Jacob your loyalty and position are understandable.

What I don't like is the message it sends that the job he's done is good enough. It isn't by his own standards. Or at least what he says.

Most on this board are happy with regionals and some supers. The majority are happy so that counts for something.

Do you think we'll be in Omaha next year or the next? If you do I'd like to know why.

so basically we still don't know the details of the extension.

regarding the former players...

it's like this...in the criminal justice system if your parent or child is the defendant...they don't let you sit on the jury. Because you are biased. End of story. Same thing with former players. They are or have been too close to the situation.

it's the trap that good athletic directors have to avoid falling into. The AD should have a cordial relationship with all his/her coaches, but not become close personal friends. Because then the AD loses objectivity about the coach's performance

also a key phrase mentioned back on page 1..."built-in advantages."

aggie baseball definitely has more in its favor than aggie basketball does or ever did...on both a national and regional level. So for me expectations will always be higher for the baseball program than the basketball program

i appreciate that but i truly don't think this has to do with my loyalty, position, or relationships with the current staff. i don't think there's enough fact checking before posting and there's a ton of perspective to be had around the current coaching and program landscape of college baseball

let me say this - i 100% agree with the notion of getting back to Omaha and winning some games; i went on to this affiliates radio station and explicitly said that I would like to see this team (referring to the '15&'16 clubs) validate their talent and success by getting to Omaha. Unfortunately that didn't happen but in no way do i consider those 'let down' seasons

what i take offense to is this false narrative that we're doing 'just good enough' and the constant comparison to a few named programs that have had success in the last 5-8 years.

instead of looking at how good we actually have it and the consistency in which it has been had, we are looking enviously upon a couple teams and dwelling on two back to back 50 win seasons. look around the country and you'll be hard pressed to find a more consistently successful program.

so i'll ask again, who would you rather have?

i can't say if we'll be in omaha in the next year or two - haven't seen any of the new players. but i would probably have bet my house if they made it this past year or the previous that they'd have won the whole dang thing.

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i appreciate that but i truly don't think this has to do with my loyalty, position, or relationships with the current staff. i don't think there's enough fact checking before posting and there's a ton of perspective to be had around the current coaching and program landscape of college baseball

let me say this - i 100% agree with the notion of getting back to Omaha and winning some games; i went on to this affiliates radio station and explicitly said that I would like to see this team (referring to the '15&'16 clubs) validate their talent and success by getting to Omaha. Unfortunately that didn't happen but in no way do i consider those 'let down' seasons

what i take offense to is this false narrative that we're doing 'just good enough' and the constant comparison to a few named programs that have had success in the last 5-8 years.

instead of looking at how good we actually have it and the consistency in which it has been had, we are looking enviously upon a couple teams and dwelling on two back to back 50 win seasons. look around the country and you'll be hard pressed to find a more consistently successful program.

so i'll ask again, who would you rather have?

i can't say if we'll be in omaha in the next year or two - haven't seen any of the new players. but i would probably have bet my house if they made it this past year or the previous that they'd have won the whole dang thing.

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Well they didn't make it to Omaha, so I guess you get to keep your house.

But seriously, you would have been willing to bet your home that this team would have won the National Championship had it made it to Omaha?

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i appreciate that but i truly don't think this has to do with my loyalty, position, or relationships with the current staff. i don't think there's enough fact checking before posting and there's a ton of perspective to be had around the current coaching and program landscape of college baseball

let me say this - i 100% agree with the notion of getting back to Omaha and winning some games; i went on to this affiliates radio station and explicitly said that I would like to see this team (referring to the '15&'16 clubs) validate their talent and success by getting to Omaha. Unfortunately that didn't happen but in no way do i consider those 'let down' seasons

what i take offense to is this false narrative that we're doing 'just good enough' and the constant comparison to a few named programs that have had success in the last 5-8 years.

instead of looking at how good we actually have it and the consistency in which it has been had, we are looking enviously upon a couple teams and dwelling on two back to back 50 win seasons. look around the country and you'll be hard pressed to find a more consistently successful program.

so i'll ask again, who would you rather have?

i can't say if we'll be in omaha in the next year or two - haven't seen any of the new players. but i would probably have bet my house if they made it this past year or the previous that they'd have won the whole dang thing.

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I don't think you meant to respond to me or maybe you did. I just interested the contract details. But it's not a false narrative when programs around us are going farther in the tourney and making and winning games in the CWS or some that have actually won it all.

who would I rather have, I don't know. I'm not the AD, I don't interview or have connections in the college baseball circles. but I can tell you that if we took that attitude RC wouldn't be the coach today. Because many said the same exact thing about Mark Johnson.

I appreciate you coming on here, that can't be easy. Fans like me are quick on criticism and short on praise.

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The constant whining about contract extensions is extremely annoying. It's one thing when you're talking about Sumlin getting a $5 million/year, fully guaranteed contract, and quite another when you're talking about lesser paid coaches (and probably not fully guaranteed, but we don't know that, yet). Having years left on the head coach's contract is a cost of doing business. If you think we're going to have coaches going into the final year of their contract, then you are delusional. Broke ass schools that don't care about a sport do that. Schools that give a rip understand that you have to put years on contracts in order to ensure smooth recruiting, then be willing to eat those years if you have to make a change.

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And thats where the disconnect is. This is why some of us are discontent. We aren't buying out a coach that consistently has us in Regionals. That's not the way Texas A&M does things. We let coaches hang around longer than we should, when the writing is clearly on the wall, to avoid or lessen buyouts. How much time a coach has left on his contract is so far down a list of priorities for a recruit it has a minimal impact.

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So, you're unhappy that Childress has a job. I think we know that is what is behind most of the complaining about the extension. The folks that want him fired are never going to say an extension in warranted.

If you think that other schools don't engage in negative recruiting, and mention the fact that that a coach only has a year or two left on his contract, then I think you are being a little nave. To say that it's not the most important factor is beside the point--no one is saying that it is the most important factor. But, it's a negative recruiting point that is easy to eliminate by extending the contract, and we've done that.

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I'm unhappy because of the timing of the extension. 2017 is not forecasting like it's going to be a very good season. If we miss the post season in 2017, or even limp in as a 3 seed and go 1-2, then it's absolutely time to move on. Because at that point the consistency thing is out the window. However, with getting a new contract now, there is zero chance he gets fired after the 2017 season. Absolutely none. He's guaranteed to be here for 2018 at this point. He could've made it another year just fine in recruiting with his current contract.

Jacob, we all appreciate the consistency of the program being in the post season and being ran pretty cleanly. However, there is a distinct pattern of not being able to advance past Texas teams in the post season. Considering our road to Omaha is likely always going to go through TX teams now that we are in the SEC, some of us are extremely skeptical about ever making another CWS trip, let alone multiple trips, under RC. Also, we've seen Omaha regulars Rice and tu fall off considerably, which should've opened the window for us to start making trips there, but instead we've watched TCU and Tech take advantage of that while we have not. With a new coach that a lot of people are high on now in Austin, it may not be long before they're back to competing at a high level, making it tougher on us in recruiting and in the post season.

didn't suggest that's what you said and didn't take it as such.

that's why i'm asking you guys. you don't have to be an AD to gain information and look around. read some articles. do some research. there's information galore this day in age. why not go get some perspective on the situation? you either validate your opinion or form a new one. i just think you'd be surprised and feel differently

the most difficult stage of the post season in my opinion are the super regionals; no room for error and playing the best of the best; there are teams that get to omaha that are just plain 'hot' and not necessarily the 'best' so i think there's a misconception around the final eight being the 'best teams'. There's usually a mix of the best, and the best at the time.


overall i think it's just crazy that i come on here to check in and see the reaction to this and and am taken back. the fact that we have three seasons end at the hands of tcu all of a sudden the sky is falling and we have a coach that underachieves (i'll take responsibility for any heat y'all have to give for the '12 season)



As for my house, yes i still have it and i have a wife that depends on that said house being there when she gets home so i wouldn't actually do that; simply a reflection of my confidence level.

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also a key phrase mentioned back on page 1..."built-in advantages."

aggie baseball definitely has more in its favor than aggie basketball does or ever did...on both a national and regional level. So for me expectations will always be higher for the baseball program than the basketball program

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Let's rephrase the question. Should the expectations for baseball be higher than football. If so, then why,

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The constant whining about contract extensions is extremely annoying. It's one thing when you're talking about Sumlin getting a $5 million/year, fully guaranteed contract, and quite another when you're talking about lesser paid coaches (and probably not fully guaranteed, but we don't know that, yet). Having years left on the head coach's contract is a cost of doing business. If you think we're going to have coaches going into the final year of their contract, then you are delusional. Broke ass schools that don't care about a sport do that. Schools that give a rip understand that you have to put years on contracts in order to ensure smooth recruiting, then be willing to eat those years if you have to make a change.

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And thats where the disconnect is. This is why some of us are discontent. We aren't buying out a coach that consistently has us in Regionals. That's not the way Texas A&M does things. We let coaches hang around longer than we should, when the writing is clearly on the wall, to avoid or lessen buyouts. How much time a coach has left on his contract is so far down a list of priorities for a recruit it has a minimal impact.

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So, you're unhappy that Childress has a job. I think we know that is what is behind most of the complaining about the extension. The folks that want him fired are never going to say an extension in warranted.

If you think that other schools don't engage in negative recruiting, and mention the fact that that a coach only has a year or two left on his contract, then I think you are being a little nave. To say that it's not the most important factor is beside the point--no one is saying that it is the most important factor. But, it's a negative recruiting point that is easy to eliminate by extending the contract, and we've done that.

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I'm unhappy because of the timing of the extension. 2017 is not forecasting like it's going to be a very good season. If we miss the post season in 2017, or even limp in as a 3 seed and go 1-2, then it's absolutely time to move on. Because at that point the consistency thing is out the window..

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WTH
That right there is just begging to get rid of RC no matter what. It seems you are actually rooting against him

IMO, Rob is here for '17 and '18 no matter what, even if we miss the post season in '17, which I doubt happens

2 straight super regionals probably earned him that

The question is IF things go south, will the admiration eat the early termination money and make a change

I have heard it many times when a coach is under performing -- can't make a change because spending those funds isn't a priority, or the BMA's aren't willing to fund it

Well no **** --- for something like baseball, or volleyball, or soccer, or whatever, you're gonna end up paying coaches with ADept money... BMAs aren't gonna pay a $500,000 or $1,000,000 buyout for the baseball coach

So why go out of your way to make it cost prohibitive to make a change, unless the coach's performance has been so outstanding that a big extension is warranted? Which in my opinion, in this case, it is not

Again, we're not talking firing, so get off that.... the issue is whether 3 years is enough, and 5 years is deserved

I've had almost 30 years of frustration with 2 regimes, repeatedly getting close, but always breaking getting my heart broken. That said, Childress is a winner, and he puts a product on the field every year that makes us proud. We've just had an incredible string of bad luck, selection committee shenanigans, and mental blocks over 3 decades. There are about 3 - 4 programs in the country that could make a case for getting rid of Childress. We aren't one of them. Sure, we could fire him and then win 2 championships in the next 4 years. Anything is possible. But it is not the most likely outcome...not even close. It is far more likely that RC breaks through and gets to Omaha 3 times in the next 10 years.

Pablo, if we look past the Omaha issue momentarily, is it likely that RC will underperform? I'm pretty sure he could get another job in the SEC or ACC if he wanted it. When you have the Mark Richt of non-revenue sports, you had better make sure that your decisions aren't based on emotions.

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Pablo, if we look past the Omaha issue momentarily, is it likely that RC will underperform? I'm pretty sure he could get another job in the SEC or ACC if he wanted it. When you have the Mark Richt of non-revenue sports, you had better make sure that your decisions aren't based on emotions.

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What "decisions" are you referring to?

You think the 5 year deal is deserved?

Why would you "look past" the "Omaha issue"? Isn't that a pretty important "issue"? I mean, obviously not for some of you, but for many it is

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I've had almost 30 years of frustration with 2 regimes, repeatedly getting close, but always breaking getting my heart broken. That said, Childress is a winner, and he puts a product on the field every year that makes us proud. We've just had an incredible string of bad luck, selection committee shenanigans, and mental blocks over 3 decades. There are about 3 - 4 programs in the country that could make a case for getting rid of Childress. We aren't one of them. Sure, we could fire him and then win 2 championships in the next 4 years. Anything is possible. But it is not the most likely outcome...not even close. It is far more likely that RC breaks through and gets to Omaha 3 times in the next 10 years.

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Here we go.... who said anything about firing?

If I'm the AD, and RC came in to my office, he would do so with leverage. That's what I'm saying. If you treat your employees like the Houston Astros, it can get costly in the long run.

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If I'm the AD, and RC came in to my office, he would do so with leverage. That's what I'm saying. If you treat your employees like the Houston Astros, it can get costly in the long run.

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RC hasn't been treated poorly

Saying "no" to 5 years is not unreasonable

Give him a modest raise and keep it at 3

Otherwise, let him walk

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I've had almost 30 years of frustration with 2 regimes, repeatedly getting close, but always breaking getting my heart broken. That said, Childress is a winner, and he puts a product on the field every year that makes us proud. We've just had an incredible string of bad luck, selection committee shenanigans, and mental blocks over 3 decades. There are about 3 - 4 programs in the country that could make a case for getting rid of Childress. We aren't one of them. Sure, we could fire him and then win 2 championships in the next 4 years. Anything is possible. But it is not the most likely outcome...not even close. It is far more likely that RC breaks through and gets to Omaha 3 times in the next 10 years.

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Here we go.... who said anything about firing?

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Exactly.

Some people here apparently can't separate not agreeing with the extension from firing. It's ridiculous.

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If I'm the AD, and RC came in to my office, he would do so with leverage. That's what I'm saying. If you treat your employees like the Houston Astros, it can get costly in the long run.

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So can treating them like the Dallas Cowboys.

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I've had almost 30 years of frustration with 2 regimes, repeatedly getting close, but always breaking getting my heart broken. That said, Childress is a winner, and he puts a product on the field every year that makes us proud. We've just had an incredible string of bad luck, selection committee shenanigans, and mental blocks over 3 decades. There are about 3 - 4 programs in the country that could make a case for getting rid of Childress. We aren't one of them. Sure, we could fire him and then win 2 championships in the next 4 years. Anything is possible. But it is not the most likely outcome...not even close. It is far more likely that RC breaks through and gets to Omaha 3 times in the next 10 years.

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Ok, well why aren't we? You seem to think the guy running the program for now over a decade isn't at fault for us not being there. Can you give me a reason why we can't be competing at the highest levels, and by that I mean getting to Omaha?

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I've had almost 30 years of frustration with 2 regimes, repeatedly getting close, but always breaking getting my heart broken. That said, Childress is a winner, and he puts a product on the field every year that makes us proud. We've just had an incredible string of bad luck, selection committee shenanigans, and mental blocks over 3 decades. There are about 3 - 4 programs in the country that could make a case for getting rid of Childress. We aren't one of them. Sure, we could fire him and then win 2 championships in the next 4 years. Anything is possible. But it is not the most likely outcome...not even close. It is far more likely that RC breaks through and gets to Omaha 3 times in the next 10 years.

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Here we go.... who said anything about firing?

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Exactly.

Some people here apparently can't separate not agreeing with the extension from firing. It's ridiculous.

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While not exactly calling for RC's job, your post from yesterday afternoon all but assumed it would have been a fait accompli without the extension.

EDIT - This post is directed to Captain Pablo, not Jacob House. Not quite sure how I messed that one up.

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As for his replacement, I have no idea. I dont have to know. I don't know who's out there. I don't pay attention to it. We pay a guy a half a million dollars a year to pay attention to it, and have a list ready to go on a moment's notice.

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Fair enough and maybe that guy has looked at that list and has determined that those coaches will not likely leave their current positions or they are not a certain upgrade over RC. You criticize Woodward over the extension but then have faith he'll do well in the hiring process?

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. . . I can tell you that if we took that attitude RC wouldn't be the coach today. Because many said the same exact thing about Mark Johnson.

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Once again, MJ got fired for missing the dance four of his final six seasons. If those seasons resembled something like the last ten under RC he would have retired from coaching as the head coach of Texas A&M. IMO RC has not earned such leeway but he certainly deserves more than what Rocco is apparently willing to give.

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Ok, well why aren't we?

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History. You can't make it up out of thin air. In college baseball, there are a handful of programs that will keep on winning when they lose a legend. They will just hire another one. There may be a down cycle, but they have a track record of always coming back. My comments were about history, not expectations.

Heck, Duke basketball has not even become one of those programs, until they prove they can make it to Final 4's without Coach K. UNC has been there with 4 coaches in the past 50 years.

Today, and for most of the past 27 years, we have stayed in the place where LSU was in 1989...on the brink. Over the next 10 years, we can expect to become college baseball royalty, but we can't afford to act like we already are.

I'm done talking about anything with RC's contract. I don't understand it, and it's none of my business. However, I will say that most of us on this thread, whether cynical or positive, know deep down inside that we are going to be a competitive team next year, regardless of how many guys we lost. I'll be very surprised if we aren't.

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Ok, well why aren't we?

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History. You can't make it up out of thin air. In college baseball, there are a handful of programs that will keep on winning when they lose a legend. They will just hire another one. There may be a down cycle, but they have a track record of always coming back. My comments were about history, not expectations.

Heck, Duke basketball has not even become one of those programs, until they prove they can make it to Final 4's without Coach K. UNC has been there with 4 coaches in the past 50 years.

Today, and for most of the past 27 years, we have stayed in the place where LSU was in 1989...on the brink. Over the next 10 years, we can expect to become college baseball royalty, but we can't afford to act like we already are.

I'm done talking about anything with RC's contract. I don't understand it, and it's none of my business. However, I will say that most of us on this thread, whether cynical or positive, know deep down inside that we are going to be a competitive team next year, regardless of how many guys we lost. I'll be very surprised if we aren't.

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Ridiculous. We can either look forward, or backward

I hope to God our administration doesn't wait another ten years just to find out

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I've had almost 30 years of frustration with 2 regimes, repeatedly getting close, but always breaking getting my heart broken. That said, Childress is a winner, and he puts a product on the field every year that makes us proud. We've just had an incredible string of bad luck, selection committee shenanigans, and mental blocks over 3 decades. There are about 3 - 4 programs in the country that could make a case for getting rid of Childress. We aren't one of them. Sure, we could fire him and then win 2 championships in the next 4 years. Anything is possible. But it is not the most likely outcome...not even close. It is far more likely that RC breaks through and gets to Omaha 3 times in the next 10 years.

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Here we go.... who said anything about firing?

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Exactly.

Some people here apparently can't separate not agreeing with the extension from firing. It's ridiculous.

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While not exactly calling for RC's job, your post from yesterday afternoon all but assumed it would have been a fait accompli without the extension.

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My post yesterday stated with this extension it makes no difference how we perform the next two seasons, RC's job is safe through at least the 2018 season and maybe even 2019.

We all know what's going to be said, too, if we put together two subpar seasons. The contract buyout is prohibitive for replacing him, especially for a non revenue sport.

A&M has a track record of giving coaches contracts that are bad for A&M.

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EDIT - This post is directed to Captain Pablo, not Jacob House. Not quite sure how I messed that one up.

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As for his replacement, I have no idea. I dont have to know. I don't know who's out there. I don't pay attention to it. We pay a guy a half a million dollars a year to pay attention to it, and have a list ready to go on a moment's notice.

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Fair enough and maybe that guy has looked at that list and has determined that those coaches will not likely leave their current positions or they are not a certain upgrade over RC. You criticize Woodward over the extension but then have faith he'll do well in the hiring process?

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. . . I can tell you that if we took that attitude RC wouldn't be the coach today. Because many said the same exact thing about Mark Johnson.

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Once again, MJ got fired for missing the dance four of his final six seasons. If those seasons resembled something like the last ten under RC he would have retired from coaching as the head coach of Texas A&M. IMO RC has not earned such leeway but he certainly deserves more than what Rocco is apparently willing to give.

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11 seasons. 0 wins in Omaha. How much more leeway does he need? How much do you need to see before understanding it is what it is?

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Today, and for most of the past 27 years, we have stayed in the place where LSU was in 1989...on the brink. Over the next 10 years, we can expect to become college baseball royalty, but we can't afford to act like we already are.

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That's absolutely ridiculous.

If we haven't taken the next step for the last 3 decades, what makes you think the guy who has been here for the last decade is going to get us over the hump, in the next decade? And why should we have to wait yet another decade? Why were TCU and Tech able to become Omaha regulars almost overnight without even being close to where we've been?

I apologize for miscontruing the intent of your post although based on CMH's response I was not the only one.

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My post yesterday stated with this extension it makes no difference how we perform the next two seasons, RC's job is safe through at least the 2018 season and maybe even 2019.

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Without the extension this is likely to be so anyways, at least through 2018. It would certainly take more than simply making the NCAA's as a #3 seed next year.

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Why were TCU and Tech able to become Omaha regulars almost overnight without even being close to where we've been?

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TCU did not become a "regular" almost overnight. While I'm quite impressed by what Tadlock has accomplished in his short stint, I'm not quite ready to label tech a CWS regular.

They've both made multiple trips to Omaha since we last have. You can use whatever terminology you like. They've both passed us as a program based on Omaha.

It's the "cost prohibitiveness" that is the rub

I don't care if his contract is 10 years as long as it's cheap to fire him, or ANY non revenue coach if needed

There is NOTHING more irritating than dumbasses that get on here and pull the idiotic "put your money where you mouth is" and buy his contract when no one on here is responsible for the contract in the first place

That is what it comes down to.... how hard is it to fire a coach in the event of a downturn, and how much protection, based on performance, does a coach deserve?