Howdy Ags!
I wanted to take a moment to write a letter to the team. Times of transition can arise a lot of emotion and questions in our life and sometimes its difficult to know what to do, how to respond, or how to even feel about the changes. As a fellow Aggie, I want to encourage each of you.
Change in life is usually a surprise; losing a family member, changing jobs, or even a father figure, like your head coach. No doubt that the University making a change in the football program will impact each of you. I would guess some of you are angry, disappointed, upset, or even relieved. All natural emotions and all good to let out and make known, especially to your teammates, to your position coaches and to the athletic department. It's 100% okay to share how you are feeling, especially with your closest brothers and sisters helping you as a student athlete. I hope each of you takes that moment this week and share what's on your heart... process out loud with one another.
Just as you may process out loud, I'm going to process in this letter with you. Ahead of you lies a lot of options and I'm sure many will want to re-act quickly to what has happened. I'm not going to tell you thats a mistake; it may well be what is best for you. However, I am going to encourage each of you to take a deep breathe, watch what is happening around you, with the program, the department, the team, and ultimately what changes will benefit you. Yes, it's true the athletic department just fired your coach for poor performance. However, they made this choice to improve your life, your path forward, and to improve the winning conditions of the program.
The entire athletic department is there for you... your progress, your success, and they are tasked with putting you in the best position to win. I chose Texas A&M as a school over Rice, Mississippi State, and a few others because of their engineering department, what that option could do for me long term, and not what the athletic department could do for me. However, the athletic department is now one of the very best in the nation, on par to compete with Ohio State in the Big 10, Oregon in the Pac 10/12, Notre Dame, Alabama, or Georgia. When you look at the endowment of the university, it's much larger than those schools and has the ability to invest for growth and change. We've had top 5 recruiting classes, top 5 salaries for coaches, top 5 budgets for your support, but Jimbo unfortunately wasn't producing even top 25 rankings.
Jimbo leaving is a sad day... there is no other way to say it. However, there are coaches out there to enhance our program and move us into that top 5 range we are targeting. You give us top 5 talent. Now its time for Ross/team to give us a top 5 coach. I hope you stay. I hope you hold him to a top 5 hire, and I hope you guys appreciate what the university, the 12th man, your fellow students, your well funded athletic department, and your stellar department staff can do for you.
At the end of the day, it's entirely your choice... go or stay. But we hope you all stay, stay connected, bond together, realize that Texas A&M is much bigger than any one coach, any coaching staff, and the magic of this place will love you for a lifetime. As a lifetime Aggie, I will support any decision you make and support you if you do leave this program... as will all solid Aggies. (Just look at the love poured out for Haynes King at Ga Tech over the past few weeks). Selfishly, we hope this top 5 program stays together, embraces the new coaches coming in, and realize it's positive change to come.
If I see Jimbo in the grocery store, golf course, airport, etc I'll be the first to walk up to him, thank him for his hours, congratulate him on a monster severance package, and know that Aggies supported him honorable all the days of his service here. I hope you will do the same... as fellow Aggies would.
Bottom line - we love you guys. The bond between the 12th man (me) and the football players (you) is what keeps us both excited each Saturday. We will show up, yell for you, support you in this stage of life and the next, and we hope you'll continue to be Aggies running out of that tunnel for us.
Aggies for Life!
I wanted to take a moment to write a letter to the team. Times of transition can arise a lot of emotion and questions in our life and sometimes its difficult to know what to do, how to respond, or how to even feel about the changes. As a fellow Aggie, I want to encourage each of you.
Change in life is usually a surprise; losing a family member, changing jobs, or even a father figure, like your head coach. No doubt that the University making a change in the football program will impact each of you. I would guess some of you are angry, disappointed, upset, or even relieved. All natural emotions and all good to let out and make known, especially to your teammates, to your position coaches and to the athletic department. It's 100% okay to share how you are feeling, especially with your closest brothers and sisters helping you as a student athlete. I hope each of you takes that moment this week and share what's on your heart... process out loud with one another.
Just as you may process out loud, I'm going to process in this letter with you. Ahead of you lies a lot of options and I'm sure many will want to re-act quickly to what has happened. I'm not going to tell you thats a mistake; it may well be what is best for you. However, I am going to encourage each of you to take a deep breathe, watch what is happening around you, with the program, the department, the team, and ultimately what changes will benefit you. Yes, it's true the athletic department just fired your coach for poor performance. However, they made this choice to improve your life, your path forward, and to improve the winning conditions of the program.
The entire athletic department is there for you... your progress, your success, and they are tasked with putting you in the best position to win. I chose Texas A&M as a school over Rice, Mississippi State, and a few others because of their engineering department, what that option could do for me long term, and not what the athletic department could do for me. However, the athletic department is now one of the very best in the nation, on par to compete with Ohio State in the Big 10, Oregon in the Pac 10/12, Notre Dame, Alabama, or Georgia. When you look at the endowment of the university, it's much larger than those schools and has the ability to invest for growth and change. We've had top 5 recruiting classes, top 5 salaries for coaches, top 5 budgets for your support, but Jimbo unfortunately wasn't producing even top 25 rankings.
Jimbo leaving is a sad day... there is no other way to say it. However, there are coaches out there to enhance our program and move us into that top 5 range we are targeting. You give us top 5 talent. Now its time for Ross/team to give us a top 5 coach. I hope you stay. I hope you hold him to a top 5 hire, and I hope you guys appreciate what the university, the 12th man, your fellow students, your well funded athletic department, and your stellar department staff can do for you.
At the end of the day, it's entirely your choice... go or stay. But we hope you all stay, stay connected, bond together, realize that Texas A&M is much bigger than any one coach, any coaching staff, and the magic of this place will love you for a lifetime. As a lifetime Aggie, I will support any decision you make and support you if you do leave this program... as will all solid Aggies. (Just look at the love poured out for Haynes King at Ga Tech over the past few weeks). Selfishly, we hope this top 5 program stays together, embraces the new coaches coming in, and realize it's positive change to come.
If I see Jimbo in the grocery store, golf course, airport, etc I'll be the first to walk up to him, thank him for his hours, congratulate him on a monster severance package, and know that Aggies supported him honorable all the days of his service here. I hope you will do the same... as fellow Aggies would.
Bottom line - we love you guys. The bond between the 12th man (me) and the football players (you) is what keeps us both excited each Saturday. We will show up, yell for you, support you in this stage of life and the next, and we hope you'll continue to be Aggies running out of that tunnel for us.
Aggies for Life!
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