Back to the “great writing” series.
Today’s entry consists of former Texas A&M football coach Mike Sherman’s opening statement at his post-termination press conference. Coach Sherman wrote this himself; he didn't rely on his agent or a PR firm. For those who don’t know, Coach Sherman is a long-time, accomplished football man. He coached on several college and pro staffs, including at A&M under Coach R.C. Slocum, A&M’s last successful football coach. He was head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and most recently had been the Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator. He’s largely succeeded in every stop along the way. Its harder to imagine many coaches possessing a finer pedigree than Coach Sherman.
I know a little about college football coaching. My uncle, Jimmy Dickey, was a college football coach for over 30 years. He coached as an assistant at Oklahoma, Houston, Oklahoma State, Florida, Southern Mississippi, North Carolina (where he coached Lawrence Taylor). Uncle Jimmy was the head coach at Kansas State and led them to their first ever bowl berth. His son and my cousin Darrell Dickey has also enjoyed a long career as a college football coach. So I know first hand that while in some respects it beats sitting at a desk all day filling out forms, its a brutal profession. No job is safe, and turnover is nearly constant. The average coach not only loses his job, but has to move every 2-3 years. A coach's success or failure depends on how a group of 100 18-22 year olds responds under pressure. What were you doing when you were 18? Exactly. The pressure to win is unrelenting. At some schools, winning 9-10 games per year is regarded as a failure. Criticism is the norm; praise is rare. Jimmy's Oklahoma teams would win 10 games, and lots of fans would regard it as a complete failure if they hadn't beaten Nebraska or Texas that year. So college football coaching is an extremely difficult profession, with constant stress and tension, and nearly unattainable expectations.
Enter our good friends at the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College. Having suddenly, after over 100 years, had enough of being the University of Texas’ little brother, they decided in a fit of pique to answer all of Texas’ slights, real and perceived, by taking their toys and going somewhere else. The Aggies decided to switch their affiliation from the Big 12 Conference to the more intensely competitive but also more academically challenged Southeastern Conference.
It has been, to put it mildly, a circus. For a team that had legitimate Bowl Championship Series aspirations as the season began, simply put, the Aggies’ 2011 season became a colossal failure. A&M couldn’t possibly have bungled its move to the SEC more. First they’re going to stay in the Big 12, then they’re off to the SEC for “stability” less than a year later. They decide to move to the SEC, incurring huge financial obligations, while their athletic director is on vacation. Does President R. Bowen ("Bowtie") Loftin have any idea after about a year how much exit fee it must pay the Big 12? Having trashed the University of Texas at every turn and in every media outlet known to mankind, they react with shock and awe that Texas refuses to schedule their teams after they leave the conference, thereby depriving A&M of a marquee intrastate matchup key to A&M’s recruiting.
Don’t think all this didn’t create turmoil within the football program. The results were plainly obvious. A good football team with the talent and coaching to make a serious run at the BCS proved incapable of holding second half leads. The Aggies went .500 on the year, losing to the likes of Missouri and hated Texas at home. All year long, “old Ags” pontificated on how they needed a true SEC coach leading the team, and practically held fundraisers seeking to raise the money needed to buy out Coach Sherman’s contract. The team also suffered key injuries to its talented running backs and wide receivers. Towards the end of the season, the athletic department CFO was found to have been posting anonymous comments on a popular Aggie athletics web site that the school President (Loftin) was a “putz” and an “incompetent puppet.” In this circus, no one could have succeeded, though the Aggies under Coach Sherman still managed to field a good team that never quit.
A&M even bungled Coach Sherman’s firing. Over the Athletic Director’s recommendation to keep Coach Sherman, the Regents, with the Bowtie's encouragement, called a special meeting and directed the President to fire Coach Sherman. Someone within the administration, presumably in the Regents’ offices, leaked the news to the Austin American-Statesman, which released news of the firing before the Athletic Director could convey the news to the Coach. AD Bill Byrne reached the Coach by telephone as he was pulling his car into the driveway of a recruit’s home before a visit.
Even by today’s debased standards, this was a shabby way to treat a long-time, loyal coach. Even the Texas A&M student newspaper, the Battalion, agreed. Unlike many, many other college football programs, A&M under Coach Sherman had not even a hint of scandal or impropriety. A&M had gone from also ran to perennial competitor. The athletic department debt had been paid off, and fans had regained the optimism they had lost in past years. A&M was beginning to recruit the best talented players. The NFL resumed drafting Aggies, something that had not occurred in some time. Coach Sherman had restored the program to respectability, in an honest and honorable way. So if ever anyone had a legitimate ax to grind for being fired, it was Coach Sherman.
Yet, rather than open fire with both barrels, he eloquently took the high road. He reaffirmed his loyalty to Texas A&M University. He paid tribute to nearly everyone who plays a part in the football program. He thanked those who’d hired him, including Athletic Director Byrne. He wished the team and others in the program well. More importantly, he reaffirmed the ideal of college athletics as an institution that can mold young people into men and women, teaching them lessons that will help them lead successful and rewarding lives. Today’s money-hungry athletics directors, regents, and even alumni seem to have forgotten this ideal as they instead focus on multi-million dollar TV and merchandising deals. “Professional college athletics” is no longer sarcasm, its reality. Coach Sherman, however, reminds us that some still resist this commercialization and truly work to educate and help young people.
I commend to you his remarks.
"Howdy. Let me just begin by saying that no one has had greater expectations for this program than I have. No one, after the season, is more disappointed than me. I feel totally accountable and responsible for everything we've done over the last four years, including this past season. But I'm proud of how our football team always came back and battled and battled. At no time did I ever feel like they gave in to that disappointment. They gave it their all. If anything they pressed too hard and missed opportunities they would normally make.
As I said, I'm disappointed and accountable, but I'm proud of these men and even prouder to be called their coach. Last night, saying goodbye to them was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in my life. It was gut-wrenching to say the least. I told them they could always count on me. Winning is such a fine line in the game of football and we were on the wrong side of that line each time. I take full responsibility for that. But this is a good football team. We're going to play this bowl game and we're going to win. I'm disappointed I won't be there to coach.
I believe in the last four years this program has come a long way. We've changed the culture where we are now expected to win every game. That wasn't the case when we got here. This season we fell victim to our own expectations that we created. What I'm most proud about with this football team is their character and their work ethic. I've asked a lot of these guys and they've always responded when I've put them to the task. We've recruited some good kids from some good families. Sometimes it's a single mom, but those moms are such an influence on that young man that they come to us with character. Someone in their lives led them here ready to do the things I've asked them to do.
I'm very thankful for the players' parents, they've been very supportive. I wouldn't trade the last four years for anything. I've had the chance to coach my son Matt and see him grow into a man. I've also gotten to see other kids grow and become men.
It's been an honor to be a part of this great University. I've worked 24/7 the last four years. Not a day has gone by the last four years where I haven't done something related to A&M football, whether it's drawing up plays, recruiting, working toward development of facilities.
I'm proud to be associated with the great faculty we have here. I know this is a research university, but we have a group of faculty members that embrace these kids, educate these kids, and I'm proud to be associated with each of these faculty members that care about these kids. We have a great athletic staff, and coaches in all our sports. They motivate me with the bars they've raised. I'm thankful for the sacrifices everyone's wives and family have made for this program. I'm proud to be associated with our athletic director, Bill Byrne. He's professional in everything he does. He's been a mentor to me and very supportive these last four years.
(Thanking various other parties.)
Our athletic training staff has been great. Our doctors have been second to none.
I'm going to miss a lot of things over the years. I'm going to miss walking across campus on a Wednesday or Thursday heading to mass at the All Faiths Chapel and students always stopping to be supportive, giving a Howdy or a handshake. I'm going to miss Aggie Band practices, going over to the Corps — which is the backbone of this University — and the students. At 11:00 last night, a group of students were out at my house encouraging me. I was so moved by that demonstration, it was special to me. That tells me we made the connection we wanted between our football players and our students. I always told the players that they're players on game day, but when they walk across campus they are students. I tried to break down that barrier between athletes and students, athletics and academics. Our players understand they have to be students first, and athletes second.
Our former students have been unbelievably supportive, over the last four years and yesterday. Our academic support group is second to none in the country. There is not another school in America that helps our guys like we do. It is the greatest recruiting tool we have, that we can get a young man in here and not just get him the grades but educate him to a higher level.
I don't know if I enjoy anything as much as going out and visiting with high school coaches. I feel when we came here we weren't received as we should be. Something was wrong. But we embraced the coaches and they embraced us and we've opened avenues that will help us as we move into the SEC. We've got a great group of recruits that will lead A&M to new heights. I plan to encourage them all to continue to be committed. You don't commit to a coach, you commit to a school.
I've tried to embrace the values of A&M and infuse that into our players. I believe that they're better men today because they bought into the Aggie culture, the Aggie Code of Honor. No one's perfect, but they've embraced A&M and they beleive in it and that's important to me."Since I've been here at Texas A&M, it's never been about Mike Sherman. And today is not about me. It's the end of one chapter and the start of another. I just hope that when this chapter is read later, it tells that this chapter is one that led to greater times. I hope this leads to a period of greater things as we head into the SEC."
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