Sherrill
worked under several other
prominent college coaches, in
cluding ageless Paul “Bear”
Bryant and former Arkansas
coach Frank Broyles. Bryant,
the University of Alabama coach
under whom Sherrill played and
held a graduate assistant
coaching position, maintains a
close friendship with one of the
most skilled players he’s ever
coached.
“Jackie was certainly a versa
tile football player,” said Bryant,
who coached at Texas A&M
during the 1954-57 seasons. “He
contributed greatly to the foot
ball program here at Alabama.
Football came easy for him. He
played on championship teams
here and did very well.
“I have great respect for him
as a player and a coach. He was
really a good, steady player for
us — he’s a winner. I think he
“I think in the long
term look, Jackie Sher
rill won’t settle for any
thing less than a nation
al championship. I
think he has some objec
tive as far as wins for his
first season, but I don’t
think he’ll panic if he
doesn’t reach that.” —
Dean Billick, Pittsburgh
associate athletic dire
ctor
has a tremendous desire to excel
in everything he does. He’s a
bright young man and he works
hard.”
But Bryant isn’t making pre
dictions about the Aggies’
chances under their new coach
in 1982:
“I don’t have any idea what
will happen this year — you can’t
really judge that. I think they
will do well, but I really don’t
know exactly what they’ve got
down there. I know they’ve got
good facilities, but I don’t know
much about the team.”
Dean Billick, named associate
athletic director at Pitt during
June, held the position of sports
information director during
most of Sherrill’s stay at the
school. Billick has been at Pitt
for 17 years.
“Jackie did a tremendous job
for us,” he said. “He and Johnny
(Majors) worked hand in hand
to bring the program up. They
had to get their fingernails dirty
and really had a difficult job.
“He’s familiar with what it
takes to turn a program around.
He’s first and foremost a
winner.”
Billick commended Sherrill
for his devotion to the commun
ity while he was at Pitt.
“He was very conscious of his
obligations to the community
and the university,” he said. “He
became involved and was a very
good representative for the uni
versity community. He’s also a
very hard worker.
“He really matured a great
deal while he was here and grew
into a top-notch coach right in
front of everyone’s eyes. I think
he has a good background and
has been associated with a lot of
tough coaches and has learned a
lot from them.”
Sherrill and his Pitt players al
ways knew their roles on and off
the field, Billick said.
“He has a reputation of being
a disciplinarian and of getting to
know his players well,” he said.
“I think he has a way of under
standing young football players
but he also has a way of con
veying that he’s the head foot
ball coach and what he says goes.
See SUCCESS page 16
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