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The root cause of our football program's issues

14,487 Views | 71 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Windy City Ag
Ghost of Bisbee
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Have seen several posters ask repeatedly why we are in the scenario we're in. One Ag's take below, and it's painful to hear so get ready…

The root cause is and always has been our university's inferiority complex and confidence issues. The culture has been like that ever since football started being televised. It pervades every area of the university, and it keeps us from consistently winning. We are obsessed with trying too hard, and trying to prove we aren't what we are to no one in particular. And then we overcompensate repeatedly. Ridiculous contracts, overengineered game plans, a fanbase who supports the team no matter how bad the onfield product is, etc etc etc.

We got away from that somewhat with Johnny, but then quickly came back to what was familiar.

We throw money at problems because we can vs identify the root cause and critically thinking about our strategy.

Our AD says one thing and our regents say another, signing their acceptance of Horns and Sooners to the SEC, because they have no spine and would rather save face publicly than confront conflict head on.

And we accept it. Year after year. Because as much as we all say we're fed up, Aggies are loyal to a fault and pack the stadium and watch the games regardless of the onfield product.

Then we come on TexAgs and throw a pity party for ourselves in between the "fire Jimbo" nonsense, asking "why why why" when the answer has been in front of us the whole time.

Only until the university's culture changes and fans also start holding the program accountable through attendance and TV ratings, will we start to see a more consistent level of winning.

Money can help, but it doesn't solve deep-seated problems. Winning programs fail fast when they're in trouble and adjust their strategy accordingly, having the support to then implement their new strategies instead of getting roadblocked by head coaches or worse, boosters. [Looking at you, BMAs]
We fail slowly and continue to try to fit square pegs into circles because of our own overzealousness

Also, player development and roster management is definitely an issue, but whomever scheduled App State for us wasn't thinking straight. That was an ill-conceived idea with no upside and all the downside that completely derailed the trajectory of the program
Rec
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Cliffs Notes: Our regents voted 8-1 to let tu into the SEC. They have absolutely nothing to do with and do not represent the former students.
20ag07
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Quote:

Also, player development and roster management is definitely an issue, but whomever scheduled App State for us wasn't thinking straight. That was an ill-conceived idea with no upside and all the downside that completely derailed the trajectory of the program
Scott Woodward in 2018.

Who didn't see this coming, or he wouldn't have tried to hire Jimbo last year.
HoustonAg2106
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20ag07 said:

Quote:

Also, player development and roster management is definitely an issue, but whomever scheduled App State for us wasn't thinking straight. That was an ill-conceived idea with no upside and all the downside that completely derailed the trajectory of the program
Scott Woodward in 2018.

Who didn't see this coming, or he wouldn't have tried to hire Jimbo last year.


There is no evidence he tried to hire Jimbo last year. We extended Jimbo before the season even started in anticipation of the LSU job opening up and trying to get ahead of SW trying to hire Jimbo again. After the extension it was pretty obvious that Jimbo wasn't leaving.
AggieDub04
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HoustonAg2106 said:

20ag07 said:

Quote:

Also, player development and roster management is definitely an issue, but whomever scheduled App State for us wasn't thinking straight. That was an ill-conceived idea with no upside and all the downside that completely derailed the trajectory of the program
Scott Woodward in 2018.

Who didn't see this coming, or he wouldn't have tried to hire Jimbo last year.


There is no evidence he tried to hire Jimbo last year. We extended Jimbo before the season even started in anticipation of the LSU job opening up and trying to get ahead of SW trying to hire Jimbo again. After the extension it was pretty obvious that Jimbo wasn't leaving.


Have you been living under a rock? Everyone in the world knows he tried to hire Jimbo. Kelly was convinced to come in 24 hours because they tried one last time to convince Jimbo after the game last year and after he said no they had to find someone to announce ASAP.
TMF
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Nope. We are cursed.
Divining Rod
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I kinda quit reading after you said an inferiority complex pervades every area of this university.

Boy, what YOU DONT KNOW about this university is A LOT!!!
aggie-1997
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Basically the root cause of our problems is other teams are beating us. Fairly simple.
Krombopulos Michael
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The root cause is and always has been inconsistent and/or poor QB play.

FIFY OP.

It's so bad that Kellen Mond is the Texas A&M All-Time Career Total Offense, Passing Yards, Passing Touchdowns, Completions and Attempts Leader

He was terrible for long stretches during each and every game, wildly inaccurate and slow to read/react. You can't win games when your QB can't hit his targets.

We've had exactly one great QB in 40 years. A couple of decent ones (Bucky, McGee, and Tannehill) and a bunch of crap for the rest of the time.

The turnover factory we have in King is just the latest in a long line of average talent.

And when we do get 5 star talent, we've either run them to death into the short side of the field (McNeal) or let them both walk out the door (Murray and Allen).
ghowe
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I think its Aggie pride and love of school that clouds self awareness and expectation. Our experiences, the highs, the lows the inbetweens, are no different than 95+% of other schools. There is no Aggie curse unless there is a curse on every other program except a few. It's our pride and love of school that leads us to believe we are better, more deserving than we are. When results fail to match expectations it's frustrating... Aggies are in perpetual frustration because we over value who we are.
JBGoode
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Rec said:

Cliffs Notes: Our regents voted 8-1 to let tu into the SEC. They have absolutely nothing to do with and do not represent the former students.


It would ultimately have been 100 times more embarrasing if we had fought tu getting into the SEC.

We would have lost.

Publically.
SinKiller
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AggieDub04 said:

HoustonAg2106 said:

20ag07 said:

Quote:

Also, player development and roster management is definitely an issue, but whomever scheduled App State for us wasn't thinking straight. That was an ill-conceived idea with no upside and all the downside that completely derailed the trajectory of the program
Scott Woodward in 2018.

Who didn't see this coming, or he wouldn't have tried to hire Jimbo last year.


There is no evidence he tried to hire Jimbo last year. We extended Jimbo before the season even started in anticipation of the LSU job opening up and trying to get ahead of SW trying to hire Jimbo again. After the extension it was pretty obvious that Jimbo wasn't leaving.


Have you been living under a rock? Everyone in the world knows he tried to hire Jimbo. Kelly was convinced to come in 24 hours because they tried one last time to convince Jimbo after the game last year and after he said no they had to find someone to announce ASAP.
Jimbo was going nowhere, and Jimbo has a very, very good agent. Of course you could be an average agent and get over on us. And even if this was true at the time, which I don't believe, you don't have to do anything. When it comes to football our decision makers are inept and have been inept. It's not unlike this room most of the time, they want the splash, more than the substance. Sharp and the stupid-ass boots, and "national championships" coach, quit hiring a name, hire a freaking coach. I've said it since year one, this guy is suspect as hell as a coach. Now can he be a much better head coach as a program manager, recruiter, I think maybe so. But he should never call another play at A&M, maybe overrule one on occasion, but not call. I was at all the games in 1980, can't believe we're back there again.
terata
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As I've said before I know one of the BoR well and he's a shallow minded poseur; always has been.
20ag07
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Quote:

There is no evidence he tried to hire Jimbo last year.
Oh, there's not?

"According to TexAgs' Billy Lucci and Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Fisher was offered an eight-year contract worth $125 million for Fisher to leave College Station."

https://www.si.com/college/tamu/.amp/news/aggies-jimbo-fisher-tigers-scott-woodward-college-coaching-carousel

But that wasn't even the point of my comment. It was Woodward that set up the App State deal.
Houstonag
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This post and many continued comments are just not accurate. Culture, money decisions, etc have nothing to do with football success. We certainly did not throw money at Sherman, Slocum and for that matter Sumlin or Fran. It all gets back to a coach really being innovative in play design, recruiting, training, and adapting. It is very competitive for there are many good programs. Just think about who are the recruits. Half will never graduate across the country.

It appears that Jimbo got into a pickle this year due to loss of experienced players leaving, not making it for some reason, injuries this year, discipline problems, and being forced to play freshmen. Then in this last game 19 players were out with the flu. Injuries were huge this year.

It was clear that our DL was bowled over by Florida. They were as big as we are or more so. Our guys just did not have the skill or experience to compete and that has been evident from the first game. Also the targeting call was absurd and the missed PI late in the game were horrible failures by the refs.

Jimbo needs to pull his coaches together and close the door and not come out until there is a plan to finish the year as good as it can. I personally know several coaches across Texas who have won state championships and at the College level. They tell me that Jimbo needs to adapt his offense and defense based upon their experience and implement a strategy that is not predictable and is deceptive. At this stage we are not going to beat our opponents head to head.

Off_The_Wood
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Houstonag said:

This post and many continued comments are just not accurate. Culture, money decisions, etc have nothing to do with football success. We certainly did not throw money at Sherman, Slocum and for that matter Sumlin or Fran. It all gets back to a coach really being innovative in play design, recruiting, training, and adapting. It is very competitive for there are many good programs. Just think about who are the recruits. Half will never graduate across the country.

It appears that Jimbo got into a pickle this year due to loss of experienced players leaving, not making it for some reason, injuries this year, discipline problems, and being forced to play freshmen. Then in this last game 19 players were out with the flu. Injuries were huge this year.

It was clear that our DL was bowled over by Florida. They were as big as we are or more so. Our guys just did not have the skill or experience to compete and that has been evident from the first game. Also the targeting call was absurd and the missed PI late in the game were horrible failures by the refs.

Jimbo needs to pull his coaches together and close the door and not come out until there is a plan to finish the year as good as it can. I personally know several coaches across Texas who have won state championships and at the College level. They tell me that Jimbo needs to adapt his offense and defense based upon their experience and implement a strategy that is not predictable and is deceptive. At this stage we are not going to beat our opponents head to head.


Idiotic comment. They are all absolutely intertwined.
Aquin
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Well said, but you seem to have hurt the tender feelings of some. We are a huge collection of good old boys. That, in large part is why we show up at Kyle Field regardless of the product produced on the field. The AD and coaches know it and that is reflected in their performance.

We do not have the "kill shot." This has need our problem for decades. How long would tu or most any SEC schools have tolerated the three coaches before Jimbo. It is useless to discuss him given his contract.

Your comments about money are spot on. We have way too much. I was very close to the school for many years. The waste is ridiculous. Don't even try to defend it. We have it and thus we can waste it. This coach, his contract and performance over five years is a good example. What would be his shelf life elsewhere?
AggieDub04
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SinKiller said:

AggieDub04 said:

HoustonAg2106 said:

20ag07 said:

Quote:

Also, player development and roster management is definitely an issue, but whomever scheduled App State for us wasn't thinking straight. That was an ill-conceived idea with no upside and all the downside that completely derailed the trajectory of the program
Scott Woodward in 2018.

Who didn't see this coming, or he wouldn't have tried to hire Jimbo last year.


There is no evidence he tried to hire Jimbo last year. We extended Jimbo before the season even started in anticipation of the LSU job opening up and trying to get ahead of SW trying to hire Jimbo again. After the extension it was pretty obvious that Jimbo wasn't leaving.


Have you been living under a rock? Everyone in the world knows he tried to hire Jimbo. Kelly was convinced to come in 24 hours because they tried one last time to convince Jimbo after the game last year and after he said no they had to find someone to announce ASAP.
Jimbo was going nowhere, and Jimbo has a very, very good agent. Of course you could be an average agent and get over on us. And even if this was true at the time, which I don't believe, you don't have to do anything. When it comes to football our decision makers are inept and have been inept. It's not unlike this room most of the time, they want the splash, more than the substance. Sharp and the stupid-ass boots, and "national championships" coach, quit hiring a name, hire a freaking coach. I've said it since year one, this guy is suspect as hell as a coach. Now can he be a much better head coach as a program manager, recruiter, I think maybe so. But he should never call another play at A&M, maybe overrule one on occasion, but not call. I was at all the games in 1980, can't believe we're back there again.
The question was not if Jimbo was leaving, it was if Woodward tried and the fact is he did.
Houstonag
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Professional rebuttals are always appreciated. Mr. Off, were you satisfied with the progress of Jimbo during year 3 and 4? How about year 1? What has happened in year 5 according to your assessment? Why have we not been successful? Was our culture and bank accounts the problem.

Further, was Jim Schlossnagle contract bad or Buzz and Pat Henry? Did culture hurt those programs.
fieldtrailer
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Still waiting for the root cause.

BTW, nothing A&M could do about the TU and OU thing. What were their options? About the only thing I can think of is abstain. They have no allies. They can win just to spite the haters but will have to make concessions to their academics.

That, in my opinion, is the root cause. Admin not wanting athletics to affect status of academics. It affects things like research, grants, etc. You can understand a lot of this by searching the fight between the female president and the other top brass (she ended up getting fired or forced out). They are more concerned about using the school for their cause than athletics. They hoped money alone would fix athletics but it hasn't and won't. Demanding student athletes take 18-19 semester hours, never miss class, never fail a test or class. Reason why young players don't play on Saturdays. Mess up in academics, don't play on Sat. On top of the academic grind, they have the sports related requirements. Working out, practice, study film, heal up. It's too much. I think that is the difference between the blue blood and the rest. The blue blood convince the school to use athletics as a way to fund academics but are a separate entity. The rest make student athletes meet the same requirements as scholastic scholarships.

The biggest task the next HC will have is to try to get A&M out of media limelight. If my theory is correct, ncaa violations are being committed by these blue bloods. You have to be able to do all the off the field stuff quietly. No one questions how Ohio St or Alabama can run complex schemes flawlessly. They practice more than allowed. There are obvious signs that some schools get away with things others can't. I've suspected Saban of this for awhile.

Not sure this school will ever agree to what I'm guessing is going on. Until Sharp and his peers are gone.
fieldtrailer
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DimebagsGhost
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Ghost of Bisbee said:

Have seen several posters ask repeatedly why we are in the scenario we're in. One Ag's take below, and it's painful to hear so get ready…

The root cause is and always has been our university's inferiority complex and confidence issues. The culture has been like that ever since football started being televised. It pervades every area of the university, and it keeps us from consistently winning. We are obsessed with trying too hard, and trying to prove we aren't what we are to no one in particular. And then we overcompensate repeatedly. Ridiculous contracts, overengineered game plans, a fanbase who supports the team no matter how bad the onfield product is, etc etc etc.

We got away from that somewhat with Johnny, but then quickly came back to what was familiar.

We throw money at problems because we can vs identify the root cause and critically thinking about our strategy.

Our AD says one thing and our regents say another, signing their acceptance of Horns and Sooners to the SEC, because they have no spine and would rather save face publicly than confront conflict head on.

And we accept it. Year after year. Because as much as we all say we're fed up, Aggies are loyal to a fault and pack the stadium and watch the games regardless of the onfield product.

Then we come on TexAgs and throw a pity party for ourselves in between the "fire Jimbo" nonsense, asking "why why why" when the answer has been in front of us the whole time.

Only until the university's culture changes and fans also start holding the program accountable through attendance and TV ratings, will we start to see a more consistent level of winning.

Money can help, but it doesn't solve deep-seated problems. Winning programs fail fast when they're in trouble and adjust their strategy accordingly, having the support to then implement their new strategies instead of getting roadblocked by head coaches or worse, boosters. [Looking at you, BMAs]
We fail slowly and continue to try to fit square pegs into circles because of our own overzealousness

Also, player development and roster management is definitely an issue, but whomever scheduled App State for us wasn't thinking straight. That was an ill-conceived idea with no upside and all the downside that completely derailed the trajectory of the program


So you are saying if we are arrogant and always say we are better than everyone we will win more?

Science?

How's that working for tu?
catfan
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20ag07 said:

Quote:

"According to TexAgs' Billy Lucci and Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Fisher was offered an eight-year contract worth $125 million for Fisher to leave College Station."

Wow, Jimbo turned down $15.6 million per year over eight years for $9.5 million per year over ten years. Was the $125 million all guaranteed?
Houstonag
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Interesting comments by fieldtrailer. I do know that TAMU does not take advantage of the so called institutional scholarships that some schools offer. Arkansas and Vanderbilt are two of which I am aware. Georgia maybe also. It allows a sport to have more scholarship participatants. Bama and others not adhering to NCAA rules about practice time is interesting and I was not aware. It certainly could have an impact. Our special teams certainly could use that extra practice.

I do believe our current problem in football for the 2022 season was equivalent to really bad timing due loss of experienced players, injuries, illness, and discipline. Jimbo was not counting on all of that.
Ghost of Bisbee
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Divining Rod said:

I kinda quit reading after you said an inferiority complex pervades every area of this university.

Boy, what YOU DONT KNOW about this university is A LOT!!!



Says the guy with no ag tag. It's a systemic trait of our university, you're just having a hard time accepting it.

Playing not to lose, throwing money at problems, creating god awful contracts, rushing to establish a (bad) law school in DFW, the BMAs holding the power while handcuffing Bjork, the insistence on bringing the A&M/tu game back when there is all the downside and NO upside to our university besides more money which again does not fix our problems, etc etc etc

More money is not the solution to our problems.
OKC~Ag
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Quote:

The root cause is and always has been our university's inferiority complex and confidence issues.
Ridiculous take

stop acting like a psychiatrist.

We just had spade of bad luck and snowed balled to jimbo
also some stupid leaders who give idiotic contract to perpetuity
Stop having bad luck by making good decision first
Ag Tag
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OKC~Ag said:

Stop having bad luck by making good decision first
Ghost of Bisbee
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You're proving the point
Guy12
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So many words yet so little said.
bankshot11
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I've been saying this for a while, that we truly won't reach the next level until our Boomer portion of our fanbase dies off. All they care about is beating Texas and not looking as dumb as them. How many times do you see the "aid rather go 1-11 with the win being over Texas than win a natty" type of comments on here? We need new leadership that cares about beating everyone.
Ghost of Bisbee
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bankshot11 said:

I've been saying this for a while, that we truly won't reach the next level until our Boomer portion of our fanbase dies off. All they care about is beating Texas and not looking as dumb as them. How many times do you see the "aid rather go 1-11 with the win being over Texas than win a natty" type of comments on here? We need new leadership that cares about beating everyone.


This
sharpdressedman
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We see the obvious, but cannot know what is happening behind the curtain. A full reveal and assessment of the issues will come with transfer portal, recruiting, and assistant coaching activities after a terrible season. I am too uninformed to speculate reasonably, so I will hope for minimal damage and maximum positivity.

Forment Fan
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A "Root Cause" requires a singular idea, not scatter shooting a selective history of unprovable accusations.

The coffee you drank this morning, the steak you eat tonight and road and bridge you drove over to work were all touched by Texas A&M, and most of your life.

A&M inferior to what, Alabama's excellence in creating less wealth than Mississippi?

Football is great but a University is about educating your state, so that it can create a standard of living for the families that live in it. Nothing inferior about the State of Texas or A&M, please do yourself a favor and travel.




SA-AG72
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terata said:

As I've said before I know one of the BoR well and he's a shallow minded poseur; always has been.
All of which were appointed by the governor. John Sharp has to be included in this group as well.
aggie-1997
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catfan said:

20ag07 said:

Quote:

"According to TexAgs' Billy Lucci and Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Fisher was offered an eight-year contract worth $125 million for Fisher to leave College Station."

Wow, Jimbo turned down $15.6 million per year over eight years for $9.5 million per year over ten years. Was the $125 million all guaranteed?
He probably knew they wouldn't be as tolerant as we seem to be (and I am not talking about their message board supporters).
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