Over the weekend, former Texas A&M football coach Jackie Sherrill was one of nine individuals inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco. On Tuesday's edition of TexAgs Radio, the Aggie legend spoke about the honor and more.
Key notes from Jackie Sherrill interview
- This weekend was really exceptional. The Texas Sports Hall of Fame did a great job. It was an honor to go in. The only downside was they put me in with four Longhorns, and I told Colt McCoy that I wished it was a little more balanced.
- I learned that Colt McCoy grew up wanting to play for Texas A&M, and everything he had was Aggie related. When they let R.C. Slocum go, and Mack Brown came in around the same time, Dennis Franchione didn’t come knocking on his door. He called McCoy on the phone, but Brown had already changed Colt’s mind.
- It was good going into the Hall of Fame with a good friend in Mike Leach, and as we all know, Mike left us way too early.
- Mike Leach and I had met a long time ago when he was at Valdosta State. We competed against each other when he went to Kentucky. Then he went to Oklahoma and then to Texas Tech. I was invited out to put on a clinic for his coaches, and he took more notes and asked more questions than anyone. He put the film on and was watching the video and reading me his notes again. When we would talk over the years, it was never about football. I showed up one day with Vans shoes on, and the entire conversation was about Vans. He would never talk football unless they had a football meeting. Everybody he met was different. When I was working with FOX and Tech went to the Cotton Bowl, I went and interviewed him. The first question was about him being called the “mad scientist,” and he just started laughing.
- It was a special weekend, and we had a lot of friends and family there. Slocum was there. When you’re a player and get into the Hall of Fame, it’s based on the talent you have. As a coach, you get in because of your coaches and players. I am indebted to all of them.
- We started basically 8-4 at A&M, and we beat TCU and Texas back-to-back. From that point on, we never lost to Texas. Slocum kept that going, and we beat them like nine out of 10 years.
- First of all, for the listeners and the TexAgs audience, Mike Elko has paid his dues. When I read his resume, that was the first thing that stood out. He played and coached at Penn. His first few coaching jobs were at very small universities. He had to evaluate players harder and develop them better. Throughout his career, he has learned how to evaluate, recruit and develop players. That stands out to me.
- I sent Mike Elko a text when he signed some players who were three stars, thanking him for signing players rather than stars. Everybody is caught up in the stars. It’s more important to a lot of coaches to win the recruiting war than to win the conference championship and compete for a national championship. I’ve always admired the coaches who can evaluate talent. In Texas, we have a disadvantage because the kids start playing at such a young age, so sometimes the develop to their best as a junior or senior in high school. I can name a few players who weren’t as highly rated when they came in but ended up spending a few years in pro ball. The task with NIL and the transfer portal is how to evaluate a player and how they fit your team.
- Some people don’t understand how important the offensive and defensive lines are. The left tackle is one of the highest-paid players in pro ball, and so are defensive linemen.
- Where we’re headed in college football is headed toward an NFL model. I did a TV show in 1989 in which I drew a map of the United States and divided it into four conferences for college football. It’s about eyeballs. TV is where the money comes from, and that’s where the networks make money. The Pac-12 could never generate its conference network, which is why the league dissolved. A small percentage, 14 percent, in their footprint was actually college football fans. The SEC and the Big Ten have such a big advantage. The ACC, because of the TV network, might not be together much longer. Florida State and Clemson are not very happy with what they’re being paid compared to the Big Ten and the SEC.
- First, A&M, as a school and a university, is special. It was built on dear traditions. I have a print in my office of the 1941 A&M-Texas game. I gave it to an elder gentleman who won an award from A&M, and he pointed to where he was sitting. That entire student body went to war. No other university other than West Point can say that. No other school went to war like Texas A&M to defend our rights as a country. Think about what A&M stands for. Go back to 1922 when the PUF fund was established. There was land given to Texas and Texas A&M.
- A&M brought to the SEC a lot more than the SEC gave to A&M. They were the largest endowment and enrollment, and they were members of the AAU. Prior to that, it was only Florida and Vanderbilt. Soon it will be A&M, Texas, Missouri, Florida and Vanderbilt. Being a member of the AAU is a big deal.
- I think the Aggies will be better in 2024. There were pieces to the puzzle last year. You could say, “If we didn’t lose our quarterback...” We lost Kevin Murray, but we had Craig Stump. He helped get us to the Cotton Bowl. You have to have players and backup players, and that’s hard with the transfer portal, thanks to the NCAA. It’s hard to keep and manage your 85-man roster. You have to spend a lot of time managing your roster, and you have to do a lot of work to make sure that a backup defensive lineman who could be a starter is still here the following year.
- I’ve always said when the A&M-Texas rivalry first dissolved that the state of Texas and college football deserved that game. It has always been one of the top televised draws in college football. A&M and Texas was the game to watch on Thanksgiving night. That started ESPN’s Thursday night games.
