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Ari Wasserman from The Athletic on who has a brighter future Ags or sips

8,317 Views | 56 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by dixichkn
mjhhawk
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Ari is generally not the highest on us as he is an Ohio St. guy so this seems like a neutral opinion from mainly a recruiting guy.....

If you could buy futures in only one of Texas or Texas A&M, whose are you buying? Jungman M.
This question is really hard because both are at critical junctures and both have really solid cases. Let's start with a sales pitch for both programs.

Texas: When it comes to recruiting, it's not a stretch to say that Texas should expect to be the king of the Lone Star State. Texas is the school that every top-tier prospect in the state should at least explore. The Longhorns also just hired Steve Sarkisian coming off a national title at Alabama, so the program is pairing an ultratalented roster with a coach who really knows how to draw up an offense. Texas has never had a hard time with talent accumulation. The issues have been developing that talent and getting the most out of everyone on the roster. Sarkisian hasn't coached a game in Austin yet, but I believe he can do what Tom Herman could not: develop his players. The Longhorns are also in a much more winnable conference than Texas A&M, which plays in the SEC.

Texas A&M: No team in college football had a better finish in the 2021 recruiting cycle than Texas A&M. The Aggies' class ranked No. 8 overall and featured four top-75 national prospects from Texas. (Texas finished No. 15 in the national recruiting rankings.) Meanwhile, Jimbo Fisher, who won a national title at Florida State, has the Aggies coming off one of the most successful campaigns in program history. Texas A&M has also been crushing it in recruiting in Houston, which includes a commitment from 2022 five-star quarterback Conner Weigman of Cypress Bridgeland. Everything in Aggieland seems to be trending up.
Which one would you choose? It feels as though there isn't a wrong answer.
I've gone back and forth multiple times. But this is a mailbag and not answering is boring, so I am going to go with Texas A&M right now.

I am repeatedly fooled by Texas. I say "Texas is back" more than anyone because I see the roster and the program's resources and say, "Why not Texas?" Then all too often the Longhorns fail to meet expectations. Now there is a new coach, and I'm back to having a ton of hope for what the program can do. But on the other hand, Sark and Herman seem to be very similar hires on the surface. Texas should be able to win the Big 12, but is that expectation smart at this point? I don't know.

There are some drawbacks to picking Texas A&M. The Aggies play in the same division as Alabama and LSU, so they face inherent roadblocks that Texas (outside of Oklahoma) frankly doesn't have to face.
I just like a little more what Texas A&M has been doing on the recruiting front. Maybe this answer won't age well and Texas will win 10 games in the fall and sign a top-five class in 2022. But right now, Texas A&M has a youthful and talented roster and the quarterback of the future who makes it easy to believe that Fisher will be able to win at the highest level.


Charlie Murphy
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A lot of hedging going on there.
yell_on_6th st
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AG
Lost me at "ultra talented roster"...
rbcs_2
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AG
Quote:

Sarkisian hasn't coached a game in Austin yet, but I believe he can do what Tom Herman could not: develop his players.


Seriously this has been said about the last 3 coaches. It's turning into the next "Texas is back!" expression.
greg.w.h
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AG
Opinion piece with a minimum of actual information and a decent analysis with apparently no conclusion because he would rather maximize eyeballs.

Clickbait.
AugustusGloop
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AG
An overrated roster full of skill positions and no trench players is more like it.
agnerd
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Aren't you supposed to buy-low, sell high? Sips are around the lowest in program history and we're around the highest. They're more likely to not be Kansas-bad than we are to be Alabama-good.
inch05
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AG
The Athletic has really become so much trash. Did TexAgs and The Athletic have some kind of falling out? What's the story there?
AgDotCom
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Has this guy played or coached football at any level? If no, why does his opinion matter more than others?
TheWoodsAg
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Ari Wasserman can die of gonorrhea and rot in hell.

That clown did nothing but talk down about our team all last year about how we didn't deserve a playoff spot because our team was boring and didn't win convincingly enough, even though we won our last 7 games by double digits while his beloved Buckeyes struggled with Indiana and Northwestern and were less competitive against Bama than we were. At one point he thought USC should be above us in the playoff discussion late in the year.

People should never forget the garbage that came out of his mouth, Herbstreit's, or David Pollock's at the end of the season.

Now that he lives in Dallas I hope he's annoyed by Aggies at every turn.
rootube
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The Atlantic: We need clicks
Ari Wasserman: On it!
Azariah
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How far ahead so we have to be for this guy to even marginally pick us?
TopoTacos
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Yeah I don't get the confidence in this just yet. Sark wasn't particularly known for that at USC/UW and I don't know why you would attribute anything at Bama to anyone other than Saban until someone proves they can replicate it at his level.

Sark might get them on track, but any assessment of that so far is just a guess.
Stinky T
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Jim McElwain, Doug Nussmeir, Lane Kiffin, Brian Daboll, Michael Locksley - all OCs at Alabama under Saban. All were successful at Alabama and haven't done much in college football after that. So why do they all think Sarkisian, fresh off an Alabama NC, is going to be different. History says he won't be.
Dominion Caracas Branch
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You can't trust guys from blue blood schools in stuff like cfb and mbb. They tend to favor other blue bloods over upstarts like us.

What I want to know is how the whorns spin it if sark goes 7-6 or 6-7 like the last two coaches did in their first season. If that happens, how is it really any different than strong and herman? Both of those guys were coordinators for NC teams.

He will get good classes based on hype alone but how long can it be sustained if the natives are restless after year 1 (and they will be if sark tops out at 7/6 wins and A&M does great, meaning 10 wins or better). At some point if A&M continues to rise and tu goes through the same song and dance it did with strong, herman, and late stage mack brown, you'd think recruits will notice. NIL means anyone with a good booster pool can take care of a recruit financially. Why would they go to austin with the constant hc churn. They gave their last two HC a total of seven years. What is to say sark will get more than 3 or 4 years if he doesn't win more (or worse less) than herman.
swc93
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Horns are the safe bet based on conference alone; one good to great game vs OU and they can look like superstars.
rootube
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Here are the cliff notes

tu: They get a lot of recruits and only have to beat OU. It has to happen some time right?
A&M: Jimbo is doing great but can they ever pass LSU and Bama who are the top tier teams in their division?

Very insightful stuff here.
Dominion Caracas Branch
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rootube said:

Here are the cliff notes

tu: They get a lot of recruits and only have to beat OU. It has to happen some time right?
A&M: Jimbo is doing great but can they ever pass LSU and Bama who are the top tier teams in their division?

Very insightful stuff here.
The funny thing is we are 2-1 against LSU under Jimbo and have finished ahead of them in west, 2/3 years.
LatinAggie1997
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Everything sippy is buy at $100k, sell at $60k and claim to have sold at $150k.
rootube
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Sure but they have a recent SEC and CFP title, and their recruiting prowess is only rivaled by Bama.
aggieclay
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I stopped at "this is a really hard question ... both have really solid case." Both of us do? Uh ... NOPE!
Agsuffering@bulaw
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Quote:

Jim McElwain, Doug Nussmeir, Lane Kiffin, Brian Daboll, Michael Locksley - all OCs at Alabama under Saban. All were successful at Alabama and haven't done much in college football after that. So why do they all think Sarkisian, fresh off an Alabama NC, is going to be different. History says he won't be.

Would not surprise if he fails, but that analysis misses several key data points.

He rebuilt Washington's roster that went winless the year before he arrived. He was in the process of rebuilding USC. Addiction did him in. IF he remains sober, still an open question on his HC ability.
Divining Rod
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agnerd said:

..Sips are around the lowest in program history and we're around the highest. They're more likely to not be Kansas-bad than we are to be Alabama-good.


the same thing can be said for about 125 other D1 teams. that wasnt really the Q here.
halfastros81
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AG
He reluctantly made the right choice , hedged as it is. I look forward to the next few yrs because I think the question will more or less become a joke. When the question becomes who has more upside , Texas A & M or Alabama we'll
Be where we want to be.
Jimbo4win
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AG
Who's the better program? "I like Texas because they have an easier schedule". Okay, thanks so much Ari!
Stinky T
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Agsuffering@bulaw said:

Quote:

Jim McElwain, Doug Nussmeir, Lane Kiffin, Brian Daboll, Michael Locksley - all OCs at Alabama under Saban. All were successful at Alabama and haven't done much in college football after that. So why do they all think Sarkisian, fresh off an Alabama NC, is going to be different. History says he won't be.

Would not surprise if he fails, but that analysis misses several key data points.

He rebuilt Washington's roster that went winless the year before he arrived. He was in the process of rebuilding USC. Addiction did him in. IF he remains sober, still an open question on his HC ability.


Then how about we use that as the reason he may be successful at Texas. My analysis - having success as Alabama's OC under Saban isn't exactly an exclusive club, nor is it an indicator of future success. That analysis is spot on.
Aggie Joe 93
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"...there are drawbacks..."

Then he only says 'because of SECW' and the whole point is tu can 'appear' better because they actually play a relatively crap schedule.

How many recruits would rather look good than be good? I wonder if the answer to that reveals something important about each recruit.
ABATTBQ11
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AG
swc93 said:

Horns are the safe bet based on conference alone; one good to great game vs OU and they can look like superstars.


Don't forget these guys...

rbcs_2
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Agsuffering@bulaw said:

Quote:

Jim McElwain, Doug Nussmeir, Lane Kiffin, Brian Daboll, Michael Locksley - all OCs at Alabama under Saban. All were successful at Alabama and haven't done much in college football after that. So why do they all think Sarkisian, fresh off an Alabama NC, is going to be different. History says he won't be.

Would not surprise if he fails, but that analysis misses several key data points.

He rebuilt Washington's roster that went winless the year before he arrived. He was in the process of rebuilding USC. Addiction did him in. IF he remains sober, still an open question on his HC ability.
Rebuilding at USC? I see why he failed...and booze.
CCAD AG
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A bunch of double-speak:

Quote:

"Sarkisian hasn't coached a game in Austin yet, but I believe he can do what Tom Herman could not: develop his players."

Followed by:


Quote:

"But on the other hand, Sark and Herman seem to be very similar hires on the surface."


When the only reason anyone thinks tu will do better is:

Quote:

The Longhorns are also in a much more winnable conference than Texas A&M, which plays in the SEC.


We were taught that in professional writing, go with BLUF - Bottom Line Up Front.

All he had to say was:

Quote:

The Longhorns are in a much more winnable conference than Texas A&M, which plays in the SEC.

That tells the whole story about why anyone would think the whorns will shine anytime in the near future.
Barnacle
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The horns problem was never player development. The problem was recruiting ranking inflation. Anytime they get a commitment, that player's stock rises to stupid levels. This led to unwarranted high expectations. The players were just not that good to begin with...and as mentioned, they didn't recruit well in the trenches on top of that.
Bobby Petrino`s Neckbrace
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This is why I dropped my sub to The Athletic.

Ari Wasserman can EABOD.
W
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yell_on_6th st said:

Lost me at "ultra talented roster"...
that's the first thing I noticed.

the horns actually lost their most talented offensive and defensive players (from their 2020 roster).

and once again...everything everyone is saying about Sarkisian...is the same thing they said about Tom Herman
rgag12
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The Athletic is just a cesspool of laid-off sports journalists that got fired from failing papers/magazines.

I already pay for someone to take my garbage, I don't want to pay someone to give it to me as well.
rootube
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W said:

yell_on_6th st said:

Lost me at "ultra talented roster"...
that's the first thing I noticed.

the horns actually lost their most talented offensive and defensive players (from their 2020 roster).

and once again...everything everyone is saying about Sarkisian...is the same thing they said about Tom Herman
You can debate a star here or there but it's not debatable that tu has more talent than anyone in the big 12. They beat out ou head to head for players on a regular basis. They have an absolutely terrible reputation for player development recently. We will soon see about Sark's ability to recruit and develop players.
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