Having graduated over 50 years ago, I have seen a lot of Texas A&M administrators, Athletic Directors, and coaches come and go. In my opinion, Texas A&M has had three great post-WWII presidents, Earl Rudder, Jack Williams, and Robert Gates. Dr. Michael Young may also make that list, but his tenure is too short to know yet. Based on what I have seen, John Sharp is a head and shoulders above any Chancellor I can remember. Dr. Kathy Banks is transforming engineering education. I live in Austin and am pretty close to t.u. professionally, and can make a pretty good comparison. A&M is running off and leaving t.u. in the dust in facilities, academics, and research.

All of which brings me to athletics. The administrators and members of the Board of Regents are very smart, successful, and accomplished people. I know a number of them personally. We have had one great athletic director in our history, Bill Byrne, and Scott Woodward may be the second, but like Dr. Young, his tenure is too short to know yet.

Many people who post here appear to be pretty young based on their comments about "stupid regents" and such. it is certainly true that Eric Hyman was a bust as an A.D., and the current contract with Sumlin (negotiated by Hyman) was stupid. However, I am very confident that if and when the time comes to evaluate Sumlin's performance, some very smart, successful, and forward-looking people will be making the decisions. As some of the younger posters on TexAgs become a little more seasoned, I expect you may become a little more circumspect in your opinions than so cock-sure you have all the answers.

I appreciate this post very much.

Thank you.

Great post. Hope to hear more from you. I was looking into AD Woodward's background a little re hiring (and firing) football coaches, and I am confident in his ability. Hope he has great leeway to do it his way.

edit: Lest the above be taken as carte blanche approval of OP post, i do take issue w the statement we are leaving tu in the academic dust (whaaa?); that too early to tell on Young (bleeding heart political correct $&@/#%!.) over-endorsement of sharp, and the "smart successful accomplished " regents we have to trust. look- Hyman may have negotiated the assinine Sumlin contract, but those genius Regents are the ones who approved it.

I agree 100% with everything you said, except for Sharp. That guy is shady as hell to me, and I don't trust him at all.
Maybe he is good at what he does, but he's too much of a politician for my taste.

tsuag10 said:

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I agree 100% with everything you said, except for Sharp. That guy is shady as hell to me, and I don't trust him at all.
Maybe he is good at what he does, but he's too much of a politician for my taste.

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To be fair, he's in a bit of a political role. But I get your point.

Ian Neff said:

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tsuag10 said:

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I agree 100% with everything you said, except for Sharp. That guy is shady as hell to me, and I don't trust him at all.
Maybe he is good at what he does, but he's too much of a politician for my taste.

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To be fair, he's in a bit of a political role. But I get your point.

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You're right. But it still makes my skin crawl when I hear him talk. It doesn't have anything to do with his views. It's just something about him...

I understand this is the football board but I have a hard time looking past your comments regarding President Young. He has shown himself to be everything but beneficial to our university.

what is cock-sure? is that a heaven's 11 thing? (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Not sure what you're smoking, but the leadership at TAMU is crap right now. In no way do I trust them to make a decent decision regarding the football program or the school in general.

Quote:

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Based on what I have seen, John Sharp is a head and shoulders above any Chancellor I can remember.

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You're contradicting yourself by overlooking the best, which you named. In our day (I'm c/o '71), no one knew who the chancellor was, because he was also the President of A&M. So by your own admission, Earl Rudder heads that list as well, and not Sharp.

OldCorpsTerd86 said:

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what is cock-sure? is that a heaven's 11 thing? (not that there's anything wrong with that)

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Think it stems from the term "cocky"; refers to being very self-assured. Overconfident.

Self congrats written by an insider for his buddies.

Young is DESTROYING A&M for his own liberal idealistic vision. Yes it will be multi_____ (fill in the blank).

Since the OP is "close" to tu, I'm thinking libtards supporting libtards is a good definition for this thread.

#notanotherdime

Texas A&M is running away from tu in academics? I would like to hear more about this.

please don't praise Byrne the week of the Arkansas game at Jerryworld.

only 7 more games to go in Arlington

Lost me at the praise for Sharp and Banks.

Dr. Young was brought in to generate research grants and revenue and I'd say that's exactly what he's doing. Sharp, in my opinion, is like all politicians and driving his own brand and base of power. Eric Hymen was a total disgrace as an AD and representative of Texas A&M but he was only hired to get Kyle field built and running New Kyle Field was built to attract 100,000 plus spectators and generate more revenue for the entire athletic program. More attention is being given to the younger Aggies because they are the ones who are going to write the future checks and endowments. Always follow the $$$$.

Squadron 11 said:

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Having graduated over 50 years ago, I have seen a lot of Texas A&M administrators, Athletic Directors, and coaches come and go. In my opinion, Texas A&M has had three great post-WWII presidents, Earl Rudder, Jack Williams, and Robert Gates. Dr. Michael Young may also make that list, but his tenure is too short to know yet. Based on what I have seen, John Sharp is a head and shoulders above any Chancellor I can remember. Dr. Kathy Banks is transforming engineering education. I live in Austin and am pretty close to t.u. professionally, and can make a pretty good comparison. A&M is running off and leaving t.u. in the dust in facilities, academics, and research.

All of which brings me to athletics. The administrators and members of the Board of Regents are very smart, successful, and accomplished people. I know a number of them personally. We have had one great athletic director in our history, Bill Byrne, and Scott Woodward may be the second, but like Dr. Young, his tenure is too short to know yet.

Many people who post here appear to be pretty young based on their comments about "stupid regents" and such. it is certainly true that Eric Hyman was a bust as an A.D., and the current contract with Sumlin (negotiated by Hyman) was stupid. However, I am very confident that if and when the time comes to evaluate Sumlin's performance, some very smart, successful, and forward-looking people will be making the decisions. As some of the younger posters on TexAgs become a little more seasoned, I expect you may become a little more circumspect in your opinions than so cock-sure you have all the answers.

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So you're somewhere around 70 years old and think that it's too early to evaluate Young? So be it, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

As an outsider (not an A&M) graduate, I have an extremely low opinion of him. Why? He's a politically correct SJW who doesn't reflect the values of A&M at all. He's too interested in redefining the framework that has made A&M (IMO) one of the best universities in the country.

Excellent post Squadron 11.

Sharp needs to go. He is killing TAMU.

I say this respectfully, but you couldn't be more wrong about Sharp and the Regents.

tsuag10 said:

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Ian Neff said:

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tsuag10 said:

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I agree 100% with everything you said, except for Sharp. That guy is shady as hell to me, and I don't trust him at all.
Maybe he is good at what he does, but he's too much of a politician for my taste.

---

To be fair, he's in a bit of a political role. But I get your point.

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You're right. But it still makes my skin crawl when I hear him talk. It doesn't have anything to do with his views. It's just something about him...

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I get where you're coming from.
It's always wise to trust those instincts.

Our-turn-to-rule said:

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Self congrats written by an insider for his buddies.

Young is DESTROYING A&M for his own liberal idealistic vision. Yes it will be multi_____ (fill in the blank).

Since the OP is "close" to tu, I'm thinking libtards supporting libtards is a good definition for this thread.

#notanotherdime

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Maybe when the Left-wing loon Young takes down Sully in the middle of the night, some people will wake up.

Lost me at praise for Sharp.

This should be cross posted to the politics board OP

Synopsis said:

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Squadron 11 said:

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Having graduated over 50 years ago, I have seen a lot of Texas A&M administrators, Athletic Directors, and coaches come and go. In my opinion, Texas A&M has had three great post-WWII presidents, Earl Rudder, Jack Williams, and Robert Gates. Dr. Michael Young may also make that list, but his tenure is too short to know yet. Based on what I have seen, John Sharp is a head and shoulders above any Chancellor I can remember. Dr. Kathy Banks is transforming engineering education. I live in Austin and am pretty close to t.u. professionally, and can make a pretty good comparison. A&M is running off and leaving t.u. in the dust in facilities, academics, and research.

All of which brings me to athletics. The administrators and members of the Board of Regents are very smart, successful, and accomplished people. I know a number of them personally. We have had one great athletic director in our history, Bill Byrne, and Scott Woodward may be the second, but like Dr. Young, his tenure is too short to know yet.

Many people who post here appear to be pretty young based on their comments about "stupid regents" and such. it is certainly true that Eric Hyman was a bust as an A.D., and the current contract with Sumlin (negotiated by Hyman) was stupid. However, I am very confident that if and when the time comes to evaluate Sumlin's performance, some very smart, successful, and forward-looking people will be making the decisions. As some of the younger posters on TexAgs become a little more seasoned, I expect you may become a little more circumspect in your opinions than so cock-sure you have all the answers.

---

So you're somewhere around 70 years old and think that it's too early to evaluate Young? So be it, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

As an outsider (not an A&M) graduate, I have an extremely low opinion of him. Why? He's a politically correct SJW who doesn't reflect the values of A&M at all. He's too interested in redefining the framework that has made A&M (IMO) one of the best universities in the country.

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Totally agree with this. But it started WAY before Young. At first blush, OP seems to favor progressive Presidents who presided over times of significant change. Just an observation.

The fact that you know who Sharp is proves he's not doing his job. He's the chancellor of the A&M SYSTEM. He is over involved in the daily running of the main campus, while the other system schools are maintained as hick colleges. He should not be making any direct decisions for the big school outside of allocating resources as a part of the SYSTEM budget.

Young, on the other hand, has made nothing but clown decisions. The classes are overcrowded, the professor talent hired is not keeping up with the historical precedent, and his social justice warfare is trying to remake the whole university

This reeks of the same good ole boy / settle for mediocrity mentality that has been holding us back from reaching our potential.

Our leadership is the problem.

Tribe2013 said:

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The fact that you know who Sharp is proves he's not doing his job. He's the chancellor of the A&M SYSTEM. He is over involved in the daily running of the main campus, while the other system schools are maintained as hick colleges. He should not be making any direct decisions for the big school outside of allocating resources as a part of the SYSTEM budget.

Young, on the other hand, has made nothing but clown decisions. The classes are overcrowded, the professor talent hired is not keeping up with the historical precedent, and his social justice warfare is trying to remake the whole university

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Good point on Sharp and the System. But while I think he's not deserving of the full measure of OP's praise, I still think he's better on balance than McKinney.

I'm still reserving judgment on Young. Some of your issues, IMO, are momentum from what he inherited. It's not clear to me that he has the political power to rein in what Banks started, at least fast enough for my taste. New Provost is just starting and we're still searching for a new VPR and dean of Ag.

I have no idea how OP can think we're leaving tu in the dust academically.

Canyon99 said:

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I understand this is the football board but I have a hard time looking past your comments regarding President Young. He has shown himself to be everything but beneficial to our university.

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This. Young, Banks, and Sharp need to go.

We have professors tenured for their Critical Race Theory work. Your praise is invalid.

I am considered an Old Ag and I disagree with alot of what you stated.
Becoming a diploma factory mill does not make us better.
John Sharp IS the problem.
Becoming just like every other liberal campus in America is not a good thing IMO.

AnalogyAg said:

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Great post. Hope to hear more from you. I was looking into AD Woodward's background a little re hiring (and firing) football coaches, and I am confident in his ability. Hope he has great leeway to do it his way.

edit: Lest the above be taken as carte blanche approval of OP post, i do take issue w the statement we are leaving tu in the academic dust (whaaa?); that too early to tell on Young (bleeding heart political correct $&@/#%!.) over-endorsement of sharp

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Young is careful and is more neutral than some folks here suspect, based upon his actions (hacking off folks on both sides of some issues). Bowtie and Perry appointees spurred a time of uncontrolled growth and infusion of bad TPFF notions (which they think are "conservative" but in reality are failed far left ideas from the 60s).

It's not the new Provost that Ags should be worried about, it was the old Provost - a hot mess. Abusive too.


Banks is also abusive and should be let go.


Sharp is wasting $$$ on a Jr. College/Rellis campus. The "efficiencies" instilled on campus have added layers of bureaucracy.

Unfortunately, it seems like anyone but the AD makes the decisions about football coaches.

Great2BeAnAGGIE said:

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I am considered an Old Ag and I disagree with alot of what you stated.
Becoming a diploma factory mill does not make us better.
John Sharp IS the problem.
Becoming just like every other liberal campus in America is not a good thing IMO.

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That was Sharp, Perry, BOR.

The infusion of "left" ideas began just after Gates left. It's actually getting better. As a result, Texas A&M USNWR rankings have risen from 75 to 69th. At one time under Gates we were 49th. With the new Provost and administrative changes, words like "quality" and "excellence" are again in the campus vocabulary.