I was at A&M when Bryant left to go to Alabama. It hurt a lot, as he had taken us to the #1 ranking in the nation just a month earlier. There was a lot of disappointment on the campus, but the decision had been made. I have often thought about what he would have accomplished had he stayed, but he didn't.
We didn't get back to national prominence until Emory Bellard became HC. Jackie Sherrill took us even further and I still believe we would have had at least one NC had he stayed.
We have earned the right to return to national prominence and Fran may very well be the man to lead that return. Alabama took ours, now we have taken theirs. If they don't like it, tough. If other schools don't like it, or the way it was handled-tough. Many people don't like us simply because we are Texas A&M, so no matter how this situation was handled, they will find a reason to go off on it. And to them, in the spirit of Christmas, I'd like to invite them to please notice the mistletoe tied to our collective coat tails.

Just curious, why do you say people hate us because we are Texas A&M?

I bet Bryant's leaving did hurt. #1 with what I believe was 3 games left. I would be devastated if that happened now.

Big D: People hate us out of ignorance, out of jealously, who knows what else? Maybe because we are a unique university with unique traditions. If you ask some of them, they will tell you "because." That's it. No special reason but it's there. I've experienced it over the years.

Who has the the newspaper article quoting bear saying he isn't even considering leaving just days before bolted. Saounds kind of familar doesn't it.

Hey. you got us back. no offense to fran or to a&m, but i don't really think fran will turn into the coach bear ever was. fran is a great coach. but hes nothing more than that. bear had those qualities that were listed on coach frans website, which i thought he had., such as accountibility, loyalty, and trust.

and maybe us bama fans are taking this a little far. but let me tell u somethin. i used to respect texas a&m. in fact i even read the juction boys, and i thought it was one of the best books ive ever read. but after ive read some articles, and read some of the messages that all u aggies have written, i dont respect a&m anymore. i see now why bear left you all those years ago.

also when fran said"this is my last play i plan to coach" or somethin like that, well see if thats true if hes still there in 15 years. Have a good life with fran, however long that may be.

no hard feelings coming from me

"I left Texas A&M because my school called me. Mama called, and when mama calls, then you just have to come running."
--The Bear, on asked why he left Texas A&M with 6 years left on his contract.

I have yet to understand how Bama fans could ever say that Bear possessed accountability, loyalty, and trust. His actions while leaving A&M were worse than Frans were for leaving Bama. Could you please enlighten me on how you have come to this conclusion?

It's my belief that we will see what kind of man Fran is by the coaches that follow him to A&M. If he is not a good man then few if any of his good assistant coaches will follow him to A&M. I will be very worried if this happens, but as of now I don't expect it.

quote:

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...i don't really think fran will turn into the coach bear ever was.

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My response is "What coach ever would?". Only JoPa at Penn State and maybe to a lesser extent Bowden at FSU have the chance to leave a legacy similar to the Bear's. Coaches don't have the longevity today that they did in the 60's and 70's.

By the way, TAMU has had only 2 coaches in the last 20 years. How many has Bama had?

"He killed 16 Chechen rebels single-handed...He was with the interior ministry" - Tony Soprano
"He killed 16 Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator" - Paulie Walnuts
"Really...his house looked like s**t" - Christopher

Forgot to log Buffalo Chip out before I posted...

-tfunk02

[This message has been edited by buffalo chip (edited 12/8/2002 9:31p).]

Would any Bama fans that are left on our board please answer my question above? I really would like to hear what you have to say on the issue.

1Tide,

"hello kettle, you're black". Listen to yourself. You are such a whiney little byotch because the best thing that Alabama has seen since Bear, left and came to the promise land. A place where he can win a NC. Good luck on that happening at UA in the next 15 years.

I have always said, nothing great about Alabama ever got there without passing through College Station first.

Whooop and beat the hell outta you and your whiney sour grapes hypocritical school!!!!!!!!!

Tfunk, you gotta remember when comparing someone to a legend, the official state pasttime in Bama, there's no way anyone will ever stackup. Legend get inflated as time goes on and all the dirty laundry is washed clean.

P.S. Great quote, Retro...mistletoe on the coattails, that's a classic.

[This message has been edited by 80Aggie (edited 12/8/2002 9:43p).]

The real reason Bear left A&M:

He went to the president's office and told him if he would make the Corps non-compulsory and admit women, he would build us a national power.

The president refused. Bear left.

Alabama: Learn from history. The South lost the war because it didn't have the resources. Bear left for Bama because he knew he couldn't recruit well enough at an all-male military school when the power in Texas at the time was in Austin. A lot has changed in the last 40 years. We are in a better position to be a power than Alabama.

Perhaps Bama fans should educate themselves a bit before they decide we are a "lesser" school.

So they're "Bama." Oooooh.
Well, guess what?
The pharoahs? Gone.
Rome? Fell.
Alexander? Lost.
Napoleon? Lost.
King George? Lost (or else we'd all be speaking English today!).
Wilhelm? Lost.
Hitler? Lost.
USSR? Gone.

News flash: Someday, even Miami will lose, and will no longer be national champion.

Alabama is a school with lots of pride and tradition. Lots of football tradition and tradition of the grand old South. I used to have a lot of respect for them. Perhaps someday I will again. For now, they seem to be crybabies who can't (or won't) learn from history. 'Bama is not exactly the crown jewel of college football now, and is not in a great position to win for quite a while. If Fran had gone downhill after sanctions, he'd have been out on his tail. Nothing is forever, and you have to change with the times or get left behind.

Think about it, darlin'.

I agree with you, Eva!!

And to retroag...love the mistletoe note... :-)

Go, Ags!!

[This message has been edited by AustinAlli89 (edited 12/8/2002 10:57p).]

tidefan (moron),

Your handling of this ordeal has led me to be a permanent Auburn fan. I respect them for having to put up with Bama's crap.

well, Coach Bryant played for Bama back when Coach Thomas was winning national championships.

Coach Bryant was just coming home. He lobbied for the job when he was at Maryland and Kentucky.

It took the Ears Whitworth fiasco to convince the Bama folks to bring Coach Bryant home. He shoulda been at Bama the whole time, like Coach Paterno at Penn St.

Oh well. Nevermind it all. Glad Coach Bryant came home to UA, and glad Franphoney is gone.

It all worked out good for us all.

RTR, and check y'all later.

don't forget, in Bama, apparently "Jesus" is spelled B-E-A-R, because the man was perfect

Ho! Ho! The Mistletoe. Good one Retroag.

pot/kettle

can we kill these threads please??? and all bama fans: please learn to look at things from more than one perspective. Y'all are actin' like a bunch of hypocrits

OK, so let me get this straight... it is OK to lie and say you are staying when you are not, and it is OK to cheat and get your school in trouble with the NCAA (which Fran didn't do but Bear did) and THEN abandon all those players to go scott free off to somewhere else... All that is OK, but only, ONLY, so long as you go to your alma mater? So, let me get this straight, if Fran had gone to school at A&M, he could have done all this stuff and worse, and you Bama fans would be OK with it?

Must be one of those outside looking in things, because I don't get it. I guess at the end of the Ten Commandments there is a footnote that says "Unless doing so helps Alabama win National Championships."

By the way, I don't really have a big problem with how Bear left, although it did suck, just as I don't have a problem with how Fran left, just as I am sure it sucks for you. I just think it is hypocritical because y'all don't have any problem with what anybody does so long as they are coming to Alabama, but y'all obviously DO have a problem with doing the same stuff when you are leaving and then y'all seem to believe that it is morally bankrupt.

I'm still having a hard time understanding y'alls reasoning.

The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution protects Coach Fran from being force to stay at Alabama as does his employment contract. You may not like it but it's totally legal. You're just upset because he choose A&M and not an NCAA penalized school. It's bascially your fault. If you would have kept your act clean he may have stayed, but you made his decision to leave for him. Ce la vie. Let's move on now.

The commerce clause?!?!? What in the heck does the commerce clause have to do with anything? I could see you saying the Fifteenth Amendment but the freaking commerce clause?

Let me get this straight... the commerce clause, which says something to the effect of "Congress shall have the power regulate interstate commerce," you think, instead of being a grant of power to congress, is instead a protection of individual liberty?

Bryant had every right to leave A&M, regardless of whether he had 6 yrs left on his contract or not.

The problem is, he announced his leaving to the team, which was ranked #1 at the time (we were 8-0), the week of the Rice game. We lost to Rice 7-6, then lost on Turkey Day, at Kyle, 9-7 (Royal's first year). All we had to do was win those 2 games and we were national champs (back then, the vote was taken before the bowl game). We then lost to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl 3-0.

Why couldn't he have made the announcement to the team about 2 weeks later?

I have talked to at least one prominent member of the 57 team and he confirmed that Bryant's announcement was devastating to the team and that this probably contributed to our losing the last 3 games. We went from #1 in the nation to 3rd in the conference in the space of a couple of weeks.

The way he handled his leaving cost us a national championship.

[This message has been edited by Jim Benson 63 (edited 12/9/2002 12:58a).]

first, bear bryant didn't do anything to get us on probation. It's ok to post an opinion, but posting that as fact without knowing what you're talking about is ignorant

Bama fans don't have a problem losing a coach to another school. The majority of A&M fans are misinterpreting that part. Our problem is how Fran handled the situation and how he left. You have to admit you were just as tired as us about hearing all these rumors for several weeks leading up to this. Fran denied all these rumors, but you have to know that they must have been true and he was negotiating long before he was contacted by A&M. Add in the fact that the 12th Man Foundation bought and reserved 3 websites by the names of aggiecoachfran (.com, .net, and .org) on November 25 and there's more evidence pointing to that fact. Fran continuously denied these rumors saying that Slocum was his friend and out of respect for him he wouldn't comment on this "insane" rumors...especially since there wasn't a opening at A&M at the time. I'm sorry, but if Fran is Slocum's friend, then Slocum sure as heck doesn't need any enemies.

Also, last week and on the day Fran flew out to texas, he continuously said he wasn't leaving and "There's not been any change, I've got coaches out recruiting. And I have a contract." What he failed to mention though is those assistants were out trying to recruit our commitments to come to A&M. How would you feel if you're coaches are still under contract under you but are out trying to get them to attend another school???

Add in the fact how he treated our players and there's a very bitter taste in bama fans' mouths about how he left.

I wish you luck with your team next year

God, I'm pretty sure you are the dumb one. Bear Bryant got US, Texas A&M, on probation, our first probation, as a matter of fact. I would have thought that was obvious, but you have to make that explicit to Alabama fans, who think the world revolves around them.

In case you are wondering who got our second and third major infractions, it was Gene Stallings. Oh, and when I say, "Our" I mean Texas A&M. Not Alabama.

Anyway, the point I was making, which I thought was obvious, but apparently it isn't, is I was hoping the Bama fans would explain what it is about Bear's departure from A&M that was OK, and Fran's departure from Alabama not OK, because y'all seem to think there is a difference, and I don't understand what it is. And I don't think the fact that Fran didn't go back to his alma mater as opposed to another school is the critical fact in y'alls displeasure.

Or maybe it is that y'all are OK with all that stuff, so long as it happens to schools besides Alabama.

bamajama- i cant even fathom how you can be so clueless- do you REALLY think it would have been better for Bama if Fran had said, "yeah, A&M's talking to me and I'm considering leaving..."??? That is so unbelievably naive. Fran did what was best for Bama- he shut up, he coached hard, and he recruited. It's the way ALL coaches do in these situations, and it's done because it's the RIGHT thing to do. Quit whining and jumpt into reality...

tfunk02:
I'll give it a whirl. But first, I am not into this flaming garbage. We (aTm and Bama) will never see eye to eye on this. That's cool.

LOyalty, accountability, and trust. (1) Loyalty: and this addresses another part of this thread. Coach Bryant played for Bama. This is my opinion alone, but maybe he saw himself as going home. Who knows? As for that crack about the only thing good geting to T-Town came through Aggieland first, history seems to show Bryant found himself in T-Town first as a player. (2) Accountability: Open for debate, and to be quite honest with you, I think that's in the eye of the beholder. I've read where if his teams won, they got the credit. If they lost, Coach took the heat. Maybe that's what you're looking for, I don't know. (3) Trust-like respect, it's earned. Comes with time...20+years as a coach, 6 NC's, did alot for UA, became a coaching legend AT TAMU AND BAMA. Heck yeah, he would have earned my trust.

Like I said, I'm not interested in arguing, just talking football. I don't expect you folks to understand this, but I'll say it: if he wanted to leave Bama for aTm, not a problem. I'll help you pack. Best of luck. Question, and be honest: If I were your employer, you stated you were happy and all that warm fuzzy stuff, why could you not answer a simple question: Are you staying, yes or no? If he didn't want to be at Bama, that's all he had to say. Why dodge the question for months? That's my point, and honestly, I'm over it. Time to move on. Fran is not Alabama football, nor will he be A&M football. He's just one piece of the puzzle.

Like I said, I have no ill will toward the A&M folks. You guys seem cool. Bama fans are rather rabid. I'm really glad you guys got him, now he's out of Tuscaloosa! Seriously, I have no hard feelings, you guys got what you asked for in FRan. Best of luck to you all.

ROLL TIDE!!!

Ok,

I can definitely see where Alabama fans are hurt. I would be a little hurt too if my coach left under those conditions. I do not know what was said by either of the schools higher ups. I have heard just about everything from both sides. Only Fran and the deal makers know what really happened. I do believe that Fran was right by denying the rumors (even if he was lying). That Bama team might have had a meltdown in those last few games if they thought their coach was leaving. I have seen Aggies and Bama fans alike act like total morons the last few weeks because they are upset or feel like they are being attacked. It's time to let it go. I thought it was humorous at first, but it has gotten old rather quick. I hope Fran isn't everything Bama fans are saying he is (my gut tells me he isn't). I wish the University of Alabama the best of luck in the future. We are not rival schools and with the way scheduling is set up these days we probably will not meet each other on the gridiron again for a long time. Until then, Roll Tide Roll and Gig 'Em Aggies!

we did get what we asked for in fran
we got a coach who gives us a chance to win the national championship and become an elite football power...thanks bama

1Tide...

Don't you find it somewhat hypocritical to base your respect (or lack thereof) of an entire university on the postings on that university's fan page when the same types of postings are flying around your own?

Besides, from what I've read, Bama is irate on how Fran exited. I must say in agreement with another poster, I believe the way he handled the situation might have been--although hard to swallow--to the benefit of Bama overall. Had he come straight out and stated, "Yeah, I'm leaving," do you think that would have encouraged the players to continue to push hard to win? Do you think that would have been beneficial at all to recruiting?

I think that when the smoke finally clears from this, Alabama, although short a wonderful coach and strategist, will be in as good a position as could be hoped for given the circumstances of probation.

My two cents.

retroag, I was also there when Bryant left. You may have forgotten, but when he left, he left the Aggies in a terrible position, personnel wise. Evidently, he had one good recruiting year and that was that. I think his recruiting tactics were under the microscope after the first year. He got out when the getting was good. It took years to recover. The Bear was no friend of Texas A&M.

You know this is football, football is a sport, and sports are a business. Nobody ever likes to see their coach leave, there is no nice to tell a team you would like to go somewhere else. As for handling the situation GET OVER IT! If you are going to get youre feelings hurt over this go watch figure skating, it would more suit you.

Bear left A&M for several reason, none the least of which was the fact that NCAA sanctions were going to decimate his ability to recruit. He saw the handwriting on the wall.

Dejavu all over again ????

Tolerating mediocrity is acceptable only to those who can't envision excellence.

quote:

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NCAA sanctions were going to decimate his ability to recruit.

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Not to mention his ability to coach for several years WHEN the Death Penalty gets dealt.

There was NO death penalty pre-SMU.



Tolerating mediocrity is acceptable only to those who can't envision excellence.