The winningest and losingest coach in Mississippi State history is still trying to figure out what went wrong. On Friday, Jackie Sherrill announced that he will retire at the end of the season.
At Monday’s press conference, he took a deep breath as he walked to the podium and stepped up to the microphone. A tear lurked in his eye as he explained his decision, saying, “We do not always do what we want, but it is the right thing at the right time.”
Why is now the right time?
Sherrill talked about being a player coach and said he relates to players now better than ever. So that hypothesis is out.
The NCAA investigation is still going on according to the Athletic Department, but Sherrill emphasized that the probe had nothing to do with his retirement.
“They can’t do anything to me that they haven’t done before,” he said.
Was it an effort to win one for the gipper?
“No, I don’t motivate players like that,” Sherrill said. “I always had a date and time in mind, but sometimes things change. Against South Carolina (September 2001) our balloon popped and we couldn’t ever seal it.”
The countless hours of trying to fix things have finally taken their toll. Sherrill is the last person in the world who ever wanted to see State collapse, but he is finally prepared to pass the torch of renewing a program he erected.
Building expectations
Taking over at State in 1991, Jackie Sherrill inherited a program that had formerly enjoyed only one winning season in the previous nine years.
He changed the attitudes and expectations of players, fans and the rest of the country. Losing would no longer be tolerated. His Bulldogs took the field to smash people in the face and enjoyed unmatched fame. Eighty-two of Sherrill’s 147 games on the sidelines have been televised, creating immeasurable exposure for the university.
At the conference, President J. Charles Lee noted the classroom success of Sherrill’s players to go along with the increased exposure. In his 13 years, 80 percent of Sherrill’s players graduated.
On the field, the Bulldogs posted the best record in the SEC West from 1997-2000, played for the SEC championship in ’98 (the first time since 1941) and appeared in three straight bowls.
Now, getting three straight wins could be the plot for Mission: Impossible 3. The snake-bitten Dawgs lost five games by seven or less in 2001, including three in the final minute of play.
The downward spiral continued with another 3-8 season during which the offense disappeared and led to five new assistant coaches being hired to return the program to its “Dawg Pound Rock” glory.
With the new season came a new feeling of opportunity. Fans filled Scott Field for the Aug. 30 game against Oregon, then left by the end of the first quarter, when the previous season picked up where it left off.
The Dawgs showed determination and offensive explosion in a comeback that fell a touchdown shy from tying the Ducks.
Two losses to Conference USA teams later and the rumor mills were cranking. A Web site attacking Sherrill formed, and why not? It provided an opportunity for people to namelessly and facelessly attack a public figure in a dehumanizing way without offering any solutions. Sadly, this is a growing trend in college athletics.
Unfortunately for Sherrill, relief would not come the following week against LSU. Prior to the LSU game Sherrill stood at the same podium with a look of expected defeat.
Knowing that two of the best opportunities to turn things around had slipped away on the road and with the Tigers smelling raw meat, Sherrill stood with the look of a young man that had been bad at school that day and he was about to go home to his father who had gotten a call from the principal.
Everyone remembers the 41-6 punishment dealt to the Bulldogs.
That game brought excruciating pain for Sherrill to live and then relive on the following Monday during his teleconference with every journalist on the line hammering away with question after question about his future.
Yogi Berra, with 10 World Series rings, once said, “You can’t win all the time. Sometimes there’s guys better than you.”
LSU may not be 41-6 better than the Dawgs, but they were that night.
The schedule softened with Vanderbilt and Memphis, but that merely delayed the inevitable … another team with more depth and talent like Auburn lurking.
Sherrill’s tired of losing, tired of dealing with the media and tired of not solving the Bulldogs problem but says he believes that MSU will succeed again and that he will always consider himself a Bulldog.
“Now, I’ve got to figure out how to sneak a cowbell in,” Sherrill mused. “If you need help straightening officials out, I’ll be happy to.”
The chuckles in the Bryan Building paused with an awkward silence. There he stood.
Sorry coach, but losing ain’t accepted ’round here anymore.
Craig Peters can be reached at [email protected].