Around CFB: Critics minimizing A&M's potential aren't paying attention
A prevailing opinion among national sports media lately is that Texas A&M lacks self-awareness. The narrative is that A&M has no business seeking a high-profile football coach like Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher to replace ousted coach Kevin Sumlin.
Three weeks ago, an Orlando sports columnist ridiculed reports that A&M would target Fisher, especially when Fisher turned down LSU just two years previously.
“And if LSU is a lesser job than FSU, then Texas A&M is REALLY a lesser job than FSU,” wrote Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. “At least at LSU, you are the king of an entire recruiting-rich state. At Texas A&M, you will always be the Texas Longhorns’ annoying kid brother.”
Well, Michael Corleone was Fredo’s kid brother. How’d that work out?
SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy also said in a radio interview that coaching A&M was not a “high-tier” job.
“Know who you are,” seems to be the message directed at A&M.
Actually, A&M is a “high-tier” job. Its impressive record of attracting and retaining coaches is proof. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the University of Pittsburgh boasted one of the nation’s elite football programs. Pitt won the 1976 national championship. The Panthers finished among the Top Ten with 11-1 records in ’79, ’80 and ’81.
Yet, coach Jackie Sherrill left … for Texas A&M.
Sherrill’s successor at A&M was R.C. Slocum, who led the Aggies to four conference championships and an undefeated season in ’94. Slocum was so successful he was offered head coaching positions at LSU and with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
Yet, he remained at Texas A&M.
Slocum was eventually replaced by Dennis Franchione, who left Alabama after a 10-3 season in 2002 to come to Texas A&M.
In 2011, Sumlin led Houston to a 12-1 record and runner-up finish in Conference USA. Considered perhaps the hottest coaching prospect in the country, Sumlin could have accepted a position at UCLA or Arizona State.
He chose Texas A&M.
Some in the national media also seem to think A&M should not expect to win at a high level even though the Aggies have proven they can. A&M won 75 percent of its games during a five-year span in the ‘70s. The Aggies won three consecutive conference championships in the ‘80s. They also won three consecutive conference championships in the ‘90s.
That was accomplished without the elite facilities, administrative support and budget that A&M has now. The infrastructure, recruiting area, and — yes — even its history shows A&M can be an elite football program and a destination job for high-profile coaches.
All A&M needs is the right coach to bring it all together. Some in the national media need to learn who A&M really is.
Heisman leaders
Here are the weekly Heisman ratings based on how I’d vote if the ballot was due this week:
1. Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma, QB: Not only did Mayfield pass for 281 yards and three touchdowns in a 59-31 victory over West Virginia, he also didn’t do anything embarrass himself or his team. Mayfield now has passed for 4,097 yards and 37 touchdowns.
2. Bryce Love, Stanford, RB: He had a typically productive outing in a 38-20 victory over Notre Dame. Love averaged 6.3 yards per carry while rushing for 125 yards. He has rushed for 1,848 yards and 16 touchdowns despite missing one game.
3. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin, RB: The Badgers fabulous freshman rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown in a 31-0 win over Minnesota. He’s exceeded 100 rushing yards in seven of the last eight games. Taylor has gained 1,806 yards and scored 13 touchdowns.
4. Lamar Jackson, Louisville, QB: Jackson was spectacular in a 44-17 victory over rival Kentucky. He passed for 216 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 156. He has thrown for 3,489 yards and rushed for 1,443 to lead the nation with 4,932 yards of total offense.
5. Kerryon Johnson, Auburn, RB: Johnson rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown in Auburn’s 26-14 victory over Alabama. He also completed a pass for a touchdown and caught three passes for 21 more yards. He’s rushed for 1,276 yards and 17 touchdowns despite missing two games.
Predicted playoff participants
1. Clemson: The Tigers have beaten three teams with eight wins, another (Virginia Tech) with nine and 10-win Auburn.
2. Oklahoma: A victory over possible Big Ten champion Ohio State is more impressive than a potential Big 12 championship.
3. Auburn: Two-loss teams won’t typically appear in the playoff. But two-loss teams typically haven’t posted consecutive wins over No. 1 teams like Auburn has in beating Georgia and Alabama.
4. Wisconsin: No one seems to respect the Badgers, but no one has beaten them either.
Boom goes the dynamite! Suck it Orlando.
Been reading your work for 20 years, Olin. Keep up the good job.
Steve McQueen
f(x) + y = z
x is the head coach you hire.
y is the avg "floor" nbr of wins a program would get if it hired a braindead gerbil as its Head Coach. At a program like OhioSt with its program advantages, y=5. At a school like Kansas or Baylor, y=0.
z is the avg nbr of wins you get as a result of x and y.
Let's take this out of the CF world for a moment. Let's say you are offered a job at a good company. The guy trying to hire you tells you about all the accomplishments of the people who have held the position you are interviewing for before you. They have performed the best in the country at times and now they want you try and do the same. Now he knows that you have that offer from the company across town. And he knows that at that company you have a bigger, nicer office with a better view. He also knows you will have a bigger budget to work with as well. That company has a nice fitness center and a gourmet cafeteria. And to top it all off they will pay you 25% more than his company is willing to pay. But hey, the last few people who held that position at this other company didn't perform at a very high level. And so he tells you that job is not nearly as good as the one he is offering you. Now, which job would you rather have?
Miss a FG against Florida, rush 3 against t.u., get Bucky hurt against Tulsa, and you're a "never was" who needs to stay in their lane.
I'm 100% sure that we can beat anybody. You'd be amazed what tackling a few people and going into attack mode on offense could do. Make the right hire and we will win big. This is a refocus, not a rebuild.
19 conference championships - In the SEC, only Alabama has more.
2 un-scored-upon teams - there have only been five in college football history.
3 national championships - irrespective of the fact that the AP became the definitive championship in 1936, there is no way you can award the championship to anyone else in 1917 or 1919 because, as I mentioned, they shut out every opponent those two years. That's something that Texas, Alabama, and Notre Dame will never accomplish. I don't know why we claim 1927 but not 1917.
2 Heisman trophies - same number as Alabama, who finally caught up to the Aggies when Derrick Henry won it in 2015.
All that with no elite facilities, tepid support from the state, an adversarial press stocked with graduates from our biggest rival, and the Longhorns using the state high school championships as their own farm system.
Look, I'm class of 2005. It's been 17 football seasons and I haven't witnessed a championship. If I had started any year prior to 1999, I would have seen one. Any aggie who started before 1994 would have seen multiple championships in his first 17 seasons. People forget that this is the longest championship drought in our history. That's why we're going after Jimbo Fisher.
Sometimes I have to remind myself (and others) that it wasn't that long ago (from the perspective of a 45 year old) that A&M was a small, all-male military school. Night and day difference vs. the A&M of today. There is no ceiling on what A&M can accomplish athletically or academically. All the needed ingredients are there. Just need the right guy to put them all together.
A&M is one of the Top 20 winningest programs of all-time. A&M is one of the top bowl appearance teams of all time.
Good Bull Hunting had a good similar article (that I reference as I am not going to bother with the research): Prior to Carroll at USC the mighty Trojans had won 10 games something line one (1) time in the prior 15 years, until Clemson won the ACC in 2011 with Dabo they had not won a conference title since 1991 and their last 10 win season was 1988, prior to the arrival of Bobby Bowden at FSU in 1976 they had a good season in 1964 as an independent prior to that you have to go back to the 50s for any measure of success, etc. Even Barry Switzer thinks we should be much better and much more relevant than we are.
EVERYTHING is there for A&M to compete with Alabama and LSU for the West title and to be a perennial Top 25 program. I am not demanding SEC titles, I am demanding a consistent program that 4 out of 5 seasons ends the season ranked, routinely wins 9+ games, and plays meaningful games in November toward obtaining a conference title. Won't happen every year, but we should be a lot more like Auburn than Miss. State and Arkansas.
I'm thinking a similar result is in order now.