Yeah, I'm trying to think of a time Ronnie Cox was ever not awesome. I've always liked him (yes, even on "Apple's Way").
Jellico (two L's, dammit!) was clearly created to be like an anti-Picard. Family guy, puts his kids' artwork on the walls, but a hardass on the bridge. Picard was always chill, but didn't really open up to people. It seemed so obvious that the more unlike Picard they made him, the more opportunites there would be for conflict and drama, which was pretty cheesy for them to do. But that didn't mean he was a bad character. The character itself was cool, largely due to Ronnie Cox being awesome.