Aggy 2024: Still waiting on the Looch 44

crash_davis · November 13, 2023

14 minutes ago, Atticus said:

There's no way Traylor rushes anything with Arkansas or Miss St. now that A&M is open. He's too smart for that, he'll stall as much as he can until the other guys make him decide

No way aggy hires Traylor. They poached a "sitting NC coach" from FSU and made all kinds of boast about it. They aint firing him to hire some dude from UTSA, no matter how good or mediocre he is. National media folks do not know who he is. The national media will roast them.

Ark or MSU is the perfect stepping stone for Traylor.

Edited November 13, 2023 by crash_davis

AP101S · November 13, 2023

Magus Ossis · November 13, 2023

I am a little curious about the real meaning of the giant $160M check aggy flashed at the game. I suppose it is possible that donors, just within the last week, poured that much cash into the 12th man fund and that the fund is bragging by printing it on gargantuan cardstock. I think it is much more likely that the figure represents some combination either of cumulative gifts over the last ? months/years and or pledges received, again over a significant time in the past and promised to pay out over a significant future interval. I'm from Missouri on their literally having that kind of cash sitting in the slush fund and ready to spend.

crash_davis · November 13, 2023

1 minute ago, Magus Ossis said:

I am a little curious about the real meaning of the giant $160M check aggy flashed at the game. I suppose it is possible that donors, just within the last week, poured that much cash into the 12th man fund and that the fund is bragging by printing it on gargantuan cardstock. I think it is much more likely that the figure represents some combination either of cumulative gifts over the last ? months/years and or pledges received, again over a significant time in the past and promised to pay out over a significant future interval. I'm from Missouri on their literally having that kind of cash sitting in the slush fund and ready to spend.

I think that $160M is from their Centennial Campaign. Per the article below, they had already raised $120M in April for that campaign. It may have been coincidental that $160M check presentation happened the same weekend of Jimbo's firing. I don't think aggy leadership is playing 4D chess with scheduling a last min $160M check presentation to allay fears of paying for Jimbos firing. If they were, they'd never signed a guaranteed $150M or whatever Jimbo contract in the first place.

https://12thman.com/news/2023/4/25/12th-man-foundations-centennial-campaign-surpasses-120-million-fundraising-goal.aspx

Longhornfrenzy · November 13, 2023

Lunch with Liucci:

By Billy Liucci

Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 15:42:03)

It was a wild week. I said it last night, I had to mix in some family stuff. It's fine. Everything is good. It was stressful. This stuff is not fun. There is an adrenaline thing of chasing down a story, getting the story and juggling it. So many of these kids' parents listen. It's one of my favorite parts of the job. They can become lifelong friends.
It is annoying when you put a story out, and you have people trying to go out of their way to villainize the person who put the story out because the kids found out via social media. There are things you can say bad about me. The one thing you cannot say is that I do not consider other people in everything I do, especially in this instance. It's a small group. I like to look people in the eye and say, “You do not know a damn thing about me, the process or what went on.”
My first concern was not letting anything out prior to that game. That was a fun night for the kids. They had a freaking blast. I was careful in not wanting to be manipulated in any way in terms of the timing. There were people who had an idea or knew and were saying they didn't agree with it. It was people who mattered.
That decision was made at the highest level, and that was my thought. I did not see it being walked back because of the level of decision it was. Ross Bjork said it was his recommendation to the Texas A&M’s President. They took it to the board. The people at the top had to sign off on that. Once they did, there was no walking it back.
It takes a toll on you walking around that stadium that night knowing what might happen. Some people don't like us because they dont like success. There has been a success here, and they hate when you talk about things like this. I'm calling that small group right now. Selfish would have been announcing that during College GameDay when kids are sitting at the hotel. I waited until the national people were getting word at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. I was making phone calls, stressing and wringing my hands over it.
A. You want the story. We deserve the story. I had had it since the inception of it, but at the same time, it meant a lot to me to make sure it was done, and there was no stopping it.
B. I wanted Jimbo Fisher to know. I was as positive as I could be that he knew before leaving that building Saturday night without calling him, thus interfering in the process. It was tough.
Here's the thing with Jimbo Fisher. Kevin Sumlin made comments about the toll the job took on his health and family. Jimbo came up from West Virginia, didn't have a lot, and went to Samford to play football. He wasn't a five-star. Forget what you think about him. Think about the human here. He worked his way up to the peak of his profession. He was coaching in front of 100,000 people, doing what he loved, not knowing that was going to be his last time to coach here.
I don't know if Jimbo will ever coach again. I think he will. Is he even 60 yet? He loves it. Maybe he does, but not in that type of environment. All of a sudden, he is fired, and he has $75 million. Maybe he goes and sits on his farm in West Virginia.
There is a human element we forget sometimes. He has $75 million, but do you think that guy wasn't devasted when he got the news? In the moment, it's OK to consider the human there that failed at what he was paid to do. I was thinking about that yesterday. There's a human side. There is a family side too. I am not saying you should not fire coaches. Of course, you should. That is the sport. They are compensated very handsomely, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not really a day to celebrate when you make a change when the guy isn't winning as much as you want or expected them to.
This machine, and this is why I think they to be careful about who they hire, this thing does not have championships. We don’t have trophies around here. I was just talking to Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic. The expectations are absolutely reasonable. They are not based on history. Even though A&M historically hasn't won like powerhouse programs, expectations have nothing to do with history.
I said prior to the Mississippi State game that a win wasn't going to be enough. Before that meeting, I felt bad energy/vibes coming out of Ole Miss in terms of the wolves circling. Ole Miss, the wind was blowing in a certain direction. These road trips get you.

Segment 2 (15:42:03 - 20:57:00)

The thing about the Kevin Sumlin vs. Jimbo Fisher graphic, was not only was it annoying, but people would fall into the "Should not have fired Sumlin" rabbit hole. That wasn't the point of it.
They need to make a good hire this time. I really like the message Josh Pate has said about A&M. It is a tremendous job. You could win massively here. You have to find the right guy, and they haven't. You hope they aren't heading to the dark ages.
A&M needs this hire to hit. You see programs that have a lot of history going through dark periods more than A&M has, This will be a 7-5 team or 8-4 with a ton of talent.
I know, some of it will go out the door during the transition. I think a lot of that would happen anyway. That was part of the concern. It happens to everyone. This is really important for Ross Bjork, the decision maker, to get this one right. Get the right guy and get him quickly, and don't give me this crap, I don't want to hear.

Segment 3 (20:57:00 - 22:53:08)

"The board told Jimbo he was let go on Saturday. He stormed out of the locker room and left for the ranch. That is not true. There is a lot that is not true that I get.
Don't give me the "We need a strong coach. He needs to be organized and be friends with everyone." That is something you put on your list that we desire. Have that on the list. Plenty of people check that box and can recruit lights out. Everyone can put elite players on the field. The biggest part of the job is keeping this team together as much as you can because if you do, you have a winner on day one.

Segment 4 (22:53:08 - 36:01:10)

I love it for Elijah Robinson. He deserves it. The players are happy with it, and I think coaches on staff, like Bobby Petrino and D.J. Durkin. They will respect that.
This could be fun for Elijah. This could be a good audition for him. Not only around here but for anywhere. Elijah is Elijah. He is real. He is lovable. He will show love but also push you and make you better. There is a reason he is paid as much as he is to be a position coach. They could not afford to lose him. He is an elite recruiter.
Of everyone on that staff that you want to keep, no matter what your next head coach is, it's Elijah Robinson. Period. It doesn't mean it can't work without him. You can't get caught up on one coach or player during a transition, but I think it would be incredibly important and beneficial to the next coach if he is a prominent member of that staff.
I can't even put into words how far that would go in terms of keeping guys here, recruiting efforts and putting together the right staff. The connection of Elijah and Terry Price, I would have said the same damn thing about TP when Kevin Sumlin was fired. Fisher retained Price. We all know what TP's value was. Elijah is the exact same way.
How cool would it be to see Elijah go 3-0? Go beat LSU in Baton Rouge, and go win a bowl game. Have this team get to nine wins. All of these things are important in terms of retention and setting the coach on the path to win right away. You have the potential to say whoever walks in there, has a loaded roster from day one. I don’t think we will quite be able to say that because of the damn portal nowadays.
Durkin is a hell of a recruiter. He is a pro's pro. He is another guy who is loved in the building. He is doing a great job on the recruiting trail. Guys like that stand out. Between that and making a quick hire, you have the potential to retain a lot of this. You will lose some. There are no two ways around this. You will lose guys you want to keep, and they will make a big deal of it on social media. If you hire the right coach and they sell it right, you can have a contending team on day one at Texas A&M.
This week, they are talking to people. You would love to see it wrapped up in a couple of weeks. From the end of Mississippi State to the end of LSU is two weeks. You would love to see a decision by the middle of that week following LSU.
There isn't a name that has floated to me that I have not thought about. I think Kliff Kingsbury is a really intersting one. Go get Dan Lanning. Go get Dan Campbell. Go get Kalen DoBoer. Look at what he is doing right now at Washington. Those are highly unlikely, but if you start talking about these other candidates, I like a lot about Elko. Kliff is intriguing. Somebody mentioned Todd Monken. He is doing great work with the Ravens and Lamar Jackson. He won a couple of national titles with Stetson Bennett at Georgia.
It's day one. I try to tell y'all exactly what is happening, and what is exactly happening is there is not a standalone candidate. There are not two or three. There's a list. They will use the search firm that A&M is contracted out to. They will use that to weed out a lot of it so A&M can narrow it down.
There is no one or two guys sitting at the top of a list right now. As of Monday morning, that is not the case. I know people say every AD walks around with a list in his pocket. Well, yeah. Ross probably has a list, but this is different because of the money you are paying Jimbo.
All those guys I mentioned will get calls. They may get advice on who they should hire. Mike Elko, if he had not left for Duke, he would have been the perfect inside promotion. What's even better is now he has Power 5 experience.
There is one person I haven't dove into it, but had Luke Fickell not taken to the Wisconsin job last year and been at Cincinnati one more year, would Fickell be the guy that every A&M fan would want? I don’t know if he would come. When we think about these things, don't forget about stuff like that.

Segment 5 (36:01:10 - 44:27:09)

Not evolving to the game was part of it, but Jimbo certainly tried in terms of recruiting, portal and NIL. Offensively, was slow. There was a lot. Maybe tried to do too much of it on his own. That's hard to do. Sometimes coaches don't realize that. Some personalities want to do everything on their own. It worked for him at FSU.
College football is so unique in how much it changes almost every five years. Whether it be the rules, style of play, the portal, NIL, or realignment, it's ever-changing.
They don’t have a recruiting coordinator yet. They never added that. They don’t have a high school relations guy. They made hires, but they weren't out there.
The other thing that got him is there was some misfortune with those quarterback injuries. Has the caliber of the staff gone down? I think some of it, though, was big misfortune. People don't like hearing that, but it's real.
In 2020, they would have been really damn good in a regular season. They might have been better. A&M had the layout to be the second-best team in the SEC that season. Who is to say that if Ohio State had played more games, they would not have dropped one? A&M would have been 12-1. Ohio State loses one game, and A&M is in there.
Describing his tenure, it was really close. They could not quite get over it. There are a million reasons why. It was not just one.
When they were putting together that No. 1 class, had they finished off the 2020 season in style... Maybe you get additional recruits. That was the moment, dropping those road games, that was your chance. That is when it could have flipped

ClubWhatever · November 13, 2023

8 minutes ago, Longhornfrenzy said:

In 2020, they would have been really damn good in a regular season. They might have been better. A&M had the layout to be the second-best team in the SEC that season. Who is to say that if Ohio State had played more games, they would not have dropped one? A&M would have been 12-1. Ohio State loses one game, and A&M is in there.

This is pure uncut Aggie. The good stuff.

Big Woodrows · November 13, 2023

6 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

This is pure uncut Aggie. The good stuff.

15 minutes ago, Longhornfrenzy said:

Some people don't like us because they dont like success

gernblansten · November 13, 2023

Quote

In 2020, they would have been really damn good in a regular season. They might have been better. A&M had the layout to be the second-best team in the SEC that season. Who is to say that if Ohio State had played more games, they would not have dropped one? A&M would have been 12-1. Ohio State loses one game, and A&M is in there.

MonkeyDoughnut · November 13, 2023

The fact that Luicci/Texags is that connected to the boosters and university that he would sit on that story is full on aggy crazy.

pearlandhorn · November 13, 2023

Quote

Durkin is a hell of a recruiter. He is a pro's pro. He is another guy who is loved in the building. He is doing a great job on the recruiting trail. Guys like that stand out. Between that and making a quick hire, you have the potential to retain a lot of this. You will lose some. There are no two ways around this. You will lose guys you want to keep, and they will make a big deal of it on social media. If you hire the right coach and they sell it right, you can have a contending team on day one at Texas A&M.

There's the good stuff...

Duane Moore · November 13, 2023

He mentions Kliff Kingsbury twice when discussing possible candidates.

Frank Drebin · November 13, 2023

Quote

In 2020, they would have been really damn good in a regular season. They might have been better. A&M had the layout to be the second-best team in the SEC that season. Who is to say that if Ohio State had played more games, they would not have dropped one? A&M would have been 12-1. Ohio State loses one game, and A&M is in there.

Come on Billy. A&M beat no one in 2021. They got their ass beat by 30+ by Bama. Teams that lose by 30 do not go 12-1. Their best win was over 8-4 Florida. Who got beatdown by OU 55-20.

Redneck Mutha · November 13, 2023

Shit, if we're basing it on 1st 10 games:

2023 Texas >>> 2020 aggy

Tony Two K · November 13, 2023

It appears that there is a split in the BMAs.

Some group of them love Jimbo; and John Sharp (or one of his lackeys) leaks a series of coaches’ raises to their mouthpiece Zwerneman, insinuating Jimbo will be retained.

Another group of them despise Jimbo; and Jay Graham, on the Board of Regents and Board of Directors of the 12th man Foundation, who also happens to be the lead fundraiser for the $120,000,000 Centennial Campaign, leaks to his boy Billy Liucci that the money is in a place to fire Jimbo. Bjork knows where his bread is buttered and Jimbo is fired.

Cesspool, as they say. Or maybe I misinterpreted all this.

closetojumping · November 13, 2023

Elko is pushing hard for the gig. All of the defensive coaches are stanning for him. His team's regular season ends in 12 days and you wouldn't have to pay buyouts on the defensive side. He'd hit the ground running in recruiting and the portal, and he'd retain the defensive guys on the roster because they all know him.

Outside of Kliff Kingsbury or Schumann, Elko is the hire I would like to see ATM make the most. He's beaten no one and the record he has put up ties heavily to an excellent QB. In addition, if the stories are correct, ATM idiots would need to start treading really lightly on the jokes about Sarkisian and booze.

crash_davis · November 13, 2023

Is Elko a good recruiter? I thought reading that while at aggy, he didn't do much recruiting at all. I don't imagine he has the gift for gab or closing any deals.

Fondren & Main · November 13, 2023

17 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Elko is pushing hard for the gig. All of the defensive coaches are stanning for him. His team's regular season ends in 12 days and you wouldn't have to pay buyouts on the defensive side. He'd hit the ground running in recruiting and the portal, and he'd retain the defensive guys on the roster because they all know him.

Outside of Kliff Kingsbury or Schumann, Elko is the hire I would like to see ATM make the most. He's beaten no one and the record he has put up ties heavily to an excellent QB. In addition, if the stories are correct, ATM idiots would need to start treading really lightly on the jokes about Sarkisian and booze.

He's certainly got the alcohol pregnancy thing going on.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

I think it will be Elko or Traylor and both are huge risks.

1) As has already been mentioned, Elko has been beating up on sisters of the poor in the ACC and hasn't beaten anybody really worth a shit so far at Duke. This is a repeat of Jimbo at FSU.

2) Traylor will likely finish 8-4 in his first year without a generational G5 type quarterback. In conference USA.

Chuckie Finster · November 13, 2023

26 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Elko is pushing hard for the gig. All of the defensive coaches are stanning for him. His team's regular season ends in 12 days and you wouldn't have to pay buyouts on the defensive side. He'd hit the ground running in recruiting and the portal, and he'd retain the defensive guys on the roster because they all know him.

Outside of Kliff Kingsbury or Schumann, Elko is the hire I would like to see ATM make the most. He's beaten no one and the record he has put up ties heavily to an excellent QB. In addition, if the stories are correct, ATM idiots would need to start treading really lightly on the jokes about Sarkisian and booze.

Are you trying to tell me this guy isn't the beacon of healthy living?

ClubWhatever · November 13, 2023

8 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

I think it will be Elko or Traylor and both are huge risks.

1) As has already been mentioned, Elko has been beating up on sisters of the poor in the ACC and hasn't beaten anybody really worth a shit so far at Duke. This is a repeat of Jimbo at FSU.

2) Traylor will likely finish 8-4 in his first year without a generational G5 type quarterback. In conference USA.

1) It's Duke. Getting them immediately competitive after 3 straight losing seasons (0-8 in ACC the year before he showed up) is significant. At the very least he is a very good defensive coach and his defenses are sound and physical.

2) Harris was not generational even for G5. Good player. Did stupid shit routinely, witness the Texas game. Anyway you are losing sight, again, of the state of the program when Traylor took over. Wilson was a good recruiter but they were a mess. At the very least Traylor has organizational and motivational skills. And again, his teams play hard.

Both are good coaches and the on field product is likely to be better and more consistent given equal talent.

nnm · November 13, 2023

1 hour ago, Frank Drebin said:

Come on Billy. A&M beat no one in 2021. They got their ass beat by 30+ by Bama. Teams that lose by 30 do not go 12-1. Their best win was over 8-4 Florida. Who got beatdown by OU 55-20.

Frank Drebin · November 13, 2023

3 minutes ago, nnm said:

TCU lost two games.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

4 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

1) It's Duke. Getting them immediately competitive after 3 straight losing seasons (0-8 in ACC the year before he showed up) is significant. At the very least he is a very good defensive coach and his defenses are sound and physical.

2) Harris was not generational even for G5. Good player. Did stupid shit routinely, witness the Texas game. Anyway you are losing sight, again, of the state of the program when Traylor took over. Wilson was a good recruiter but they were a mess. At the very least Traylor has organizational and motivational skills. And again, his teams play hard.

Both are good coaches and the on field product is likely to be better and more consistent given equal talent.

1) Some of you drastically overvalue what it takes to turn a program around. Beating 3-9 Temple, 1-11 Northwestern, North Carolina A&T, 3-7 Virginia, 5-7 Miami, 3-8 Virginia Tech, 8-5 Wake Forest, and 9-5 UCF does not take some type of coaching wizardry. It takes a competent coach. There are plenty of coaches that could have produced the same turnaround at Duke with that schedule. Get real.

2) Harris may not be a "generational" QB but he was damn good. I can't count how many times he saved the OL scrambling and creating plays that weren't there. Those type players don't come around often.

Tex Pete · November 13, 2023

2 hours ago, Longhornfrenzy said:

It takes a toll on you walking around that stadium that night knowing what might happen. Some people don't like us because they dont like success. There has been a success here, and they hate when you talk about things like this. I'm calling that small group right now.

I fail to see any connection. Success?

Edited November 13, 2023 by Tex Pete

Tex Pete · November 13, 2023

2 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

The fact that Luicci/Texags is that connected to the boosters and university that he would sit on that story is full on aggy crazy.

Billy is considered one of their most important alumni. Maybe THE most important. They hang on his every word and he is included in absolutely everything they do. Think about that.

Beer Drinker · November 13, 2023

How can Kingsbury even be considered? I know we are talking about ATM but he sucked at Tech and Arizona. He is a coordinator at best.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

OFEI this year without Harris: #65

With Harris the prior two years: #35 and #22.

Frank Harris is a fucking stud that doesn't come around often at the G5 level. You're kidding yourself if you think differently.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Rickylovesweed

Bodacious Bevo · November 13, 2023

2 hours ago, Longhornfrenzy said:

Lunch with Liucci:

By Billy Liucci

Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 15:42:03)

It was a wild week. I said it last night, I had to mix in some family stuff. It's fine. Everything is good. It was stressful. This stuff is not fun. There is an adrenaline thing of chasing down a story, getting the story and juggling it. So many of these kids' parents listen. It's one of my favorite parts of the job. They can become lifelong friends.

It is annoying when you put a story out, and you have people trying to go out of their way to villainize the person who put the story out because the kids found out via social media. There are things you can say bad about me. The one thing you cannot say is that I do not consider other people in everything I do, especially in this instance. It's a small group. I like to look people in the eye and say, “You do not know a damn thing about me, the process or what went on.”

My first concern was not letting anything out prior to that game. That was a fun night for the kids. They had a freaking blast. I was careful in not wanting to be manipulated in any way in terms of the timing. There were people who had an idea or knew and were saying they didn't agree with it. It was people who mattered.

That decision was made at the highest level, and that was my thought. I did not see it being walked back because of the level of decision it was. Ross Bjork said it was his recommendation to the Texas A&M’s President. They took it to the board. The people at the top had to sign off on that. Once they did, there was no walking it back.

It takes a toll on you walking around that stadium that night knowing what might happen. Some people don't like us because they dont like success. There has been a success here, and they hate when you talk about things like this. I'm calling that small group right now. Selfish would have been announcing that during College GameDay when kids are sitting at the hotel. I waited until the national people were getting word at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. I was making phone calls, stressing and wringing my hands over it.

A. You want the story. We deserve the story. I had had it since the inception of it, but at the same time, it meant a lot to me to make sure it was done, and there was no stopping it.

B. I wanted Jimbo Fisher to know. I was as positive as I could be that he knew before leaving that building Saturday night without calling him, thus interfering in the process. It was tough.

Here's the thing with Jimbo Fisher. Kevin Sumlin made comments about the toll the job took on his health and family. Jimbo came up from West Virginia, didn't have a lot, and went to Samford to play football. He wasn't a five-star. Forget what you think about him. Think about the human here. He worked his way up to the peak of his profession. He was coaching in front of 100,000 people, doing what he loved, not knowing that was going to be his last time to coach here.

I don't know if Jimbo will ever coach again. I think he will. Is he even 60 yet? He loves it. Maybe he does, but not in that type of environment. All of a sudden, he is fired, and he has $75 million. Maybe he goes and sits on his farm in West Virginia.

There is a human element we forget sometimes. He has $75 million, but do you think that guy wasn't devasted when he got the news? In the moment, it's OK to consider the human there that failed at what he was paid to do. I was thinking about that yesterday. There's a human side. There is a family side too. I am not saying you should not fire coaches. Of course, you should. That is the sport. They are compensated very handsomely, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not really a day to celebrate when you make a change when the guy isn't winning as much as you want or expected them to.

This machine, and this is why I think they to be careful about who they hire, this thing does not have championships. We don’t have trophies around here. I was just talking to Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic. The expectations are absolutely reasonable. They are not based on history. Even though A&M historically hasn't won like powerhouse programs, expectations have nothing to do with history.

I said prior to the Mississippi State game that a win wasn't going to be enough. Before that meeting, I felt bad energy/vibes coming out of Ole Miss in terms of the wolves circling. Ole Miss, the wind was blowing in a certain direction. These road trips get you.

Segment 2 (15:42:03 - 20:57:00)

The thing about the Kevin Sumlin vs. Jimbo Fisher graphic, was not only was it annoying, but people would fall into the "Should not have fired Sumlin" rabbit hole. That wasn't the point of it.

They need to make a good hire this time. I really like the message Josh Pate has said about A&M. It is a tremendous job. You could win massively here. You have to find the right guy, and they haven't. You hope they aren't heading to the dark ages.

A&M needs this hire to hit. You see programs that have a lot of history going through dark periods more than A&M has, This will be a 7-5 team or 8-4 with a ton of talent.

I know, some of it will go out the door during the transition. I think a lot of that would happen anyway. That was part of the concern. It happens to everyone. This is really important for Ross Bjork, the decision maker, to get this one right. Get the right guy and get him quickly, and don't give me this crap, I don't want to hear.

Segment 3 (20:57:00 - 22:53:08)

"The board told Jimbo he was let go on Saturday. He stormed out of the locker room and left for the ranch. That is not true. There is a lot that is not true that I get.

Don't give me the "We need a strong coach. He needs to be organized and be friends with everyone." That is something you put on your list that we desire. Have that on the list. Plenty of people check that box and can recruit lights out. Everyone can put elite players on the field. The biggest part of the job is keeping this team together as much as you can because if you do, you have a winner on day one.

Segment 4 (22:53:08 - 36:01:10)

I love it for Elijah Robinson. He deserves it. The players are happy with it, and I think coaches on staff, like Bobby Petrino and D.J. Durkin. They will respect that.

This could be fun for Elijah. This could be a good audition for him. Not only around here but for anywhere. Elijah is Elijah. He is real. He is lovable. He will show love but also push you and make you better. There is a reason he is paid as much as he is to be a position coach. They could not afford to lose him. He is an elite recruiter.

Of everyone on that staff that you want to keep, no matter what your next head coach is, it's Elijah Robinson. Period. It doesn't mean it can't work without him. You can't get caught up on one coach or player during a transition, but I think it would be incredibly important and beneficial to the next coach if he is a prominent member of that staff.

I can't even put into words how far that would go in terms of keeping guys here, recruiting efforts and putting together the right staff. The connection of Elijah and Terry Price, I would have said the same damn thing about TP when Kevin Sumlin was fired. Fisher retained Price. We all know what TP's value was. Elijah is the exact same way.

How cool would it be to see Elijah go 3-0? Go beat LSU in Baton Rouge, and go win a bowl game. Have this team get to nine wins. All of these things are important in terms of retention and setting the coach on the path to win right away. You have the potential to say whoever walks in there, has a loaded roster from day one. I don’t think we will quite be able to say that because of the damn portal nowadays.

Durkin is a hell of a recruiter. He is a pro's pro. He is another guy who is loved in the building. He is doing a great job on the recruiting trail. Guys like that stand out. Between that and making a quick hire, you have the potential to retain a lot of this. You will lose some. There are no two ways around this. You will lose guys you want to keep, and they will make a big deal of it on social media. If you hire the right coach and they sell it right, you can have a contending team on day one at Texas A&M.

This week, they are talking to people. You would love to see it wrapped up in a couple of weeks. From the end of Mississippi State to the end of LSU is two weeks. You would love to see a decision by the middle of that week following LSU.

There isn't a name that has floated to me that I have not thought about. I think Kliff Kingsbury is a really intersting one. Go get Dan Lanning. Go get Dan Campbell. Go get Kalen DoBoer. Look at what he is doing right now at Washington. Those are highly unlikely, but if you start talking about these other candidates, I like a lot about Elko. Kliff is intriguing. Somebody mentioned Todd Monken. He is doing great work with the Ravens and Lamar Jackson. He won a couple of national titles with Stetson Bennett at Georgia.

It's day one. I try to tell y'all exactly what is happening, and what is exactly happening is there is not a standalone candidate. There are not two or three. There's a list. They will use the search firm that A&M is contracted out to. They will use that to weed out a lot of it so A&M can narrow it down.

There is no one or two guys sitting at the top of a list right now. As of Monday morning, that is not the case. I know people say every AD walks around with a list in his pocket. Well, yeah. Ross probably has a list, but this is different because of the money you are paying Jimbo.

All those guys I mentioned will get calls. They may get advice on who they should hire. Mike Elko, if he had not left for Duke, he would have been the perfect inside promotion. What's even better is now he has Power 5 experience.

There is one person I haven't dove into it, but had Luke Fickell not taken to the Wisconsin job last year and been at Cincinnati one more year, would Fickell be the guy that every A&M fan would want? I don’t know if he would come. When we think about these things, don't forget about stuff like that.

Segment 5 (36:01:10 - 44:27:09)

Not evolving to the game was part of it, but Jimbo certainly tried in terms of recruiting, portal and NIL. Offensively, was slow. There was a lot. Maybe tried to do too much of it on his own. That's hard to do. Sometimes coaches don't realize that. Some personalities want to do everything on their own. It worked for him at FSU.

College football is so unique in how much it changes almost every five years. Whether it be the rules, style of play, the portal, NIL, or realignment, it's ever-changing.

They don’t have a recruiting coordinator yet. They never added that. They don’t have a high school relations guy. They made hires, but they weren't out there.

The other thing that got him is there was some misfortune with those quarterback injuries. Has the caliber of the staff gone down? I think some of it, though, was big misfortune. People don't like hearing that, but it's real.

In 2020, they would have been really damn good in a regular season. They might have been better. A&M had the layout to be the second-best team in the SEC that season. Who is to say that if Ohio State had played more games, they would not have dropped one? A&M would have been 12-1. Ohio State loses one game, and A&M is in there.

Describing his tenure, it was really close. They could not quite get over it. There are a million reasons why. It was not just one.

When they were putting together that No. 1 class, had they finished off the 2020 season in style... Maybe you get additional recruits. That was the moment, dropping those road games, that was your chance. That is when it could have flipped

IIRC ATM benefitted a lot from the rescheduling in 2020. I think they had UGA as their SEC East matchup. So saying they would have been 12-1 in a normal year is kind of lazy. They were looking at a 10-2 ceiling. And where did the 12 come from? The conference championship even though they wouldn’t have gotten in over Bama?

ClubWhatever · November 13, 2023

Just now, Rickylovesweed said:

OFEI this year without Harris this year: #65

With Harris the prior two years: #35 and #22.

Frank Harris is a fucking stud that doesn't come around often at the G5 level. You're kidding yourself if you think differently.

Ok so he's a stud. How many coaches win 11 or 12 games and win their league without a stud QB? (Traylor could do it this year.) Downtalking a coach because he won big with a stud QB is weak.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

2 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Ok so he's a stud. How many coaches win 11 or 12 games and win their league without a stud QB? (Traylor could do it this year.) Downtalking a coach because he won big with a stud QB is weak.

1) Highly unlikely. UTSA has to play Tulane on the road. The AAC conference championship will likely be Tulane and SMU.

2) A potential 8-4 season with the #97 strength of schedule impresses you? Ok then. I hope that impresses aggy.

Napoleon · November 13, 2023

9 minutes ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

IIRC ATM benefitted a lot from the rescheduling in 2020. I think they had UGA as their SEC East matchup. So saying they would have been 12-1 in a normal year is kind of lazy. They were looking at a 10-2 ceiling. And where did the 12 come from? The conference championship even though they wouldn’t have gotten in over Bama?

A&M benefitted the most from all of the “opt outs” at LSU and other top players/projected high draft picks at other SEC schools on their schedule.

If COVID didn’t happen, they would have had more losses.

RandomIdoit · November 13, 2023

28 minutes ago, Beer Drinker said:

How can Kingsbury even be considered? I know we are talking about ATM but he sucked at Tech and Arizona. He is a coordinator at best.

[Red McCombsing intensifies]

utexas8 · November 13, 2023

I hope it’s kingsbury that would be hilarious. He doesn’t even like to recruit right?

I’m sure it’ll be elko. Makes the most sense. Sucks because I don’t think there will be a mass portal exodus.

closetojumping · November 13, 2023

21 minutes ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

IIRC ATM benefitted a lot from the rescheduling in 2020. I think they had UGA as their SEC East matchup. So saying they would have been 12-1 in a normal year is kind of lazy. They were looking at a 10-2 ceiling. And where did the 12 come from? The conference championship even though they wouldn’t have gotten in over Bama?

10 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

A&M benefitted the most from all of the “opt outs” at LSU and other top players/projected high draft picks at other SEC schools on their schedule.

If COVID didn’t happen, they would have had more losses.

I was going to say this in response to Bodacious and you mostly cover it. They benefitted from numerous opt-outs or quarantines all season with the LSU and UNC teams especially being nothing like their normal selves when they showed up for ATM.

2020 CFB gets a very large asterisk from everyone and deservedly so. There was so much fuckery moving in various directions that nothing about it resembles a normal season, other than Bama winning the title. Hypotheticals about what might have been for any team are fine, but what actually happened was a bunch of weird shit and the only people fooled by ATM's record that season are the aggies reading and listening to Liucci.

UncleSonny · November 13, 2023

If it’s Elko, I wonder if he would take Kevin Johns with him. Would be a pretty meh hire, especially when he probably needs to nail the OC to have any big time success. He was with Kliff at Tech for a year and then Norvel at Memphis before he was hired at Duke.

He also looks exactly like a penis.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

Based on the candidates listed so far Deboer and Lanning are the best two. Then maybe Norvell but that seems like a total longshot. Deboer and Lanning might be long shots too.

BurntOrange&White · November 13, 2023

5 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

Whoa, when did Theo Von become an Aggy fan?

Please don't disrespect Theo like that again.

2 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Based on the candidates listed so far Deboer and Lanning are the best two. Then maybe Norvell but that seems like a total longshot. Deboer and Lanning might be long shots too.

All three you named are extreme longshots and those are just to get fanbase excited.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

I would take Kiffin over Elko and Traylor too.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

19 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

All three you named are extreme longshots and those are just to get fanbase excited.

Yeah, it seems like aggy will swing for a big name and then settle for somebody like Traylor or Elko if those aren't realistic options.

The Dog · November 13, 2023

2 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Yeah, it seems like aggy will swing for a big name and then settle for somebody like Traylor or Elko if those aren't realistic options.

quoted images so people don't have to click through:

deech · November 13, 2023

They live in the shadow of big brother. It's why they had to fire Jimbo and pay a ridiculous buyout on a ridiculous extension of a ridiculous contract. Solely so they can say they are ahead of big brother.

Every person involved in negotiating and approving the contract and extension should be fired. Every person involved in and approved Durkin's and the other coaches extensions a few weeks ago should be fired.

What a complete and total shit show. I can't stop reading about it.

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

The best possible scenario is for aggy to go after a coach like Lanning or Deboer who won't be available for some time based on how their seasons are going. Then miss on both those guys and have to settle for a coach they probably could have hired much sooner.

billfromlaketravis · November 13, 2023

15 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

The best possible scenario is for aggy to go after a coach like Lanning or Deboer who won't be available for some time based on how their seasons are going. Then miss on both those guys and have to settle for a coach they probably could have hired much sooner.

Hopefully Michigan and Florida open up to really throw a wrench in aggy’s process.

Wishbone · November 13, 2023

I think they will hit up everyone that they would consider a “splash” and end up getting Elko. They get to keep some coaches already under contract and mitigate continuity and roster loss. Elko will be allowed to hunt down an OC and other coaches he deems necessary. I wouldn’t be surprised if they already have some initial “understanding” with Elko, however, if they get lucky and get a bite from a splash guy before Elko’s season is over then they grab hold and walk away from Elko.

MonkeyDoughnut · November 13, 2023

Deboer has as much or more risk than Elko. His 4 years of FBS has consistent of having 2 NFL talent QBs. (Haener and soon to be Penix Jr.)

Traylor has Harris

Elko has Leonard

Lanning has Nix

Risk all around.

Tex Pete · November 13, 2023

54 minutes ago, UncleSonny said:

He also looks exactly like a penis.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Tex Pete

Wishbone · November 13, 2023

1 minute ago, Tex Pete said:

Fuck you for getting that song going in my head, lol!

Edited November 13, 2023 by Wishbone

Rickylovesweed · November 13, 2023

4 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Deboer has as much or more risk than Elko.

There is no home run hire but Deboer has some quality wins on his resume. You can't say the same for Elko (other than maybe Clemson). Here are top 25 wins in the last 2 years based on ESPN efficiency.

Elko 1

Deboer 6

MonkeyDoughnut · November 13, 2023

13 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

There is no home run hire but Deboer has some quality wins on his resume. You can't say the same for Elko (other than maybe Clemson). Here are top 25 wins in the last 2 years based on ESPN efficiency.

Elko 1

Deboer 6

True, but one is coaching at a basketball school, the other a football school, it's not an apple to apple comparison

Rickylovesweed · November 14, 2023

2 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

True, but one is coaching at a basketball school, the other a football school, it's not an apple to apple comparison

I just don't see Elko anywhere near the same league as Deboer even though Deboer definitely has some risk.

1) Deboer took over a 4-8 Washington team. It's not like he had a powerhouse program when he took over.

2) Deboer has actually been beating good teams unlike Elko.

3) Deboer has a history of winning at other schools (lower level of course). Elko has been an assistant almost his entire career.

I view Elko as a very uninspired and meh hire.

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Lunch with Liucci:

Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 15:42:03)

Segment 2 (15:42:03 - 20:57:00)

Segment 3 (20:57:00 - 22:53:08)

Segment 4 (22:53:08 - 36:01:10)

Segment 5 (36:01:10 - 44:27:09)

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