Upcoming Meetings & Guest Speakers
Celebrating Sports Fellowship,
Spirit, and Community Pride
GCAC
October 24th Meeting:
Jackie Sherrill: Former Alabama player and Head Football Coach at Mississippi State
Scheduled Meetings & Guest Speakers
Aug 29--Coach Joey Jones, USA Head FB Coach
Sep 12--Max Howell-Radio sports talk show legend and former football coach.
Sep 26--Coach Doug Barfield-Former Head Football Coach-Auburn University
Oct 10--Roger Shultz--former Univ of Alabama player and coach.
Oct 24--Jackie Sherrill--Former Alabama player and Head Football Coach at Miss. State
Nov 7-- Inky Johnson-former UT football player "An Amazing Story of Faith and Perseverance."
Nov 21-- Dr Gaylon McCollough
Remembering Bear Bryant
Jan 23-- Coach Larry Fedora--Head Football
Coach-University of Southern Miss.
TBD: Spring Golf Tournament
Monday's @ 6pm on dates shown above.
Upcoming GCAC Guest Speakers
Oct 24--Jackie Sherrill-Former Alabama player and Head Football Coach
at Mississippi State
Nov 7--Inky Johnson-former UT football player with
"An Amazing Story of Faith and Perseverance."
Nov 21-- Dr Gaylon McCollough-- "Remembering Paul Bear Bryant"
Jan 23--Coach Larry Fedora--Head Football coach-University of Southern Miss. (Tentative)
Spring Golf Tournament
Please RSVP to: Dec: dec.mcclelland@edwardjones.com 251-968-9010
Fred Dickinson: fdickinson@gulftel.com 251-975-1500
October 24, 2011 Meeting
Guest Speaker-Jackie Sherrill
Former Alabama player and
Mississippi State Head Coach
Click on pictures to ENLARGE
Jackie Sherrill is a former Alabama football player. He served as the head coach at Washington State University (1976), the University of Pittsburgh (1977–1981), Texas A&M University (1982–1988), and Mississippi State University (1991–2003), compiling a career college football record of 180–120–4. Sherrill is currently a studio analyst for Fox Sports Net.
Sherrill played football at the University of Alabama under Bear Bryant from 1962 to 1965, helping the Crimson Tide win two national championships.
Jackie Sherrill is a former star football player for The University of Alabama He served as the head coach at Washington State University, The University of Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State University, compiling a career college football record of 180–120–4.
Playing career
Sherrill played fullback and linebacker at the University of Alabama under Bear Bryant from 1962 to 1965, helping the Crimson Tide win two national championships.
Coaching career
Washington State
Sherrill was the head coach at Washington State in 1976. During his one season , the Cougars won three games and lost eight.
Pittsburgh
Replacing Johnny Majors, Sherrill was the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1977 to 1981. He is credited with grooming quarterback Dan Marino, who went on to a prolific Hall of Fame career in the NFL. During his tenure, Sherrill's coaching staff included future NFL head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt. In Sherrill's five seasons at Pittsburgh, the Panthers won 50 games, lost nine, and had one tie winning the Walter Camp “Coach of the Year” award in 1981.
Texas A & M
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", which is still observed by A&M today. In his seven seasons as the coach, the Aggies, 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 with Sherrill winning the SWC “Coach of the Year” award in each of those years. As a result, the Aggies played in the Cotton Bowl Classic at the end of each season, defeating Auburn 36–16 on January 1, 1986 and Notre Dame 35–10 on January 1, 1988, and losing to Ohio State 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 Longhorns, winning his last five against The University of Texas after losing his first two. In 1988, Sherrill's Aggies were put under probation by the NCAA for a period of two years. Sherrill resigned in December 1988, however, he was not personally found guilty of any infractions.
Mississippi State
After three years away from the game, Sherrill was hired as head coach at Mississippi State in 1991. He took over a program that hadn't had a winning season since 1986 and hadn't had a winning record in Southeastern Conference play since 1981. Sherrill began his Mississippi State career with an upset victory over a familiar foe from his A&M days, the Texas Longhorns (who were the defending Southwest Conference champions).
In thirteen seasons in Starkville, Sherrill coached the Bulldogs to a record of 75–75–2, the most wins in school history. He led the team to an SEC West title in 1998, and a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic. A year later, he notched a 10–2 record and #12 final ranking which was the highest final ranking achieved by any NCAA Division I-A school in Mississippi in over 30 years. Although Sherrill won only seven games in his last three seasons, he built Mississippi State into a consistent winner despite playing in the same division as powerhouses like Alabama, Auburn and LSU. He also finished with a winning record against in-state rival Ole Miss (7–6). Under Sherrill, the Bulldogs went to six bowl games; before his arrival they'd only been to seven bowls in 96 years of play. Sylvester Croom replaced Sherrill when he retired after the 2003 season, which was followed by the NCAA levying probation for four years on the program. Despite a prolonged 3 year investigation by the NCAA, Mississippi State was 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.
