Very much disagree on Slocum. Mostly disagree on Fran, as I believe he was undermined . The rest , yeah.

Texas A&M football is so hard to put "in a box". Since 1961 my fish year I've sat there and had my heart broken a number of times. Philosophically; you have to say people in charge"BMA's"-just should not have been involved in selecting our coaches .A&M has changed so much. I know if a proper selection process is in place, best coaches will probably be selected. My daughter, class of 93, is as gungho as I am. I have to say that perhaps too much money was given to our current coach. Hope he works out. I truly believe A&M has a remarkable place in University places in Texas. I caution everyone, including, young folks who have limited view of our athletic world, to be patient. Texas A&M WILL emerge as we dream it to.
Just my two cents.

It's all about a committment to winning and backing up that committment with action

Until recently when a&m made the move to the SEC and decided to upgrade facilities and stadium, the only other time a&m made a strong committment to winning was when they tried to hit no schembechlet and eventually got jackie

I believe we are atre now committed to winning and will do whatever it takes, which would be to throw max $ at atop flight DC

This iffseason will tell the story

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There several problems I have noticed in my 57 years of following Texas Aggie Football.

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OK..Here is a serious answer,IMO we have not been willing, or maybe able to upgrade stadium and pay coaches enough until recently.

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This is one of the biggest. RC begged and begged for better facilities and more pay for his staff. RC lost someone every year. Our winningest coach did miracles with poor facilities and constant s turnover.

#2 Big Cigars cannot leave well enough alone. The Great Shelby Metcalf said it best, "The only happy Aggie is an unhappy Aggie." We have been our own worst enemy. We put up with bonafide losers like fraud franCHOKEcione and we run off winners in Bellard, Sherrill, and Slocum.

I really believe had Slocum been given the pay and the facilities we would have won a MTN under him. He was already adapting and changing his offense under Sumlin and had a top class of recruits committed. The Big Cigars ran him off for the biggest fraud ever on the gridiron. franCHOKEcione set our problem back to 1961. He made almost all of the Texas high school coaches hate hmi and turned his back on Louisiana.

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End of story.... Now , lets nut up .. Shut down the bleeping commercials & allow the 12th man & BQ's to control gameday at Kyle...

//My fish year in '71, I believe the Ag's won two games with Coach Gene Stallings, Wichita State (plane crash killed their varsity team) and Baylor (we always beat BU back then) with a field goal in the 4th quarter. Tough year, great coach, however Stallings was let-go because he couldn't recruit, no one could-it was virtually an all male campus back then. But brighter days were ahead for the Ags with Emory Ballard and bevy of new recruits that almost pulled out a NC in '75. However, no one here mentions Coach Stallings, but he turned out to be (by far) our best mentor/coach by helping guide our school to the fb promised land, which is the SEC. Stallings has always put A&M first whether as a Regent, coach, player or at the bama game 2012. During the pregame, bama introduced several players from Stallings' bama NC team in 2008, but he still pulled for the Ags to win along with all the Junction boys that were there - JFF put on a clinic-best away game I've seen by far in person . Who knows, if A&M would have integrated females five earlier we might be playing in Stallings-Kyle Field, just like in T-town.
I'm giving Summy the benefit of the doubt, he's built in three short years something that I haven't seen in CS in thirty years. Recruiting we'll get our fair share, a fanbase that continues to be growing/loyal and great new destinations with our new SEC brethren. I like our chances compared to 40 years ago.//Just my thoughts//Herknav sends

Because we CARE more than the coaches and players. All you have to do is look at the "cheery" attitude of RC when we lost to tech in the early ninety's. We were ranked in the top 5 (I believe) and tech just got beat by North Texas (division 2 school). A couple weeks later we beat #2 Kansas State. If we beat tech, we play for the national championship. After the game, RC's press conference showed he didn't give a damn. I realized I was more mad than he was. If I were in his shoes, I would have been so mad I couldn't talk. But he didn't even appear to be upset. At least Stumblin' Sumlin appears to be a little upset. It might be an act ....hell I don't know.

In early 2012, I think most of us would have accepted being 12-9 in the SEC at this point and having won two bowl games since joining the SEC.

Am I still pissed about last Saturday? Yes, but I am also aware that this time last year Dan Mullen's seat was warm.

Joining the SEC and making the investment in facilities will put us in good shape in the Texas recruiting hierarchy for years to come.

The people on this staff weren't all Sumlin's first choice. We will do better in that regard in the future.

Time to step back from the ledge.

Too much Mr. Inside and not enough Mr. Outside....

Following Aggie football since 1980. IMO, the program cannot get out of its own way sustainably, year after year. Either the head coach, or a DC/OC, or the AD is either underperforming, indifferent to excellence, or cheating. To be frank, the personnel that get hired to lead the football team are a mirror of the folks doing the selecting (and theoretically A&M itself). To win an NC, you've got to have everything working well for about 5 years. Recruiting, coaching, competing. It's easy to say, but tricky to accomplish.

We put a priority on our traditions.

Other programs put a priority on winning championships.

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OK..Here is a serious answer,IMO we have not been willing, or maybe able to upgrade stadium and pay coaches enough until recently. I now believe that we are making the steps in the right direction to go to the next level, and are willing to do what it takes. I don't believe it will happen over night but will be in the next couple of years
Moving to the SEC is a great start and what we are doing recruiting will get us to the next level if we continue moving forward, and don't except mediocraty at any level..coaches, players,
OK Zoo Blast Away!

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Agree. The SEC and away from tu is a positive step.

Good post and lots of insightful comments.

I have followed Aggie football since about 1971 as a kid.

Sure was hoping Coach Stallings and the team were going to beat Texas for 5th straight win and go to the Liberty Bowl. Had first turnovers and trouble and got beat 34-14. They fired Coach Stallings.

Coach Bellard was a splendid coach and really changed the face and expectation of Aggie football. I think his "74 team offense which had more passing from David Walker could've, PERHAPS, benefitted the "75 team which was a National Champion caliber team. Arkansas stacked the line with 8-9 men in the fateful 31-6 loss. Team was not practiced at passing and making them back off. The "76 team lost a couple of early games and was about as good as anyone at the end of the year. The story was that the power players ran Coach Bellard off. Seemed very foolish as he had proven his stock.

Coach Wilson was not long lived but BEAT Joe Paterno and Penn State in Happy Valley in '79 as Curtis Dickey ran for 200 yards and 3 TD's. Defense played tough for a gritty road win. Also beat Texas in "79 and '80. Did not challenge for titles.

Jackie Sherrill by his 4th season had a rolling train with both rushing and passing offense and an increasingly bloodthirsty defense. They were top 10 and never seemed to show up as a baffled team that couldn't score or play defense on a national stage. (There was no choke) They lost some games and played bad (Ohio State) Cotton Bowl but weren't outclassed or unable to compete. Rules problems surfaced and forced measures.

Coach Slocum had Super teams from end of '90 thru '94. As some one astutely pointed out - lacked some trigger ability on offense and seemed to need 1-2 more playmakers. The defenses were vintage. Ditto to oklacityag RE: attrition of facilities and assistant coach pay and revolving door. Allowed Texas and Ou to get advantage in recruiting/facilities. W-L-T: 123-47-2 speaks for itself. Could've been spectacular with a few more players. pieces, upgrades. Cue the Shelby Metcalf tape.

Franchione had a 5 year run marked by some interesting wins and players and punctuated with some bad losses. No titles.

Coach Sherman won a Big 12 South Co-Championship and recruited some super players that rebuilt the program that had wasted during the Fran years. The fortune reversal of the 2011 team was epic. After mashing teams in the 1st half - a flurry of 2nd half demises led to losses by 1, 4, 3, 2, etc. I liked a lot of what Coach Sherman did for the program, lost some aggravating games. Seemed like the players were coached.

Coach Sumlin - with Johnny Manziel under center had a 20-6 record and a #5 finish in 2012. Recruiting is good they tell me.

We have never really been committed to winning and demanding excellence. Financially we were not until just very recently. Coaches where almost always hired based on "getting A&M" and being friendly with the Administration and BMOCs. For the same reasons we never fired those that needed firing until much damage was done.

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We put a priority on our traditions.

Other programs put a priority on winning championships.

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These two are not mutually exclusive. What tradition has prevented us from winning?

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We put a priority on our traditions.

Other programs put a priority on winning championships.

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These two are not mutually exclusive. What tradition has prevented us from winning?

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I imagine he's alluding to the idea that we're prone to being too content with fielding losers on the field because, darn it, we're "classy" and "have more and better traditions" than other schools that beat us on the field.

I tend to agree. I don't think that any of our traditions prevent us from winning. Maybe the idea that we're still a majority military school based on crowd shots during games. But I think that most Aggies are too willing to accept a loser and reason it all away because of some delusion of us having better fans or being the only school in the country with unique traditions. We put up with losers and bs for too long for fear of being a "bad Ag." Screw that. Being a bad Ag is standing by idly while our football team is stuck in neutral. We need to use our voices and dollars to affect change, when necessary.

Historically, we're incredibly average. We will continue to be until we stop being so impressed with how unique we allegedly are.

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I agree we really were on the verge of national greatness with Jackie, and that MIGHT be exactly why he was "run off." He posed a threat to the natural order of things, i.e., tu. ... thing is, was Jackie doing the same things tu was doing? Was tu ever caught? Has tu EVER been caught? Why not? My theory: they developed and own(ed) useful people like journalists, politicians, etc. All we had (have?) are left-brain engineers and blowhard ex-military. It's all black and white to them - no shades of gray. They are incapable of understanding/playing "the game." In the end, this, like everything else, is about money and power. Things are changing; tu isn't the power it once was.

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lol...tu fans hated him...lmao

The biggest move we could have made to separate ourselves from 100 years of mediocrity and stagnation was made by none other than Bowtie himself.......if it hasn't become obvious that moving from the B?? to the SEC was the biggest, boldest move this program could have taken toward national relevance then I don't know what to tell you. We're now in the biggest of big leagues. And even though we've been a punch line the last couple of weeks, guess what.......we're still getting more pub, looks from recruits, and attention than we ever would have as simply an above-average team in any other league. (You heard any national people even MENTION Baylor in the last week? i havent. Because they're one-loss-and-out in a mediocre league.....and yet people are still rightfully talking about Ole Miss and even Auburn still being in the hunt). I've been a diehard Ag since my first visit to campus and I'm still as excited about where we are right now (yes even after 59-0) than I've been since Jackie got run out of town. I like Sumlin, I like what he brings to the table and I believe he's the right guy for the job......but make no mistake, this offseason is going to make or break his tenure here. If he doesn't show the cojones to make the big bold moves that will help get us to the top, then he'll sit right alongside Slocum as the master of "woulda been coulda been".

The one thing I loved most about Jackie was what you see now in Miles' teams and Saban's......there were no off weeks. There was no lackadaisical BS. If he told those guys to run through a wall, they'd have done it and immediately started looking for another one. And he did this with some pretty top-tier recruits as well, not quite what we're bringing in at the moment, but these weren't a bunch of 2-star scrubs hungry for some attention. That fire in the belly is sorely missing right now. JFF had it in spades, and apparently it rubbed off on the rest of the team. I see it in Garrett and Shaan Washington and Speedy and Carson. The more guys we can bring in of that caliber (you hear me, Kyler?)......before long you're going to forget what last weekend felt like.

Nice post dixichkn.

The upward trajectory is not going to be without the valleys.

Demographics - we are just now getting BMA's to critical mass levels due to the fact that we were a small military school up until the early 70's. Now we have graduates from those increasingly larger classes starting to pull down big bucks and pour them back into the program in greater quantities. Success nearly always follows the money.

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Demographics - we are just now getting BMA's to critical mass levels due to the fact that we were a small military school up until the early 70's. Now we have graduates from those increasingly larger classes starting to pull down big bucks and pour them back into the program in greater quantities. Success nearly always follows the money.

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That aint it.

Too many Aggie fans accept mediocrity from the football team.

For example, Snyder should be fired. No 'ifs' 'ands' or 'buts' about it. He is awful. Should have definitely been fired after the Duke game last year.

If A&M is not willing to make proper changes then they will continue to be mediocre.

It's all bush's fault...

We are a mid level program with top level delusions. Never made a lasting commitment to get there. Spend a lot of money, pay coaches well but one top5 finish since 1958 and one conference championship since 1998 speak for them self.

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We put a priority on our traditions.

Other programs put a priority on winning championships.

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Examples, please. With causal relationship explained.

It's possible to have both, of course, but for the purposes of discussion would you trade MSU's #1 ranking if you had to take their #158 academic ranking? Or LSU's 129? Alabama is 88 and sadly we're dropping towards them.

Sure we want to be good in football, and yes this is a football discussion forum. But a little perspective on how relatively unimportant football is doesn't hurt.

Reality is that FOOTBALL defines Major College. As a bragging right, Mano vs Mano, etc. Former Students do NOT rally round who has the most egg heads.

A&M is NOT Harvard, Stanford, Rice, etc. NEVER will be.

So it is too bad they suck at Football. The TRADITIONS are oriented in the Underdog with "fight" playing tooth and nail against bigger opponents.

BUT NOW A$M is the BIG BOY bragging that they are somebody. Getting their butt handed to them year after year. Yes, they are a JOKE. Even fooled some folks for a while cause they had Manziel.

Recruits are going to be hassled, why go to A&M , they just finished 2nd to last in the Sec West. Recruits were signing up because they saw Johnny Football not SUMLIN.

Lucky sometimes is good but will not prevail over time especially in the SEC.

Everyone says, we are gonna get recruits because we are in the SEC. Really. Not if you are last place.

You really do not recover from 77-0 and 59-0.

The positive spin is that A&M is in Texas. It's Former Students want a good football team. It did join the most relevant Conference. If you do not see MAJOR changes before next year just keep on getting embarrassed. There are no more Manziel's so do not think Murray Jr. is going to be the 2nd coming. I'd see if Sherrill would be interested in AD position and just let him decide EVERYTHING going forward.

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Reality is that FOOTBALL defines Major College.

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That's sad to the point of being pathetic. What a miserable way to live life. Letting the on the field play of 18-22 year old boys/young men be that important.

As the the rest of your (probably t-sip) rant - up the meds, they're not working.

Heck your Longhorns recovered nicely from losing 66-3 to UCLA at HOME!

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Reality is that FOOTBALL defines Major College.

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If the choice is "settling" for mediocre football and settling for a mediocre and a (sans traditions) non-descript university...going ahead and put me down to "settle" for mediocre football.

Cecil, you are a true Champion of Texas A&M. You have a bright future. All the best. You truly have your act together.

I just can't seem to get the hang of pre-game visitation to the Holy Land then passing by those glorious new Statues of Halloween, singing the War Hymn, Spirit of Aggieland and watching the 18-22 year olds representing A&M coached by multimillionaires getting handed their butts by other 18-22 year olds.

But since I have seen 40 years of futility(with a few glimmers of pride and what could be), it doesn't matter so much. Just like you have said. It is only a game. Just a game that we should not discuss because we are not RELEVANT. When we are relevant then our discussions can be meaningful, noted and recorded.

The highlight of this year is the Cadet protecting Reveille.

I am only talking about 3 hours each Saturday in the Fall. No big deal really. It is just this FORUM is about that. College Football seems to be a big deal generally. Since A&M hasn't won anything I think I am well grounded into low expectations. So really, no issues with me. Happy.

Media darlings---Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama pulled in a lot of TV revenue back in the day. Jackie Sherrill was probably the most realistic coach A&M has had but his lack of oversight into activities of team members led to his downfall. You might be looking at an entirely different history had he remained, but he was in the NCAA's sights, and A&M was not untouchable like some schools one could mention.

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Texas A&M football is so hard to put "in a box". Since 1961 my fish year I've sat there and had my heart broken a number of times. Philosophically; you have to say people in charge"BMA's"-just should not have been involved in selecting our coaches .A&M has changed so much. I know if a proper selection process is in place, best coaches will probably be selected. My daughter, class of 93, is as gungho as I am. I have to say that perhaps too much money was given to our current coach. Hope he works out. I truly believe A&M has a remarkable place in University places in Texas. I caution everyone, including, young folks who have limited view of our athletic world, to be patient. Texas A&M WILL emerge as we dream it to.
Just my two cents.

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Way to many people trying to fit in where they want to get my in. Too many influential "boosters" protecting their "power relationship." Been going on forever at A&M, and is now the athletic cultural norm.

We're too nice.

More over-arching theories, please!

Money

Leadership