By James Panter
In an amphitheater-styled classroom within a spacious structure adjacent to Davis Wade Stadium, Mississippi State University’s football players study films with coaches and get
instructions
to prepare for their next game. On a wall in front of them is a season schedule
that lists each opponent they will face.Beside the opponents’ names are words they must remember: Commitment. Courage. Discipline.
With such character-building blocks, Head Football Coach Jackie Sherrill has, in an 11-year-span, instilled perseverance and toughness in the Bulldogs and has resurrected MSU’s program and elevated it to national prominence.
“What separates players, or people, is, ‘Can they handle the bad times?’, not, ‘Can they handle the good times?’ ” Sherrill says. “And that’s through (building) character and believing what’s inside of them.”
He has made believers at every coaching stop in his career, developing successful programs at the University of Pittsburgh and Texas A&M University before coming to MSU in 1991. At 58, he is now the dean among Southeastern Conference coaches, and he has become the winningest coach in MSU history, having led the Bulldogs to a 68-51-2 regular season record, the 1998 SEC Western Division title and six postseason bowl berths during his tenure.
Sherrill is the consummate “players’ coach” who has served as a mentor to several NCAA All-Americans, including quarterback Dan Marino; linemen Hugh Green and Mark May; and linebacker Ray Childress.
“He’s different. He’d want to get out there and play, too,” says Dicenzo Miller, an outstanding MSU running back who played on four Sherrill teams. “He energizes me. He gets fired up more than the players do, and that’s very inspiring. That really gets me ready to play.”
Widely known for his intense competitiveness and motivational skills, Sherrill demands the best from his student-athletes, knowing that the values of hard work and persistence will yield lasting assets.
“A players’ coach is not somebody who puts his arm around you and smiles,” he explains. “A players’ coach is able to discipline you. A players’ coach will make you understand what life is about and how to grow in life. The best thing that I’ve given our players over the years, as a coach, is that, when they leave, they understand the maturity factor.”
A measure of that maturity is how they apply themselves academically, and Sherrill points out, with pride, the MSU football players’ 70 percent graduation rate—one of the highest in NCAA Division I.
“I spend a lot of time on it; it’s important,” he emphasizes. “I’ve suspended kids from playing for not going to class. It’s a double-edged sword, because sometimes when you suspend a player, who may be your best player, unfortunately you may be hurting everybody.”
Mastering The Art Of Coaching
The importance of paying the price to succeed was a lesson Sherrill learned while playing for legendary Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama (1962-1965). He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at UA in 1966 and worked as a graduate assistant on the football coaching staff.
As he began pursuing a coaching career, he served as an assistant to two other famous mentors, Frank Broyles at the University of Arkansas (1967) and Johnny Majors at Iowa State University (1968-1972) and the University of Pittsburgh (1973-1975). He credits Majors, who selected him at age 25 as his defensive coordinator, for allowing him to “be in charge of a lot of important things at an early age.”
Even now, Sherrill views these men as being major influences toward his development as a head coach.
“Coach Bryant was a man’s man,” he states. “He was very big in stature. He was mentally and physically very tough, yet he was a very compassionate person. Frank Broyles was the best businessperson as a head coach, and John Majors was the best PR guy (in coaching). I’d like to think that all three of them are a part of me.”
Combining experience with his own leadership skills, drive and talent, Sherrill excelled as a head coach at the University of Pittsburgh and Texas A&M in the 1970s and 1980s, guiding teams to eight postseason bowl appearances and six Top 10 finishes.
In five years at Pittsburgh, Sherrill compiled a 50-9-1 record and four Top 10 national rankings. His final three Panthers teams (1979-1981) rolled up an impressive 33-3 record, with his 1980 team ranked second nationally and his 1981 team defeating SEC champion Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. He was named Eastern Coach of the Year (1979 and 1980) and Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1980).
In seven years at Texas A&M, he built the Aggies into a national title contender, beating archrival Texas five years in a row. His 1985-1987 A&M squads posted a 29-7-1 record, three straight Southwest Conference titles and Cotton Bowl wins over Notre Dame and Auburn. He was named SWC Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1987 and National Coach of the Year by Playboy in its 1988 preseason publication.
When Sherrill accepted the MSU head coaching position, it was a homecoming, of sorts, for him. Born in Duncan, Okla., he grew up in Mississippi and graduated from Biloxi (Miss.) High School, where he earned All-America football honors in 1962.
After an enthusiastic introduction to Mississippi State fans on Dec. 9, 1990, he immediately began reaching out to students to generate support. He solicited their involvement in selecting game uniforms for his first squad and then incorporated them in the “Mad Dawgs”—his famous 12th Man kickoff coverage unit.
In an auspicious start, Sherrill’s 1991 team thrilled MSU fans with a nationally televised win over Texas, which, he recalls, “gave us instant credibility,” and, with a 7-5 record, the Bulldogs earned a Liberty Bowl berth. The next season, the Bulldogs duplicated that record and won another bowl trip.
In the past five years, he has guided MSU to a 1998 SEC West Division title, a 34-21 regular season record, three straight postseason bowl berths (1998-2000) and four straight winning records (1997-2000). In 1999, his Bulldogs went 10-2, including an 8-0 start and the first Top 10 ranking since the early 1980s, and he was a semifinalist for Football News National Coach of the Year honors. In 1998, he directed the Bulldogs to a SEC Championship Game berth—the school’s first title shot in 57 years.
Sherrill has had 17 winning seasons in 24 years as a head coach, and he has won 10 or more games six times and gone to 14 postseason bowl games. He is one of a select group of head coaches in NCAA history to take three different schools to postseason bowl games, and he is one of only two Division I-A head coaches to ever lead three different schools to 10 wins or more in a season.
Leadership Through Stability
Sherrill’s formula for success rests on precise planning and carefully thought-out strategies, not flash-in-the-pan ideas and schemes.
“The best
philosophy you can have is being very stable,” he says. “I get a kick
out of people who describe me as from the ‘old school.’ If winning
is from the old school, then that’s OK. There are a lot of people who throw
the ball around the park 100 times, but they don’t win games. You have
to be flexible enough to win. If you ask your players to do something they can’t
do (and they lose), then it’s not their fault.”Sherrill is a man who relishes taking on challenges. He has assembled a talented staff, including proven former head coaches Rockey Felker, Sparky Woods, Joe Lee Dunn and Curley Hallman, to assist him in guiding the Bulldogs to the top. Besides facing tough SEC opponents, MSU schedules intersectional battles against ranked powerhouses such as the University of Texas, Brigham Young University and the University of Oregon (this year’s season opener) in order to contend for a national title.
Roaming the sidelines during a game, Sherrill strikes a businesslike demeanor in a crisp dress shirt and tie, surveying the action and making notes on a clipboard to keep track of how his players are following the game plan. He can be the team’s poised strategist one minute or its fiery advocate the next in questioning the fairness of controversial officials’ calls, knowing that they can help decide the outcome of a game.
His love of the sport shines through in his well-appointed office, which contains a meticulously arranged wall display of photos and inscribed footballs that remind him of hard-fought victories. Yet, this sanctuary also reveals other aspects of his personality. An impressive, colorful collection of clown figurines, encased in glass, provides a source of inspiration, and a cherished framed collection of portraits of his wife Peggy, his five children Elizabeth, Kellie Morse, Bonnie, Justin and Braxton, and a grandson, Daniel Morse, reveals a strong, compassionate family man.
“He’s a great guy,” describes Miller. “If I needed somebody to talk to, at any time, I could go to him. He’s like a father figure. He’s never going to try to lead you in the wrong direction, and he’s always there to lead you in the right direction. When I first got here, I was kind of lost, dealing with situations in college, and he led me in the right direction, where I’m at right now.”
Sherrill, a popular speaker, has given support to various charitable causes, including the Leukemia Society of Pittsburgh, the Boys Club, the Shriners Children’s Hospital of Houston, The Boy Scouts of America and the Palmer Home for Children in Columbus, Miss.
As a sophomore at the University of Alabama, he suffered neck problems and underwent traction, and he has had fusion of the cervical vertebrae. Now, he receives adjustments when needed from MSU’s team chiropractor, Life University graduate Dr. David Allen, and being an avid golfer, he keeps himself in excellent physical condition to meet the demands of coaching.
“Players come first with him,” states Dr. Allen. “He’s going to do everything in his power to provide everything he can to support his players, whether it’s scholastics, athletics or health care. He is there to make sure they have what they need to perform and to function well in all aspects.”
About the author: James Panter is editor of Today’s Chiropractic.