Momentum Shifts: Aggies still searching for something to change

I had the opportunity to visit Auburn’s campus last weekend to watch Texas A&M take on the Tigers at Jordan-Hare. It was a beautiful campus, and we had an amazing experience…….until the football game started.

It was another tough game to watch for the 12th Man and another evening wondering to myself, “How in the world did this football team and program get to this place?”

I recently listened to Ben Stuart when he spoke to Breakaway at Texas A&M. If you have never listened to that man teach, I highly encourage you to do so. He is another person that Mikado Hinson has brought in to speak to the football team. Stuart is one of my heroes as a man, husband and father.

That being said, I will spare you the details of his teaching and sermon, but I do want to mention something he said that automatically made me think of where things are at for Jimbo Fisher and the Texas A&M Football program.

“The amount of time left on the clock should affect how you play the game."

That quote has so much truth in it as it pertains to sports and as it pertains to our time left in life. It can relate to a project you might be managing, the amount of time we get with our children and being able to shepherd their hearts before they become adults. How much time we have left should impact how we operate in so many areas of life. And an awareness of our time — or lack thereof — can be a great motivator for change, for improvement, for a willingness to dial in and focus more.

I don’t know how much time is left on the clock for the Jimbo Fisher era at Texas A&M, but I do know this: There isn’t as much as I thought there would be after five years into his tenure, considering where the program was at the beginning of this year.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

The loss to Auburn extended the Aggies’ losing streak to six games, the longest such skid since 1972.

The fact that Texas A&M is the worst football team in the SEC after starting the season ranked No. 6 and finishing with the best signing class in history just a few months earlier is one of the more mind-boggling things I have seen.

I hope you all know how hard it is for me to have to speak negatively about something that I love so much. It is frustrating to see us where we are at and to actually feel like the hope you had for this thing to tangibly leave your heart. To watch a team with so much potential take Ls six weeks in a row (plus Appalachian State) against teams that (minus Alabama) do not have the resources, talent or support that Texas A&M has is disappointing. On 247Sports, we are the fourth-most talented team in the nation based on composition rosters.

Here are a few insane facts:

• After losing to Auburn, Texas A&M is the highest preseason-ranked team to miss out on bowl eligibility in over a decade. Mike DeBose achieved that back in 2000 with Alabama.

• We had our worst single-quarter performance on offense in I don’t know how long. In the third quarter alone, we had 12 plays for -2 yards. Four three-and-outs and four punts. This is a guess (so do not hold me to it), but based on the articles I have written this year, we have got to be near the top in the country in three-and-out drives on offense.

• We had a total of 215 yards of offense against a very bad Auburn football team. Auburn had just given up 520 yards to Arkansas and 578 yards to Ole Miss. We had 119 yards early in the fourth quarter before our last scoring drive.

This offense is broken. We have touched on that multiple times. This program will not achieve or sustain any success if there are not huge changes on the offensive side of the ball. It really isn’t a conversation anymore.

The defense is banged up, and I do not think the roster is built for Durkin’s defense to be as effective as it could be with better linebacker play. Three weeks in a row, we have given up a total of 951 yards of rushing. That is not anything that will win football games and will almost always guarantee you to lose if you give up 300 yards of rushing per game.

I really feel like this football team has the potential and everything necessary to be WAY more than it is right now. I think that the players are playing their tails off, and from the looks of it, they are battling to do the best they can. I know we have had a lot of injuries and possibly the highest number I have seen a team navigate. But this is year five in the tenure of a head coach who has won a national championship and has hand-picked this coaching staff and this football team. It is just unacceptable, and I know they can be better than this.

I think this all comes down to leadership. Period.

Someone was talking to me recently about leadership within the team and the players being critical to the success going forward, and I agree with that to an extent. It takes leadership from the players currently on the team, for sure... but it would also help to have someone doing life alongside the players and investing a lot of intentional time, energy, emotion and wisdom from someone who has actually faced and overcome adversity in real life, on and off the football field. Someone who can relate to them, who understands the things they are facing day in and day out and has done that and come out on the other side. Someone who has real-life experiences and isn't just there to share a one-time motivational speech that won't be retained for more than a few minutes.

In today's age of social media and distraction, you have to invest in the hearts of these young men on a daily basis.

How are they doing off of the field? What's going on in their personal life? Are they overwhelmed with school and sports? How are they responding to their current role on the team? What could they be doing differently on and off the field to expand their role on the team and build more trust? How do the coaches currently see them? Are they frustrated with where they are on the depth chart? Why are they frustrated?

Communicate clearly to them where they stand in the eyes of their position coach, coordinator and head coach. Set realistic expectations and standards. Make sure those are consistently being enforced to all players equally.

I feel like so much more could be done on a personal level with these young men to actually know where they really are in their hearts and in their heads. How many times per week are they having genuine conversations with each kid, not about academics or football? Do they believe the staff and people involved with the program genuinely care about their success during their time at A&M and after it? No PowerPoint presentations. No visitor sales pitches. Real life..this is what we do, daily, weekly, monthly and annually.

I do not want to assume that some of that stuff is not happening. It very well could be, but I do know that we need to be rallying around these young men on and off the field.

The head coach is a talented football coach. He can recruit with the best of them. He has some very talented people around him. This is a very challenging time for everyone involved with the program. Leadership — or a lack thereof — is going to be what brings Texas A&M football to its potential or sinks it down to where it is now.

I am hoping and praying that the right changes are made and that Jimbo Fisher lives up to his potential and rights the ship. There would be no happier person than me!

BTHOumass