It took nearly 15 years for Jackie Sherrill to get his court case against the NCAA moving in the right direction and only a few days for the longtime former coach and outspoken critic of the organization to settle.
According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, attorneys for the two parties confirmed they had reached a private settlement to end a case that was originally filed back in 2004.
“I’m relieved,” Sherrill told the paper after the announcement, “especially after all this time.”
No fan of the NCAA from previous coaching stops at Pitt and Texas A&M, Sherrill retired in 2003 from coaching at Mississippi State after being caught up in recruiting allegations from the NCAA. Subsequent wrangling between all the involved parties eventually produced a lawsuit the following year, with the coach claiming defamation at the hands of the NCAA investigators and even Ole Miss boosters.
The case did not seem to be going well for the folks from Indianapolis based on early testimony so news of a settlement isn’t too surprising.
The 75-year-old coach seemed pleased at the outcome of this week’s proceedings as a result, even if things took a bit longer to get over the hump than first expected.