How do you know we don't? Do you know what goes on in practice, or the locker room, or on the sidelines every minute of the game? You make a lot of assumptions.

2032. Once every twenty years...

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How do you know we don't?

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I suspected it was an issue, and a quote from player regarding last week's game clinched it for me.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/collegesports/2017/09/16/like-two-different-teams-ragin-sluggish-first-half-texas-am-bounces-back-beat-cajuns

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A&M senior safety Armani Watts, who had two interceptions, said he team didn't have much emotion as the Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) took a 21-14 lead at halftime. Sophomore linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who returned an interception for a touchdown, said a sluggish start occasionally happens in football.
But at halftime, A&M felt something. And it wasn't pleasant.

"I don't know how to explain it, but we were very angry," said A&M sophomore Erik McCoy, who started the game as a left guard but finished as the center on the Aggies' offensive line.
In the second half, A&M outgained ULL 353 yards to 82. The Ragin' Cajuns produced only four first downs during that span and ran 27 plays.

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Normally it is the head coaches job to instill a sense of urgency and a drive to win. We definitely lack that and have for years.

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Does a SEC team with leaders allow that to happen?

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So, in fact, we don't need a better coaching staff. We don't need a team with better quality LB and OL depth. We don't need better QB play.

You're saying all we need is 1 or 2 great leaders and we'd be 3-0 and blown away the two lesser schools. Sorry but I think it's a little closer to this:

1a: Coaching
1b: Talent
2: Depth
3: Player Leadership

Sean Porter came into the press conference after the 2012 Florida loss and said he was sick of losing and that he was going to personally play harder and he expected the rest of the defense to follow him. They did.

We've heard about Sumlin trying to get guys like Myles more vocal but there seems to be a hesitance to get on a team mate who is taking plays off or missing assignments or not responding under pressure.

We laugh at a sip lineman who has a temper tantrum on the field after losing to Kansas, but where is that hatred of losing on our teams?

Maybe Christian Kirk and Armani can build a fire under their team mates but it will require them to be unpopular in the moment. I'm not sure that the current culture of " everybody gets to do their own thing without me judging them" lends itself to leadership being unpopular when expectations are raised.

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Without leadership amongst the players the team continues to play flat and loses to ULALA, not come out hair on fire and completely dominate the second half.

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Bingo! That "we've got this," attitude after the half.

We need a leader on the practice field and in the weight room that is going to push people to be physically and mentally prepared for game day.

I thought we paid people to do that, but it is obvious by the amount of freshmen we are playing that we don't pay the right people to develop players and prepare them for Saturdays.

I only remember JFF getting in peoples faces at the Chick Fil A bowl, his last game here. I agree, having the refuse to lose attitude is awesome, but without prepared players it's like pushing a rope, you really aren't going to accomplish much.

Ya I wonder when the most dynamic player in the history of the program will come around again

Inspector Javert said:

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Ya I wonder when the most dynamic player in the history of the program will come around again

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I do know Sumlin was very disappointed he couldn't land Jalen Hurts who went to Bama. But the QB situation at A&M was too crowded during Hurts' recruiting period.

Jalen is having a few sophomore yips this season but I honestly think he's a real leader. As is Nick Fitzgerald at Miss State. Mullen got himself a good one there.

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Hard for me to buy 1b and 2 based on our recruiting over the past number of years.

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What do you mean it's hard for you to buy? It's a real easy concept. Take Alabama. Get a great coach (and staff).
Recruit better talent than anyone in the conference and country. Build up your depth. Bingo.......you're gonna win. I'd imagine Alabama would still win the conference even if every player was a quiet, go about his business type of guy.

Nothing substitutes for talent and coaching. Nothing. It's not a hard concept.

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A&M senior safety Armani Watts, who had two interceptions, said he team didn't have much emotion as the Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) took a 21-14 lead at halftime. Sophomore linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who returned an interception for a touchdown, said a sluggish start occasionally happens in football.

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But at halftime, A&M felt something. And it wasn't pleasant.

"I don't know how to explain it, but we were very angry," said A&M sophomore Erik McCoy, who started the game as a left guard but finished as the center on the Aggies' offensive line.
In the second half, A&M outgained ULL 353 yards to 82. The Ragin' Cajuns produced only four first downs during that span and ran 27 plays.

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I'll help you out, Erik. It's called getting your dick kicked in by freaking ULALA. That'll usually do it.

Windy City Ag said:

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How do you know we don't?

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I suspected it was an issue, and a quote from player regarding last week's game clinched it for me.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/collegesports/2017/09/16/like-two-different-teams-ragin-sluggish-first-half-texas-am-bounces-back-beat-cajuns

Quote:

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A&M senior safety Armani Watts, who had two interceptions, said he team didn't have much emotion as the Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) took a 21-14 lead at halftime. Sophomore linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who returned an interception for a touchdown, said a sluggish start occasionally happens in football.
But at halftime, A&M felt something. And it wasn't pleasant.

"I don't know how to explain it, but we were very angry," said A&M sophomore Erik McCoy, who started the game as a left guard but finished as the center on the Aggies' offensive line.
In the second half, A&M outgained ULL 353 yards to 82. The Ragin' Cajuns produced only four first downs during that span and ran 27 plays.

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Normally it is the head coaches job to instill a sense of urgency and a drive to win. We definitely lack that and have for years.

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I am going to disagree on the head coach's role. The head coach identifies the best players to execute his game plan. He then communicates that game plan and gives the players the encouragement and confidence that the plan will work.

If the coach were to pull the team together and begin chewing ass it is most likely that the team rolls their eyes and continues on. I hope what happened is that coach went to a few key players he wants to be the leaders and told them that this is their team and their success is dependent on their energy level and willingness to bring it.

Whatever happened in the locker room worked. We will see if it carries forward.

Per John Maxwell, Leadership is influence. You can have very positive leaders and you can have very negative leaders! You can create better leaders through training and development!

However, if you don't neutralize bad leaders you are doomed. Sumlin is a bad leader because he takes no responsibility for his mistakes or the teams mistskes!

drevans956 said:

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Per John Maxwell, Leadership is influence. You can have very positive leaders and you can have very negative leaders! You can create better leaders through training and development!

However, if you don't neutralize bad leaders you are doomed. Sumlin is a bad leader because he takes no responsibility for his mistakes or the teams mistskes!

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How do you know Sumlin doesn't take responsibility?

See Max Wright

there always are leaders on an 85+ man roster. It's part of the coaching staff's job to develop and shape them. You can't consistently win tough games/accomplish tough assignments without them imo. Yr 6 and no obvious leaders on the field.... red flag.

We need a Scott Cochran type with this HC

rbcs_2 said:

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drevans956 said:

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Per John Maxwell, Leadership is influence. You can have very positive leaders and you can have very negative leaders! You can create better leaders through training and development!

However, if you don't neutralize bad leaders you are doomed. Sumlin is a bad leader because he takes no responsibility for his mistakes or the teams mistskes!

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How do you know Sumlin doesn't take responsibility?

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LMAO - because he ducks and dives it in EVERY INTERVIEW. If he took responsibility, he would have said after the UCLA loss, I BLEW IT WHEN I ALLOWED US TO ATTEMPT TO PASS THE ENTIRE SECOND HALF. I BLEW IT WHEN I DIDN'T PUT JAKE IN THE GAME WHEN WE STRUGGLED TO HIT THE BROAD SIDE OF A BARN. THIS GAME IS ON ME AND MY COACHING STAFF. The players tried to do the stupid things we asked them to do!

First of all, JFF was the GOATQB, but he was a mixed bag as a leader.

Non-football problems. He was able to turn it on Saturday. It caught up with him at the pros. Very few players can even do that in college. JFF"s lifestyle infected the team. Look at Kenny Hill passing out the Wednesday before a game. Who taught him that?

Not an accident that JFF was never voted captain.

CrazyDayDuck said:

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aggiedent said:

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How do you know we don't? Do you know what goes on in practice, or the locker room, or on the sidelines every minute of the game? You make a lot of assumptions.

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We ...
- Blew a 34 point lead to UCLA
- Were tied 14-14 in the 4th to a FCS school
- Were losing 21-14 at the half to a Sunbelt school

Does a SEC team with leaders allow that to happen?

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Bad ones do. Where is the leadership from the coaches?

Sumlin may take personal responsibility but he will never allow himself to admit failure publicly. His swagger is a product of seeming to be in control and to having a master plan that can not be questioned by mere mortals. He is compensating for really not knowing why his teams crater under pressure.
My sense is that he is truly struggling with what to do .
At the end of the day Kevin Sumlin has never won a championship as a head coach and yet he acts as arrogant as Nick Saban.

He has been very well compensated for OJT. Our administration has squandered an opportunity to displace tu in this state , but it is time now for him to assume public responsibility for the $35 million that we have invested in his training.

I think you're mistaking leadership for athleticism. JFF was a once in a lifetime type of player because of his prowess and vision on the football field. His athleticism and attitude towards losing affected the team in a good way that made it better; there's no mistake about that.

However, I think you're overrating his leadership ability. To be a great leader, you have to walk the walk and talk the talk on and off the field. You're underrating other guys who put their stamp on the football team as well. I'm just shooting from the hip but you have guys like Labhart, Swope, Joeckel, Lewis, Moore, Porter, Spencer Nealy, and Mike Evans.

While he was a once in a lifetime player, it takes a team to win a football game and while he might have been the face of this program at the time, you cannot win as many games as we did without those guys either.

Some of those guys were great leaders on and off the field so when are we going to them their due for our 2012 season?

Never.

Wasn't he the first freshman to win?
Yes I know he was a redshirt freshman.

But still you won't

Developing leaders is the HC's burden. Your best player is rarely your leader.

So, you find a backup who grinds it out and makes plays on special teams. You make him the special teams captain. You give him opportunities to speak.

In a position battle between an upper classman with leadership and a quiet underclassman, you give the nod to the upperclassman until the underclassman shows he is clearly better. Because anybody can look pretty running drills. You need the motherf---ker who will fight through pain and fatigue in the 4th quarter.

IF your best leaders are not outspoken, you talk to them about leading by example. At the same time, you find some of your starters who are average players but willing to talk. You encourage them to say more. You tell them that they earned a starting spot and have earned the right to be heard.

Fran, as bad of a coach he was, was onto something with his advisory counsel. That gave the kids others respected a chance to get out front.

You find who the turds are and you lean on them HARD. The better the athlete, the harder you lean on him. You must isolate the turds who will not change. This is critical, because when it comes time to kick the turd out, the team must realize that the turd was selfish and was hurting their chances to be winners.You must get rid of them the first honest chance you get.

Finally, you know who you are recruiting. Chris Peterson had a great interview in some magazine article on recruiting. He talks to the guidance counselor, the kid's math teacher, etc. You dont ask the HS coach.


I highly doubt Scumlin does this, which is ironic since he was a walk-on. Walk-ons usually have character.

I don't know that I remember Johnny being that way. Sure...the Duke game he was vocal and trying to pump up the team. But that was the only game I remember that in.

He was a hell of a competitor on the field and had once in a generation talent, but we don't hear stories about how he pushed the team in the weight room, film room or outside of practice. I agree we heard that from Porter, maybe some of the other defensive upper classmen.

We did hear/see his partying and doing other things outside of football. He's the greatest QB that we've had here at A&M, but I don't know he was really a leader.

I think the closest thing we've had to having a leader at QB in Sumlin's tenure has been Knight. Only issue with him was he was only here a year.

You have to have coaches that the team is willing to follow, but you also have to have those guys on the team that will push more than the coaches are allowed (extra hours, ect). With all of the freshmen playing right now, maybe that's where we're getting hit by most.

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Finally, you know who you are recruiting. Chris Peterson had a great interview in some magazine article on recruiting. He talks to the guidance counselor, the kid's math teacher, etc. You dont ask the HS coach.

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Bielema scours potential recruits' social media accounts to see what they are like outside of the classroom or on the field. His motto is "don't recruit your own headaches."

Not sure how well that is working out for him, though.

aggiedent said:

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Does a SEC team with leaders allow that to happen?

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So, in fact, we don't need a better coaching staff. We don't need a team with better quality LB and OL depth. We don't need better QB play.

You're saying all we need is 1 or 2 great leaders and we'd be 3-0 and blown away the two lesser schools. Sorry but I think it's a little closer to this:

1a: Coaching
1b: Talent
2: Depth
3: Player Leadership

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lol

You argued that this team has leadership.

I simply posed a question, which was:

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We ...
- Blew a 34 point lead to UCLA
- Were tied 14-14 in the 4th to a FCS school
- Were losing 21-14 at the half to a Sunbelt school

Does a SEC team with leaders allow that to happen?

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Obviously we need all four (coaching, talent, depth and player leadership) if we want to compete in the SEC.

I agree with Bielema in principal. I think getting stuck with the scraps other programs do not want makes things challenging. Bielema teams do seem to get better as the season progresses.

Scumlin could delegate vetting. Just hire good, retired detectives with deep ties to the program. Send them out to conduct background checks.

Many teachers resent athletes and the special treatment. As long as the detective was smart (about not outing her), a lot of teachers would relish the opportunity.