He coached Texas A&M to the Cotton Bowl.

At Mississippi State, he authorized the castration of a bull on the practice field to motivate his team, which responded with an upset victory over Texas in the 1992 season opener.

All the while, Jackie Sherrill did things his way. And now he’s saying things his way as co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show, “Conference Call: All Big 12, All the Time.”

His way isn’t the popular shock-jock way, by any means. His way is to bombard his listeners with football insights only a former football coach could deliver. Yet, unlike so many former coaches who make the transition, he’s not afraid to express his opinions.

The show is heard in Lawrence on KLWN-AM (1320) from 6 to 8 p.m. weeknights when not pre-empted by local play-by-play. A radio station in every Big 12 city save the one that is least sports-crazed, which of course would be Boulder, Colo., carries at least a portion of the three-hour show.

Sherrill, according to radio partner Chris Rushin, spends six hours a day in the office preparing for the show that launched July 11.

“When they told me I was going to be paired with Coach, I thought he might come in an hour before the show or even 30 minutes, because I know some coaches do that,” Rushin said. “Not Coach. He works harder than anybody here. I know he didn’t take his full complement of vacation, and in the first year of launching the show, that’s what it takes. He works circles around everybody.”

Sherrill’s face stood out amid the media horde at the Big 12 basketball tournament in Dallas.

“I thought a bunch of coaches were going to come after us for causing them whiplash,” Rushin said. “They were all like, ‘Oh my gosh, Jackie Sherrill’s wearing a press pass! A press pass? Jackie Sherrill?”

With the help of inside access to coaches, throughout spring football, Sherrill studied the developments going on with all 12 programs with an eye toward autumn and shared some of his thoughts on Big 12 football during a telephone interview.

The best quarterback in the Big 12?

“Today, if I had to pick from what I’ve seen from the kids on film, I’d have to say Stephen McGee from Texas A&M,” Sherrill said. “His size. His arm strength. His speed. His toughness and his ability to run and throw. The kid was raised as a coach’s son who understands the game and has tremendous mechanics. It’s good that no one has changed his mechanics.”

Reggie McNeal ranked fourth in the conference among quarterbacks in total offense with 2,627 yards. He wouldn’t have done so if Sherrill had been coaching the Aggies.

“I told Fran (A&M coach Dennis Franchione): ‘I started to call you at midseason.’ He said: ‘You don’t have to finish. I know what you’re going to say.’ I was going to tell him he was playing the wrong quarterback. I like Bret Meyer. I like Rhett Bomar. But if I had to make the choice, I’d take Stephen McGee.”

As a backup in ’05, McGee completed 24 of 53 passes with an average of 5.4 yards per attempt.

In a less surprising pick, Sherrill said he considered Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson to be the best running back.

“I’ve been there watching him come out of meetings without a shirt on,” Sherrill said. “I’ve watched him practice and I’ve watched him in games. When you have a kid that plays that hard every second in practice, then realize the strength he has, plus he’s a 4.3 (40-yard dash) kid, that gets your attention.”

Texas backers could make a case for Jamaal Charles, who doubles as a track star. Charles averaged 7.4 yards per carry and rushed for 11 touchdowns as a freshman.

“On the track, Charles is going to outrun him,” Sherrill said. “Carrying pads, I don’t know if Charles is going to outrun him. Charles is good size, but he’s not as big as Adrian.”

The best defensive tackle?

“I’ll take (315-pound junior) Frank Okam from Texas,” said the man they call “Coach” on his radio show. “I thought he was their best defensive lineman last year. I go on the field before the game, and I watch them warm up. I watch their drills. I watch their footwork.”

The best defensive end?

“Probably Larry Birdine,” he said of the sack-minded Oklahoma senior. “I told Bob Stoops if he were to take a picture of Birdine, he should put it on the wall of his staff room and tell them to recruit kids who look like that. He looks like he’s been playing ball for 10 years.”

Sherrill said he considered Nebraska’s Steve Octavien the best linebacker, but added he also loved the way Oklahoma’s Zach Latimer plays.

Sherrill’s not loud with his opinions, just firm and fearless. Asked about the setbacks programs face when they change coaches, he predicted it would be a tougher transition for Kansas State under Ron Prince than for Colorado under Dan Hawkins.

“It’s a matter of the players learning the coaches and the coaches learning the players,” he said. “Neither one has seen each other under fire in a crisis. I will say both teams needed to hear a new voice, and both coaches will add a lot of enthusiasm.

“I’ve been really impressed with Ron. He’s done all the right things, but you have to win a lot of games before you’re a good head coach. I had to win a lot of games before I was a good head coach. Mack Brown had to win a lot of games before he was a good head coach. That’s not to say Ron’s not going to become a good head coach, but you have to win a lot of games first.”

Sherrill predicted Nebraska would be the best team in the North.

“The players coming back and how they finished gives them the edge,” Sherrill said. “They had to turn it around and they did. And beating Michigan in the bowl game took them up a notch.”

Sherrill said flip a coin to determine the South winner between Oklahoma and Texas.

“It’s going to come down to which quarterback plays the best that day,” Sherrill said. “Oklahoma has the better, deeper defensive front, and Texas is better and deeper in the front offensively. It comes back to the quarterback.

“Both teams are top five in the country if their quarterbacks allow them to play to that level. Is Rhett going to step up and take Oklahoma to another level? Texas will spend so much time this summer evaluating who’s going to be the quarterback, instead of using that time getting ready for next season.”

Brown didn’t decide on a quarterback in spring ball and is considering using two quarterbacks, even though the Chris Simms/Major Applewhite job share wasn’t too smooth a few years back. Red-shirt freshman Colt McCoy and freshman Jevan Snead are competing to be Vince Young’s replacement.

Projecting to the fall, Sherrill put the conference teams into five categories, which are identified here by stars and listed in alphabetical order.

Five-star teams: Oklahoma and Texas.

Four-star teams: Iowa State, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

Three-star teams: Colorado and Missouri.

Two-star teams: Kansas, K-State and Oklahoma State.

One-star team: Baylor.

Other random opinions expressed by Sherrill:

“Mark Mangino’s the right fit for Kansas. I’m kind of shocked they’re only paying him that amount (estimated $650,000 total package). Kansas has got to make a commitment to their football program if they want to compete and compete for championships. They have to make a commitment just like they have in basketball. You send a message. The kids read that stuff. They know those things. They go and see facilities, listen to the news, read. They know who the highest-paid coaches are. Exposure, exposure, exposure. It makes a big difference how a coach is perceived, and salary has a lot to do with that.”

(KU athletic director Lew Perkins said he was in negotiations with Mangino for a contract extension. Money has been pledged for a new football facility, but no precise plans have been announced.)

On the Kansas State Wildcats: “They have (four) quarterbacks. Therefore, they have none.”

On the Baylor Bears: “They’re very well-coached, and they are capable of beating any team on their schedule, but until they get speed and depth, you’d have to put them at the bottom.”

On the Texas Tech Red Raiders: “Losing Dwayne Slay is going to hurt more than people think. If he had another year there, he’d be a consensus All-American.”

On the Texas A&M Aggies: “Their offensive line is not athletic like the Texas and Oklahoma lines, but they do have great size on the line.”

Sherrill expressed all those football insights and opinions, and many more, in a 45-minute telephone conversation. That computes to five percent of the amount of time he spends on the radio every week.