12th Man KickOff Team

When Jackie Sherrill arrived in College Station to take charge of the Texas A&M football program during the early spring of 1982, he was recognized nationally as one of the top five coaches in the country. Sherrill was known as a master strategist, technician, and motivator on the football field, and as head coach for the University of Pittsburgh, he and his team had three consecutive years with 11-1, 11-1, and 11-1 records. He had recruited a number of high school players who eventually turned pro, including Tony Dorsett and Hugh Green, and Sherrill turned Pittsburgh into a national powerhouse.

Jackie Sherrill had played seven positions for the legendary Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama, anchoring a team that won two national championships. He learned his craft while later coaching for Bryant, as well as for Frank Broyles at the University of Arkansas and Johnny Majors at Iowa State and Pittsburgh.

In 1982, Sherrill began the building process at Texas A&M as head coach and athletic director. Four years later, the led the Aggies to their first Southwest Conference Championship in forty-three years, ultimately beating Auburn and the great Bo Jackson in the Cotton Bowl. Under his guidance, A&M won three consecutive SWC titles, and in 1988, defeated Notre Dame and Heisman-trophy winning Tim Brown.

During the fall of 1982, Sherrill became the first and only coach to go out at night and work for hours, wiring logs together to build the stack for the famed Aggie Bonfire. He watched the hard work and untiring efforts of the students, realized the depth of their determination and dedication, and developed the idea for creating the 12th man kickoff team. "Those kids were the toughest sonuvaguns I had ever seen," he said.

The 12th Man had long been one of A&M's most revered traditions, and Sherrill, against all odds, decided to make it a reality. He believed that he 12th man kickoff unit, formed from all-volunteer, non-scholarship students, would be the missing link to connect his football team with the student body.

Coaches and newspapers throughout the country ridiculed his idea and called it crazy. Non-scholarship kids who came down from the stands of Kyle Field could not compete against the nation's finest athletes. The 12th man team, however, became the stuff of legend. Historically, it either led the nation in the fewest number of yards allowed on a kickoff or, most certainly, finished ranked in the top five.

Because of the traditions and culture of the school, Sherrill said, the 12th man team could have only happened at Texas A&M. He built a winning tradition because Sherrill took time to recruit great athletes, understand the school, appreciate the importance of its past, embrace its traditions, and reach out to the students themselves.

The cover for No Experience Required has been painted by Rick Rush of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, widely regarded as America's Sport's Artist. His masterful grasp of his craft allows him to take enormous emotional risks in presenting his views. Perhaps, though, Rush can best be described as combining, in his own inimitable way, the free spirited exuberance of LeRoy Neiman with the more traditional realism of Winslow Homer. He began painting in 1975 and has achieved international recognition. One of his favorite paintings captured the spirit and the glory of Warren Barhorst and the 12th man team tackling Tim Brown in the 1988 Cotton Bowl, only seconds before Barhorst stole Brown's towel in a moment that will forever live in glory throughout the annals of Texas A&M football.

No Experience Required is the fifty-first book written by Caleb Pirtle III. He spent many days with Coach Jackie Sherrill, then traveled throughout Texas to interview more than sixty players who devoted their lives to the 12th man kickoff team during their tenure at Texas A&M. He even tracked down and talked with two members in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Pirtle, who has won numerous awards for his writings, said, “The book chronicling the exploits, the triumphs, the tragedies, the expectation, the disappointments, and the successes of the 12th man unit represents the most satisfying book I have ever written. It is a study of human emotion and human drama at their best.” Pirtle also wrote the screenplays for the CBS mini-series, “Gambler V: Playing for Keeps,” and a TNT movie, The Texas Rangers.