vander54 said:

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Hungry Ojos said:

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We will have a MUCH worse team, a harder schedule, no momentum, a head coach who has publicly admitted that he has no idea how to coach defense and a deflated fan base.

There is literally nothing to be even slightly optimistic about.

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Schedule won't be a lot harder. Offense will most likely take a big step with more weapons and a very expereinced OL.

CB and NB should be better but safety is a questionnmark with Anderson poor play. Plus we still need a solid DT from the portal.

There are reasons to be optimistic but there are also reason to be concerned.

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4 days ago, I would have agreed. Now... I dont know. That was a terrible way to finish. We should have wiped the floor with a USCw team that arguably lost more to opt outs/TP, and probably had less talent to begin with.

I'm pro Elko but he has lost his head at the podium a few times and let his emotion lead. That is by definition a lack of discipline. Why would you think a head coach with a potential self-discipline problem would get any better out of 18-22 year old kids/young men? Im not saying "blow it up" because... YEAR ONE. That said, I do not have warm fuzzies.

Id like to see a post-season assesment from Tommy Moffitt. I think that guy would be honest. Not that he would talk about who should be fired, released from the team, he won't do that. But I think he'd say enough to get a real sense of the health of the program.

Make it happen TexAgs...

Dark_Knight said:

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I'm optimistic every year. It also doesn't impact my life if we go 8-4 and have a disappointing season. For me, it's back to try to have fun with it and enjoy what I can. Life is too short to get all butthurt about football.

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i am so thankful i came to the same conclusion. i hope we are good every year i am optimistic we will win big every year but when we don't every year i go back to enjoying life and putting college football in perspective. especially with NIL and non stop transfers. it's paid entertainment nothing more.

Sgt. Schultz said:

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Bassinagfan said:

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Honest question, WTAF can you take from this late season collapse and our coach admitting that his team has no idea how to play defense after a year of his coaching ? I don't see any reason to give two ****s about this program currently but I'm a 40 year BAS victim.

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55 years for me following the team. Outside of about 10 to 12 good years, there has been an abundant supply of BAS. Its sad to think the folks attending school right now, even at the masters level, were born after our last conference championship.

Nothing will change unless folks vote with their feet and their wallets. 30k-40k empty seats on a consistent basis will get noticed and result in meaningful change. Until then there is zero incentive to do otherwise. Changing coaches, players, conferences, practice facilities, stadiums, etc.... are bright, shiny objects that distract from the main source of the problem. The TMF, the program, coaches, and players need to earn our support. Its been taken for granted for far too long. Find something else to do and check the score the next morning.

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This 100%. Plus, just quit watching the games. I read a little, , then went to bed last Friday night. Didn't watch a single play. Woke up Saturday and checked the score, but that was it. Read how our defense collapsed and just smiled that I was glad I went to bed. Wasn't surprised at all. It's the story of Aggie football.

Pickle ball, quidditch, and bass fishing teams are looking pretty good. Shift NIL money to those.

Our safeties are too slow. Overall we lack team speed. And our DC is bad. So, not much.

Sgt. Schultz said:

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Bassinagfan said:

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Honest question, WTAF can you take from this late season collapse and our coach admitting that his team has no idea how to play defense after a year of his coaching ? I don't see any reason to give two ****s about this program currently but I'm a 40 year BAS victim.

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55 years for me following the team. Outside of about 10 to 12 good years, there has been an abundant supply of BAS. Its sad to think the folks attending school right now, even at the masters level, were born after our last conference championship.

Nothing will change unless folks vote with their feet and their wallets. 30k-40k empty seats on a consistent basis will get noticed and result in meaningful change. Until then there is zero incentive to do otherwise. Changing coaches, players, conferences, practice facilities, stadiums, etc.... are bright, shiny objects that distract from the main source of the problem. The TMF, the program, coaches, and players need to earn our support.

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What sort of change do you think this would drive? The program has tried hiring the hottest name on the market (Fran), a "proven" championship level coach (Jimbo), an NFL guy (Sherman), a "modern, cool" guy (Sumlin), and a defensive-minded guy (Elko). Who would they have hired if people had voted with their feet?

It would make sense if the program wasn't spending money and didn't care because people were showing up regardless, but that's not the case. They've tried throwing tons of money at this thing, so I don't know how the decisions would be any different if people simply stopped supporting the program.

greg.w.h said:

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Why does anyone owe you anything OP???

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He or she is a dedicated fan and has not only spent hundreds of hours watching and following the team(s) over all these years. I'd wager he or she has spent stupid money on going to the games and or merchandise

They definitely owe us!!!

The names you mentioned really fall into two categories in my opinion and show why we're where we are. Dating back to Jackie Sherril…
1. We've either poached a coach who's won big at other big time schools(Jackie, Fran, Jimbo)
2. Hired someone who has coached here before(Elko, Sherman, Sumlin, RC).

We've never hired a hot coordinator or a hot small time coach with no association with us previously. We don't take big risks like that, while true Blue Bloods do. Why is that?

Are you sure no one else hires coaches thay have had sucess elsewhere or previous stints with them?

IMO, I'll trade The Swamp for DKR any day of the week.

Austin is not a hard place to play. They'll have another very good team, but the crowd at DKR is a non-factor.

Kramer said:

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IMO, I'll trade The Swamp for DKR any day of the week.

Austin is not a hard place to play. They'll have another very good team, but the crowd at DKR is a non-factor.

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Better coaching staff
More talent on roster

I'd be shocked if we won in Austin next year

Hungry Ojos said:

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We will have a MUCH worse team, a harder schedule, no momentum, a head coach who has publicly admitted that he has no idea how to coach defense and a deflated fan base.

There is literally nothing to be even slightly optimistic about.

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Check in with Jimbo...

AggieSouth06 said:

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vander54 said:

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Hungry Ojos said:

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We will have a MUCH worse team, a harder schedule, no momentum, a head coach who has publicly admitted that he has no idea how to coach defense and a deflated fan base.

There is literally nothing to be even slightly optimistic about.

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Schedule won't be a lot harder.

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ND, LSU and Texas on the road is a lot harder.

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And a Florida team at home that will most likely be much better than the team we faced in 2024.

Auburn? Doesnt matter. Elko lost to a terrible Auburn team
USC??

NorthTexasAg22 said:

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The names you mentioned really fall into two categories in my opinion and show why we're where we are. Dating back to Jackie Sherril…
1. We've either poached a coach who's won big at other big time schools(Jackie, Fran, Jimbo)
2. Hired someone who has coached here before(Elko, Sherman, Sumlin, RC).

We've never hired a hot coordinator or a hot small time coach with no association with us previously. We don't take big risks like that, while true Blue Bloods do. Why is that?

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For me, that doesn't explain how "voting with your feet" would have solved the issue. The decision makers may have been wrong in who they chose, but the idea that they're saying "should we hire a hot coordinator? Nah, these fans are going to show up anyway. Let's throw $80MM at a top level coach instead" doesn't make sense. If fans stopped showing up, they would probably wind up trying to money whip a big name again. Maybe the issue is that the big donors have too much power (I don't know this).

They most likely do, however in my lifetime we haven't even dabbled in something that doesn't fit these two categories. Everybody around us has…Georgia, Florida, OU, Oregon just to name a few. Just pointing out, I don't believe we have tried hiring all different types of coaches. On the surface it would appear that way but digging deeper, I don't believe that's the case. We hire what's comfortable.

Have we made a stab at our rivals top players? If nothing more than to force them into paying more?

texag101 said:

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You shouldn't get excited about anything. Last year 8 SEC teams out-recruited us. This year 4-5 SEC teams out-recruited us. No one should be surprised we're a mediocre team.

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You're right, Elko's rucruiting has been impressive.

Somehow Elko put the 18th ranked 2024 Class together in the last 34 mins..
Recruited most the bulk of Jimbo's team.
Recruited a Top 5 Portal Class
All within 37 days of landing at A&M?

Before the 1st year ended he landed the 8th ranked 2025 Class.
Has put together another Top 5 Portal Class

Dude has 10 comitts and sitting at #2 ranked 2026 Class.