'One of the best coaches in NC State history': Former players remember the late Dick Sheridan

When Dick Sheridan became NC State's head coach before the 1986 season, the Wolfpack had not not made a bowl game in the previous seven years.

Sheridan quickly turned the program around and won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in his first year in Raleigh. In seven seasons at NC State, Sheridan's tenure was brief but successful.

"He is still talked about as one of the best coaches in NC State history," said former running back Gary Downs, who played for Sheridan from 1990 to 1992.

Sheridan died on Thursday at the age of 81, and former Pack players shared their favorite memories of their coach who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020.

"I think a lot of people don't really realize how impactful he was to the game," said Terry Harvey, a quarterback under Sheridan in 1991 and 1992.

During Sheridan's tenure at State from 1986 to 1992, his teams made six bowl game in an era bowls were harder to reach, and his record against rival North Carolina was 6-1.

"He brought an impact to the university and surrounding areas immediately," said cornerback Dewayne Washington, who played for Sheridan from 1990 to 1992. "Coach went into the College Football Hall of Fame, and he didn't win (an ACC) championship."

Sheridan not only was loved by his players, he was respected with his old-school approach.

"He never used foul language. It was rare that you ever heard an expletive (by players or coaches) at practice," said Harvey.

"We couldn't even have a mustache during the season," said Washington. "No coach would do that now."

"I was talking to (former offensive line coach) Robbie Caldwell, and he said there was a reunion with Coach Sheridan (with former players and coaches). Men in their 50's and 60's, and he said they were smoking cigars. And he said when Coach Sheridan walked up, everybody put the cigars out and hid them," said Downs. "He commanded respect."

Sheridan was so respected, he was offered and turned down job offers from Georgia, LSU and his alma mater South Carolina.

"He saw something in us that he thought he could win at a high level here," said Washington.

Sheridan was also close with his first athletic director at State, Jim Valvano. But after Valvano resigned in 1990 and died in 1993 after a public battle with cancer, Sheridan surprisingly resigned in June of 1993, citing health reasons.

"It was a huge shock to us," Washington said.

Sheridan never coached again.

"I think just being away from the game for a few years, he realized, 'You know what, maybe I don't need to get back into that,'" said Harvey.

"When I became a coach, I wanted to be just as ordered, just as disciplined," said Downs, who was an assistant coach at East Tennessee State for seven seasons.

"We would have won a championship if (Sheridan) would have stayed there for a couple more years, no doubt about it," said Washington.