A whole book could be written about Texas A&M's 12th Man Kickoff Team, created by coach Jackie Sherrill in the 1980s. And now it has.

No Experience Required (Dockery House Publishing, $34.95 hardcover) tells the inside story of the student walk-on "suicide squad" that defended kickoffs for the Aggies from 1983 to 1989.

Sherrill came up with the idea for the nonscholarship 12th Man team after working with A&M students building the annual Bonfire and observing their toughness and spirit. When he put out a call for recruits, 252 students showed up. After weeks of grueling tryouts, 16 players were selected.

Author Caleb Pirtle goes behind the scenes and weaves the story in a flowing narrative, based on interviews with more than 60 12th Man team members and the men who coached them, especially Sherrill, who underwrote the book project.

The 260-page, 9-by-11 book includes about 180 color photos as well as a "where-are-they-now" appendix. Proceeds benefit a scholarship fund created by the 12th Man Kickoff Team Foundation.

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The latest book from noted Texas author Carlton Stowers is Texas Football Legends: Greats of the Game (TCU Press, $8.95 hardcover).

It's one of the new offerings in the Texas Small Books Series from TCU Press -- attractive, 96-page, hardcover stocking stuffers that provide an introduction to a popular Texas topic. Previous titles dealt with Texas movies, Texas women and Texas country singers.

Stowers, a veteran author in the fields of sports and true crime, profiles 18 Texas football heroes in this small volume, sticking strictly to native Texans.

He acknowledges that another writer might have come up with a different list, but says "they're my picks and I'm sticking to 'em."

And what a list: Doak Walker, Sammy Baugh, Earl Campbell, for starters. Bob Lilly, Bobby Layne, Davey O'Brien. Vince Young, John Kimbrough, Tommy Nobis, Don Meredith, Jerry LeVias, Y.A. Tittle, Tim Brown, Raymond Berry, Eric Dickerson, Kenneth Hall.

Ed Sprinkle might not be as familiar to readers as the others listed. He played one season of six-man football at Tuscola before enrolling at Hardin-Simmons University in 1940. At the first practice, he had to ask the coach where he was supposed to line up. Sprinkle would go on to play pro ball for the Chicago Bears and become known as "the meanest man in football," Stowers writes.

Another country boy, Harley Sewell, was remembered by University of Texas assistant coach Bully Gilstrap as "the best snuff-dipping guard we ever had." When an offended UT alum called Gilstrap to ask what action the coaches were going to take against Sewell for dipping snuff, Gilstrap asked the caller to find out what brand Sewell was using so he could recommend it to the whole team. The caller quickly hung up.

* Glenn Dromgoole writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@ suddenlink.net.

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