Texas A&M Aggies Coach, Athletics Director Jackie Sherrill Inducted Into Texas Sports Hall of Fame
Five months after he was named to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame ballot, former Texas A&M Aggies athletics director and coach Jackie Sherrill was officially inducted to the esteemed group.
Sherrill, 79, joined Jamaal Charles, Colt McCoy, Bubba Thornton, Christa Williams, Andy Cooper, Judge Roy Hofheinz, Barbara Jacket and Mike Leach — the latter four of which were inducted posthumously — in the TSHOF's Class of 2024, further cementing his college football legend.
But while Sherrill's legacy was cemented with his most recent honor, it was created in College Station.
Nov 20, 2010; Houston, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies former head coach Jackie Sherrill on the field before a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Kyle Field.
© Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Sherrill served as the Aggies' coach and A.D. from 1982-88, where he helped lead Texas A&M to its first Cotton Bowl appearance in over 20 years, and later two more, where the Aggies took down two Heisman trophy winners in Auburn's Bo Jackson and Notre Dame's Tim Brown.
Aside from big-time wins, Sherrill also established the 12th Man Kickoff Team — a way to continue the long-standing tradition that set the Aggies apart.
His proposed team was set to be made up of Texas A&M students who weren't on scholarship, even advertising the tryouts to be for students with "no prior experience."
"I knew that I could find, out of 40-some-odd thousand students, 11 guys that would cover kickoffs, but have no regard for their body and be tough as nails," Sherrill said. "I just knew it would work."
Simply put, it worked. In the five years of the team's existence, his kickoff squad only allowed 12.5 yards per return on average, leading the country twice and finishing top five the other three times.
Since then, having the Aggies' "12th Man" on the field for kickoffs has remained a tradition at Kyle Field.
Sherrill was inducted into Texas A&M's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 for his accomplishments in Aggieland, but now, 24 years removed from his role with the Aggies, his work is being recognized on a larger scale through his TSHOF induction.
The 63rd Annual Texas Sports Hall of Fame Induction will be held in the BASE at Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas, on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
There, Sherrill will officially be recognized and remembered as an Aggies legend.
