PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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The fanbase here (like most other fanbases that actually give a damn) is full of overreactive idiots who really don't know what they're looking at anyway.

They just know they didn't get what they wanted, or what they think they "deserve", and they kick and scream like infants because of it.

That's a big part of the problem with fanbase perception. There's a huge disconnect across the board about how "talented" this team really is, and what our record "should" be, relative to said "talent"…..versus what it actually is.

Do we have some talent? Yeah, in a few spots.
Do we have championship caliber talent across the board, with quality depth right behind them? Hell no, not even close.

But the recruiting stars, OMG don't you remember all the recruiting stars??
That #1 class was fools gold. Most of em are gone anyway, so I'm not sure why it keeps getting brought up. Bad fits, several bad apples….just bad in a lot of aspects.
As for others, our previous regimes since we've joined the SEC were severely lacking when it comes to DEVELOPING players into NFL caliber prospects. Something Saban made a priority.

But the "talent composite", look at that talent composite! That doesn't mean **** if they're not improving. Because the elite competition we wanna beat, those rosters ARE improving, whereas ours historically just remained mostly stagnant.

Michigan won it all last year. Gutted out the ups and downs with Harbaugh, and it paid off.
The numbers that matter (relative to "talent" levels) are very telling.
That season, plus the 4 years leading up, they created/developed a roster that put 45 players into NFL Draft. Forty ****ing five.

What did we produce in that same timeframe? Only 17.
Yeah, they damn near tripled us up. Very telling.

More ammo? UGA had 49. Bama had 46.
Again, we did 17.

Ok, so let's talk t.u. Make jokes about Sark if you want, but he's building something over there.
Last year they put in 11. We did 4.
This year they prob do 10+ again. We'll likely do 3.

Until this changes, and until we can also push 10+ with some consistency, we won't have the "talent".
We'll just be another team, looking up, hoping like hell we pull off some big upsets.

I don't know if Elko's the guy.
But I don't know that he's not, either. Not yet.
One thing for sure though, it's not something he can fix in just his first year.

Anybody assuming "we're soooo close" is completely clueless and absolutely full of *****

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So, in other words we need to "be patient"?

Sorry, that ship f'ing sailed. Elko doesn't get to say that as it's falling all deaf ears. Not his fault but he's the victim of circumstances. RC said the same followed by Fran, then Sherman, then Sumlin, and then Jimbo. Hell, go back far enough and dig through the Battlion archives and you'll find coaches as far back as Harry Stiteler saying the same thing.

So now after 7 + DECADES of being told "be patient" here we sit getting that same **** shoved down our throats, this time by yet another coach making millions. Sorry, Elmo just shutup and win. Save your excuses for the next guy, he'll probably need some also.

Just f'ing win. No more excuses.

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You can puff your chest out, play the "no excuses" tough guy, and throw as big of an "unacceptable" tantrum as you want.
It's not gonna change the things we need, or the steps involved, and it's certainly not gonna speed it up.

But if stomping your foot and throwing a fit makes you feel better, go for it.







Yawn. Reality doesn't care about your feelings.

What we need? Steps involved? Speed it up? A litany of pablum that means nothing in today's world of college football.

The bubble you lived in has popped you just don't have the ability to see it. This isn't the 80s and 90s anymore grandpa. Gone are the days you're alluding to. Coaches don't have five or six seasons to build programs anymore. Those days have gone the way of the dinosaur. Elko has three seasons..... four at a stretch to show incredible improvement. If not.... well, bye tubby.

Now, how's that for some tough guy talk? Wake up gramps.... the times they are a changing.

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76 isn't my class year….so I'm not young, but I'm not gramps yet either…but hopefully one day.

My feelings are fine, but yours sure do seem triggered, sparky. You gonna be ok?

When did I ever say we'd need "five or six seasons to build a program"? That's right, I didn't.

I agree with 3 to 4 seasons to show noticeable improvement, so let's just stick with that and forget the jackass tone and the rest of your prior post

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Jackass tone? Damn gramps I didn't realize you were suffering from dementia and so easily forgot things. Go read your initial response to me and then we'll discuss jackass tone.

So, as you agree with me about the timeline Elko has to operate in… what exactly are you whining about? Was my verbiage damaging to your elderly sensibilities? If so, man up and quit wasting my time because I hurt your feelings.

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Yeah, jackass tone. Still got it too

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Sorry, hope you didn't get so upset that you made a tinkle in your Depends. I'd feel just horrible.

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Nah, just cracking up at your internet tough guy routine

TxAg76 said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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TxAg76 said:

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The fanbase here (like most other fanbases that actually give a damn) is full of overreactive idiots who really don't know what they're looking at anyway.

They just know they didn't get what they wanted, or what they think they "deserve", and they kick and scream like infants because of it.

That's a big part of the problem with fanbase perception. There's a huge disconnect across the board about how "talented" this team really is, and what our record "should" be, relative to said "talent"…..versus what it actually is.

Do we have some talent? Yeah, in a few spots.
Do we have championship caliber talent across the board, with quality depth right behind them? Hell no, not even close.

But the recruiting stars, OMG don't you remember all the recruiting stars??
That #1 class was fools gold. Most of em are gone anyway, so I'm not sure why it keeps getting brought up. Bad fits, several bad apples….just bad in a lot of aspects.
As for others, our previous regimes since we've joined the SEC were severely lacking when it comes to DEVELOPING players into NFL caliber prospects. Something Saban made a priority.

But the "talent composite", look at that talent composite! That doesn't mean **** if they're not improving. Because the elite competition we wanna beat, those rosters ARE improving, whereas ours historically just remained mostly stagnant.

Michigan won it all last year. Gutted out the ups and downs with Harbaugh, and it paid off.
The numbers that matter (relative to "talent" levels) are very telling.
That season, plus the 4 years leading up, they created/developed a roster that put 45 players into NFL Draft. Forty ****ing five.

What did we produce in that same timeframe? Only 17.
Yeah, they damn near tripled us up. Very telling.

More ammo? UGA had 49. Bama had 46.
Again, we did 17.

Ok, so let's talk t.u. Make jokes about Sark if you want, but he's building something over there.
Last year they put in 11. We did 4.
This year they prob do 10+ again. We'll likely do 3.

Until this changes, and until we can also push 10+ with some consistency, we won't have the "talent".
We'll just be another team, looking up, hoping like hell we pull off some big upsets.

I don't know if Elko's the guy.
But I don't know that he's not, either. Not yet.
One thing for sure though, it's not something he can fix in just his first year.

Anybody assuming "we're soooo close" is completely clueless and absolutely full of *****

---

So, in other words we need to "be patient"?

Sorry, that ship f'ing sailed. Elko doesn't get to say that as it's falling all deaf ears. Not his fault but he's the victim of circumstances. RC said the same followed by Fran, then Sherman, then Sumlin, and then Jimbo. Hell, go back far enough and dig through the Battlion archives and you'll find coaches as far back as Harry Stiteler saying the same thing.

So now after 7 + DECADES of being told "be patient" here we sit getting that same **** shoved down our throats, this time by yet another coach making millions. Sorry, Elmo just shutup and win. Save your excuses for the next guy, he'll probably need some also.

Just f'ing win. No more excuses.

---

You can puff your chest out, play the "no excuses" tough guy, and throw as big of an "unacceptable" tantrum as you want.
It's not gonna change the things we need, or the steps involved, and it's certainly not gonna speed it up.

But if stomping your foot and throwing a fit makes you feel better, go for it.







Yawn. Reality doesn't care about your feelings.

What we need? Steps involved? Speed it up? A litany of pablum that means nothing in today's world of college football.

The bubble you lived in has popped you just don't have the ability to see it. This isn't the 80s and 90s anymore grandpa. Gone are the days you're alluding to. Coaches don't have five or six seasons to build programs anymore. Those days have gone the way of the dinosaur. Elko has three seasons..... four at a stretch to show incredible improvement. If not.... well, bye tubby.

Now, how's that for some tough guy talk? Wake up gramps.... the times they are a changing.

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76 isn't my class year….so I'm not young, but I'm not gramps yet either…but hopefully one day.

My feelings are fine, but yours sure do seem triggered, sparky. You gonna be ok?

When did I ever say we'd need "five or six seasons to build a program"? That's right, I didn't.

I agree with 3 to 4 seasons to show noticeable improvement, so let's just stick with that and forget the jackass tone and the rest of your prior post

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Jackass tone? Damn gramps I didn't realize you were suffering from dementia and so easily forgot things. Go read your initial response to me and then we'll discuss jackass tone.

So, as you agree with me about the timeline Elko has to operate in… what exactly are you whining about? Was my verbiage damaging to your elderly sensibilities? If so, man up and quit wasting my time because I hurt your feelings.

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Yeah, jackass tone. Still got it too

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Sorry, hope you didn't get so upset that you made a tinkle in your Depends. I'd feel just horrible.

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Nah, just cracking up at your internet tough guy routine

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It's funny that you're so sensitive you think this is being tough. Such a delicate petunia.

antman8504 said:

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Going for it on 4th down all those times against South Carolina and tu has made Elko dead to me. Just stupidity over and over. No pulse on the game, bad analytics. Just doesn't have the GameDay skills.

And then we went 1-4 down the stretch. Just unacceptable. I really wanted to like him but just too much evidence of being an awful GameDay coach.

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Yeah, seemed to be making some of those calls based on the team he wants to have, versus the team he actually has right now

TAMUallen said:

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RUGuys4Real said:

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Saban should've been fired after his first season (7 wins) at Bama!

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Do tell me how that team ranked, recruiting wise, and what they were set up to do

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Sarkisian should've been fired after his first season (5 wins) at Texas!
And Year two (8 win) season!

I'm sick of thinking too highly of our "talent", that we got a tier-one coaching staff, and that money and new facilities will solve all the problems in Aggieland.

I am hopeful in the new President and AD. Happy New Year!

Elko did tell the media in August that this may be the best defense he has ever coached. Those are his words not ours.

Elko needa to learn how to manage his emotions

bdp514am said:

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the most concerning issue to me was that this team got worse, not better down the stretch.

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This is by far the most concerning and essentially showed me he is likely not a good coach.

Saban's first year was bad with a terrible loss but if you followed that year, they became a very good team at the end. The rest is history.

I think the jury is still out on Sark and his first year sucked. But you could see they were competitive. They lost to #5OU by 7, #12 OSU by 8, #16 Baylor by 7.
His next year he lost to #1 Bama by 1, #11 OKstate by 7, #4 TCU by 7, TTU by 3 in OT, and #12 Wash by 7.

Good coaches scheme and make lopsided games on paper competitive. Good coaches show you that they improve throughout the 1st season and then again the next. All SEC teams will play atleast 2-3 teams each year with similar or better talent and good coaches will win most of these. Good coaches rarely lose to teams with less talent. This is what makes Saban, Smart elite and Sark is essentially doing the same.

Good coaches rarely loses to teams they should beat and win the majority of games against teams with similar/better talent. This is the mark of a good coach.

HoustonAg2106 said:

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In his first year he had us playing for a trip to the SEC championship game in the last game of the year against our most hated rival.

Would you seriously have said that is a bad first year if I told you that in July? I understand the context of losing every power 4 game in November, but it's not enough to just completely give up on him after one freaking year

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But we paid 77MM for those results

And he's fat

Several here mentioned the bad 4th down stuff. The Tx game is unforgivable for me. Up the middle hadn't worked all night.

Chance to pull within 3. Calls a TIMEOUT.. and up the middle? That's the best we got? Seriously?

That's left a bad taste for me.

Elko needs 3-4 years and will be given that timeframe to prove himself. As crappy as the cow and bowl games were, more positives this season than negatives. The ONLY real blemish on the season is the loss @ Auburn, and the players were put in position to win that game multiple times in 4Q and OT and just didn't do it.

It amazes me so many Aggies fans thought we would win 10 + games under Elko year 1. I was hoping for 9 but thinking 8 in some fashion. ELKO INHERITED A .500 PROGRAM, literally a .500 program that went 5-7 then 7-5 in prior two years, actually a sub .500 losing program if you include the prior bowl game. The turnaround was not going to be immediate. He did not have a full recruiting cycle his first class. Still, he did good to close the first recruiting class, did great work in the portal, now his first full class is very good, and portal additions in this window have been excellent.

Between the WRs we added in the portal, Morrow coming at RB, Owens and Moss and RB, developing TEs, and Reed being a 2 way threat and really developing as a QB with just under 10 starts now, the offense could be very, very good next season.

As for the defense, Elko had good to elite defenses at ND, aTm, and Duke, he will get the defense fixed and sorted out for this program, and quickly. Nobody is more POd about the nature of the Auburn and especially the bowl game losses than Elko.

His post bowl game comments were shocking and damning. Of course he is a pro and an adult as the HC so takes the blame to deflect, but you don't have to squint to read between the lines of those post game comments, they were brutal and I've NEVER heard a coach go nuclear like that on his own team but still be able to keep it macro level and without directly calling out players or coaches by name. There will be changes coming on defense... personnel, coaches, everything is on the table. Recruiting and portal work is trying to address the defense.

Unless you are a truly elite top 5 team 7-5 is just as likely as 9-3, and the difference mostly it is down to players executing in a game (# Jimbo) and not coaching. That is the reality whether you like it or not. It is talent and coaching. We are needing to improve our talent level and I trust the D coaching with Elko no questions. BJ Mayes has been an important player for us this season. He is a xfer from UAB (before that at Incarnate Word). Think about that. If we were the program right now that many of you THINK we are he is simply a depth player if here at all.

Great Ws @ Florida, Mizzou and lsu offest by crappy Ls to Auburn and USC (bowl), but he is still the same coach now as he was the day after the lsu game.

IMHO year 1 will be the lowest/worst season for Aggie football under Elko.

W said:

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the problem is...

the fanbase has seen this movie before

and looking back...Sumlin never recovered from the November slides after the first one happened in 2014

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Sumlin inherited talent like this program has never seen (mostly on offense)
Elko inherited a bunch of self absorb lazy athletes who only care about their pocketbooks (over paid teenage minor league ball players)

It's going to take 3 years to change this culture and players attitude while adjusting to the new ways of college $$$recruiting.

maroon man said:

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Several here mentioned the bad 4th down stuff. The Tx game is unforgivable for me. Up the middle hadn't worked all night.

Chance to pull within 3. Calls a TIMEOUT.. and up the middle? That's the best we got? Seriously?

That's left a bad taste for me.

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He could tell the defense had the triple reverse to the short side of the field covered.

Jarrin' Jay said:

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The ONLY real blemish on the season is the loss @ Auburn, and the players were put in position to win that game multiple times in 4Q and OT and just didn't do it.

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Playing SC without a defense on the field was a real blemish.

TxAg76 said:

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The fanbase here (like most other fanbases that actually give a damn) is full of overreactive idiots who really don't know what they're looking at anyway.

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This sums it up succinctly, and truthfully. Very, very few people complaining on here actually know what they're talking about.

Elko, the staff and players deserve criticism for the late season collapse for all the reasons already cited ad nauseam on this board and elsewhere.

That said, it's a new year, and another chance for hope to build. Gig 'em and Happy New Year, Ags!

Most fans on here have no clue about breaking down football and only are reactionary.

I am a big time fan on Elko and his approach.

His defensive showing last 4 games of the season was very disappointing. The rumors of Bateman being replaced as DC could have some validity to it.

Elko has to fix the defense. Our defense should perform just as well as sip. If he turns the defense around to be a top 3 in SEC, we will always have a chance to win.

Klein is on the up. Studs coming at WR position and Reed must progress as a passe4. Elko needs to match and exceed it next season.

Everyone is tired at this point. Tired of Elmo.

pointer74 said:

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W said:

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the problem is...

the fanbase has seen this movie before

and looking back...Sumlin never recovered from the November slides after the first one happened in 2014

---

Sumlin inherited talent like this program has never seen (mostly on offense)
Elko inherited a bunch of self absorb lazy athletes who only care about their pocketbooks (over paid teenage minor league ball players)

It's going to take 3 years to change this culture and players attitude while adjusting to the new ways of college $$$recruiting.

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I keep hearing about this horrendous culture he inherited. Where is this talking point coming from? This isn't a loaded question. I'm genuinely curious.

AggieSouth06 said:

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pointer74 said:

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W said:

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the problem is...

the fanbase has seen this movie before

and looking back...Sumlin never recovered from the November slides after the first one happened in 2014

---

Sumlin inherited talent like this program has never seen (mostly on offense)
Elko inherited a bunch of self absorb lazy athletes who only care about their pocketbooks (over paid teenage minor league ball players)

It's going to take 3 years to change this culture and players attitude while adjusting to the new ways of college $$$recruiting.

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I keep hearing about this horrendous culture he inherited. Where is this talking point coming from? This isn't a loaded question. I'm genuinely curious.

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After Jimbo was fired all of our media folk finally started telling the truth about everything. Kids napping during practice, not going to workouts, coaches throwing tantrums and storming off the field leaving practice. Basically we can't trust getting the full story from them.

To me the expectation was 9 wins year one(including bowl game). Our last two new head coaches achieved that mark with a tougher schedule in year one. Both took over teams that went 7-6 the year before…also, the way we lost the last few were concerning, especially how Auburn & USC torched our defense with a defensive head coach. Can he improve next year? Im hoping so, but I'm not holding my breath.

TexAgs is full of angry Ags that are sick and tired of average football teams. I don't agree with much the rage directed at Elko but he's a big boy and all he has to do is win 10 games

NorthTexasAg22 said:

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To me the expectation was 9 wins year one(including bowl game). Our last two new head coaches achieved that mark with a tougher schedule in year one. Both took over teams that went 7-6 the year before…also, the way we lost the last few were concerning, especially how Auburn & USC torched our defense with a defensive head coach. Can he improve next year? Im hoping so, but I'm not holding my breath.

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Combination of talent and depth. Talented depth, even.

In retrospect i don't know that we rotated very well thru the first 2/3 of the season. I suspect that's partly to blame for the DL's drop in effectiveness after the LSU game.
Moffitt's a proven commodity, but there's only so many high level reps that a body can take thru a season.
And i don't think the backups were trustworthy enough to play much more than they did, which over-stresses the starters.

Opposing teams then get better run situations, get more time to throw the ball (plus they were getting rid of it quicker), and that starts to shine a bright light on the LB's and the DB's and their deficiencies.
Particularly the DB's. That group is bad, on the whole. Couple of decent individuals, but as a group they're bad.

agree with the poster above me.

Lack of depth hurt us on the back end of the season; we couldn't get the other teams off the field when we needed it.

Mental mistakes caused by a young team also were a culprit.

Elko knows he needs to fix the defense and he's just as pissed off about it as we are.

Year 1 of Elko and he wasn't playing with his type of players, but in Year 2, I expect him to really start coaching up the players that he has gotten from the portal and from recruiting.

Elko started 7-1 (5-0 SEC) before losing 4 of his last 5 games, including 3 consecutive losses to end the season. Our only win in that span was over New Mexico State, and we have lost 4 consecutive games to Power 4 opponents since a 38-23 win over LSU on 10/26. Dating back to a 42-30 road loss at LSU on 11/25/2023, we have lost 4 consecutive November SEC games and 6 consecutive November Power 4 games. We have not won beaten a Power 4 opponent in the month of November since a 51-10 home win over Mississippi State on 11/11/2023, which was Jimbo's last game of his tenure. Also, we have not won a bowl game since a 41-27 win over North Carolina in the 2021 Orange Bowl on 1/2/2021.

Losses to 9-4 (5-3 SEC) South Carolina and 13-2 (7-1 SEC) CFP semifinalist Texas were understandable, but a loss at 5-7 (2-6 SEC) Auburn was inexcusable. If we had beaten Auburn, we would have finished 9-3 (6-2 SEC) in the regular season and reached the SEC Championship Game for the first time. Yes, Texas would have probably beaten us again, but we probably could have gotten a better bowl game and won it to finish 10-4 (6-2 SEC).

Next year, we will have a tougher home/away split because our toughest games against Notre Dame, LSU, Missouri, and Texas will all be on the road instead of at home. We will play a true road game at Arkansas for the first time since 2013 and at LSU the very next week. Also, our schedule is very unbalanced with 3 straight SEC home games against Auburn on 9/27, Mississippi State on 10/4, and Florida on 10/11 before a stretch of 3 straight SEC road games at Arkansas on 10/18, LSU on 10/25, and Missouri on 11/8 in span of 4 weeks. With that schedule, I think we will have a floor of 7-5 and a ceiling of 9-3 with likely road losses at Notre Dame, LSU, and Texas. The 5 road games at Notre Dame, Arkansas, Missouri, LSU, and Texas will make or break our season.

I think 2026 could be a playoff year or 10+ win season, but we don't know if we will go to 8 or 9 SEC games or even who we are playing besides Texas. The 2026 SEC schedule might have us playing Georgia at Kyle Field for the first time ever and Kentucky at Kroger Field for the first time since 1953.

Fanbases all around the world only focus on the negative when things don't go their way. It's just the way it is. Recency bias and entitlement drive the emotions of a common fan. There is also an issue of perception where if you did not win the whole thing then you suck. If a team gets blown out in the playoff, they didn't belong there. If a QB doesn't average 300 yards and a couple scores, then he is worthless. If your team doesn't make the playoff, then they are totally irrelevant. There is no middle ground or "pretty good". Just great or terrible.

This was a disappointing finish to what felt like it was going to be a great season. Aggies got a taste of something special then watched it slip away, and it's only natural to point the finger at the coaching staff. How he responds will determine his path forward. If we do the same thing next season, then yeah I'll start to wonder if he's the right guy. Until then, I'm perfectly content to let him do his thing.

Everybody calls for a firing without giving any realistic options for a replacement.