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Texas A&M Football

Jackie Sherrill on A&M's offensive struggles, moving forward

October 28, 2015
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Key quotes from Jackie Sherrill interview

“I always asked officials before the game if they had their ear plugs.  If they said ‘yes’, I would say ‘you're okay.’  If they said ‘no,’ I looked at them like, 'What am I asking? You better get some.’”

“Anytime that you start 5-0 ... frankly we all know there are some deficiencies on this football team as far as when we say talent, we mean the talent it takes to win championships.  You know, you have three safeties that are playing really well and then Hall and Garrett, but there is no other defensive players that are really dominant.  De'Vante Harris and Brandon Williams are playing well, but they are not dominating corners.  Then you look offensively, the running game, we just don’t have the running back that it takes to say, ‘This is a Heisman Trophy running back.’

So when you look at all of it, there are talented players, but there is not enough in the right positions.  In the Alabama game, some of the things that we were doing offensively got exposed.  And when that happens, unless you fix those, then the next game is not going to be very pretty and that happened on Saturday in Oxford.  Kyle, for whatever reason, was pressing in the game. The quarterback is so important. Is the shoulder hurt?  The shoulder is the most intricate muscle, especially to a quarterback.  If you have one little problem, it can be a big problem because you have your fast twitch, you also have your slow twitch muscles and of course your strength.  Certain angles, certain throws, and I can’t tell you, but the way he threw the ball – it looked like he was uncomfortable.  He was either overthrowing or throwing the ball behind him. That’s not the same Kyle Allen that we’ve seen in the past.”

“I think whether it is a pitcher or a quarterback that uses their arm, an arm injury becomes mental also if you can’t do the things that you could do.”

“Whether it's time to give Kyler Murray a shot, that’s up to the coaches.  I have full confidence in Kevin Sumlin. I can tell you from the coach’s side, they're spending a lot of midnight oil to try to figure it out.  You go back to try to analyze everything from your formations, from the different plays that you called, from the different checks at the line of scrimmage.  What I did notice against Mississippi was that we were not in a fast paced offense. We didn’t run the plays as fast. I can’t answer those, only the coaches can answer those.”

“I think the next three games set up very well.  Looking at the schedule,  we will be favored in these next three games.  I was kind of shocked that this game opened up at 16 points, I believe.  The next three games, you should have an opportunity to win because you’re playing at home.  And then Vanderbilt, you should be favored there.  So, the next four games, you’re favored and if you win it, then you’re 9-2 and all the chips fall against LSU. A win there would put you at 10-2, and if anyone said that we would be 9-3 or 10-2 at the beginning of the year, we would have a party in Northgate. There’s still a lot happening.

The positive thing is that the players are playing hard.  That’s the first thing I look at, once players play – do they play the full 60 minutes, and they do.  It just comes back to fixing whatever it is you have to fix.  You’re in the same situation last year at this time, almost.  A change was made and all of sudden the spark won’t quit.

There is so much that goes into playing quarterback.  It’s not just if you have the most ability, you have to have the trust of your teammates, you have to have the excitement of your teammates.  Every quarterback that I had that was a great quarterback, I’m talking about years ago, they had the team’s confidence.  How you are in practice, how close you are to the players, there’s more to playing quarterback than just the ability to playing quarterback, than pure talent.  The big question is you can’t sit on the sideline and watch a quarterback go 2-for-22, you just can’t.  You can’t, as a head coach, you can’t sit on the sideline and watch your quarterback throw three pick sixes.  As a coach, sometimes it’s better to take a kid out and put your arm around him and say, ‘You stand here right with me and let’s see what’s going on.’”

“Coach Sumlin, as I said, he’s been around and has experience.  As a head coach, you have to figure out how to take the pressure off. That’s your job.  You job is to get the players mentally prepared, practice the players very physically, put the players in the right position and then let the players perform.  And if you do the top three, then usually the players perform.  But, it’s the emotional side right now that you are dealing with.  You’re dealing with the team, you’re dealing with the disappointments, you’re dealing with the players being upset because they lost.

I always said that playing quarterback at Texas A&M is the hardest job in college football.  You can say Notre Dame, you can say Southern California, but that’s not the case because A&M has been Texas’ step child for years.  All the Aggies, going all the way back to the early 1900s, we have all tried to be in our minds to be just as good as Texas.  The pressure of all the Aggies that go to the games ... now, A&M today, in a lot of areas academically is way above Texas.  Mays Business School, you can go on and on but it doesn’t count. You know, who cares?  It’s what you do on the football field.  That was the measuring stick and it still is the measuring stick for Texas A&M in the state of Texas.  So, we carry the players, they carry that burden. Playing quarterback at A&M is not an easy job.”
 
Discussion from...

Jackie Sherrill on A&M's offensive struggles, moving forward

4,971 Views | 2 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by FishingAggie
tbone421998
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AG
Nice Coach. Thanks!
FishingAggie
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Wow. I think he gets it. Now the rest of you shut up, watch the game and take your kids trick or treating. Awesome article coach. Thank you. Too many arm chair qb's in here.
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