Negative Recruiting Your Own School: The aggy Screenshot Megathread

[Handcruser 2805]

This is a significant amount of words from Liucci, but honestly, feels like he's waving the white flag a bit.

 
Spoiler

Photo: Jamie Maury, TexAgsTexas A&M Football
Cover Story: Crucial decisions on horizon for Fisher & Co.
By Billy LiucciNovember 7, 2022
3040Tweet
Share
Stood toe to toe with then No. 1 Alabama until the final snap in Tuscaloosa. Showed real fight in battling back from down 17-0 on the road against South Carolina. Had the ball with a chance to beat an Ole Miss team currently residing in the top ten a week ago in a game during which the future of the offense was on display. Then, Saturday, the offense puts together by far its best half of football of the season, and a flu/injury-ravaged team shows plenty of resolve in front of the home fans.
Unfortunately, what I just described are four conference losses (and five in a row, overall).
For the first time since 1980, the Ags have dropped five straight games. They're sitting at 3-6 overall and are in danger of not qualifying for a bowl for the first time since year one under Mike Sherman back in 2008, and a 1-7 SEC record is very much on the table.
This wasn't supposed to be the season in which we would spend each week clinging to silver linings. Yet here were are, and this week might be the most disheartening of a season that long ago fell off the rails.
Look, what we saw Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies put on the field against Florida was essentially a M.A.S.H. unit and quite possibly as young a college football team as you're ever going to see. I'm pretty sure that A&M was without more than half of what the expected two-deep looked like entering the season or even as recently as four games ago. The battle of attrition this year has been unprecedented and reached epidemic (pun intended) proportions this week after the Aggie locker room was hit by a nasty flu outbreak. When it rains, it really does pour, and a perfect example of how tough the 2022 season has been for Fisher and the Ags is true freshman Conner Weigman looking absolutely brilliant in his first career start only to fall ill, miss the entire week and subsequently a very winnable SEC home game against Florida. Instead of building on perhaps the most encouraging quarterback performance seen in Aggieland in nearly a decade, Weigman was forced to sit it out, and Haynes King was thrust back into action despite nursing multiple injuries.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs
With Conner Weigman sidelined with the flu, Haynes King returned to the starting lineup for the Maroon & White.
It was that kind of Saturday for the Aggies, who stormed out of the gates offensively and went into the locker room with a 24-20 halftime lead before being outscored 21-0 the rest of the way. But if we're speaking the truth here, the reality is it has been that kind of season for Fisher and the Maroon & White, dating back to Appalachian State... Long before injuries could be cited as the primary factor in the Ags not getting it done.
The reality is that this year's Texas A&M football team simply isn't very good. In fact, this team is flat-out bad... One of the bottom four or five in the Southeastern Conference, if we're going off of actual resumes and head-to-heads.
We’re nine games into a 12-game season, and the Ags' three wins have come against Sam Houston, a sub-.500 Miami team sporting lopsided losses to Florida State, Duke and Middle Tennessee and an Arkansas squad that just dropped a home game to Liberty. Whether it's injuries, illness, inconsistency or ineptitude, if it could go wrong for the Aggies in Fisher's fifth season, it has.
The Aggies lost on Saturday in part because, for the second straight week, an opposing staff outmaneuvered the A&M brain trust at halftime. Still, the biggest reason the home team fell to Florida was the fact (yes, I said fact) that the Ags were playing without well over a dozen starters and/or key contributors. The Ags were worn down — and eventually worn out — by Florida and ended up losing a one-sided decision for just the second time this season. The other, at Mississippi State in early October, had everything to do with turnovers and unforced errors on the Aggies' part. The problem is that neither Florida nor Mississippi State are good football teams. They're average by any SEC metric... and South Carolina and 5-4 Appalachian State are something worse than that.
Entering the season, the feeling in this corner was that the Aggies were over-ranked at No. 6. Fisher's squad was simply too inexperienced along the defensive front and at quarterback and very light at linebacker. However, there was certainly enough there for A&M to field what should probably have been a top-15 team during the first half of the season and one that was playing top-10 football throughout the second half. Forget for a moment all of the reasons why they're not, and think for a second about the opportunity the program missed this fall because the Ags have fallen so far short of the mark.
The reality is that this year's Texas A&M football team simply isn't very good. In fact, this team is flat-out bad... One of the bottom four or five in the Southeastern Conference, if we're going off of actual resumes and head-to-heads.
In taking a look at the entire schedule, it's safe to say that only LSU and Ole Miss turned out to be better than expected, while teams like Miami, Arkansas, Mississippi State and even Alabama all fell well short of preseason hype. Not quite as short as our Aggies did, unfortunately, but you get the point.
Looking back on the way the schedule played out and how those games went, a good but not great A&M team probably runs the table during the first half when you factor in how things played out in Tuscaloosa as the Tide was forced to play backup quarterback Jalen Milroe. Since that game, the Ags took Ole Miss down to the final minute in Weigman's first-ever start, and South Carolina, Florida and Auburn are all unranked for a reason.
That's the long way of saying had this year's Aggies even come close to living up to the preseason billing, they're probably playing Georgia for the SEC title in a few weeks. Trust me, I understand how wild that statement reads today. However, in year five under Fisher and with what looked to everyone in college football (and I'm talking even most of those in the national media) like a very good mix of experience and tremendous young talent, the West was there for the taking. More so than at any point in A&M's 11 years in the league.
For a litany of reasons — most of which were controllable within Bright and on the field and some that certainly weren't (particularly of late) — the Aggies were unable to take advantage. But the real reason for pointing this out nine games in, following a one-sided loss to a four-loss Florida team, isn't to state the obvious.
It's timely this week, perhaps more so than ever, because of what transpired around the country on Saturday. I'm not talking about the Gators pulling away in the second half. I'm referencing what went down in places like Baton Rouge, Manhattan, South Bend and Fort Worth, among other places.
Fisher and the Aggies losing momentum in such stunning fashion is one thing, but A&M's freefall coinciding with other coaches and programs making big moves in the region and around the Southeastern Conference is another altogether.
It's vitally important that Fisher, his staff and the powers that be in Aggieland realize and fully grasp exactly how unstable the current terrain is for an outfit that was considered Alabama's greatest threat as recently as two months ago. In today's volatile college football climate, the state and trajectory of any program can change in the blink of an eye.

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Kelly is 7-2 in year one at LSU and just knocked off Alabama in OT, 32-31.
Take a look around.
In year one under Brian Kelly, an LSU team that suited up something like 38 players in last year's bowl game just knocked off Alabama and is a near shoo-in to do something A&M hasn't done (play in an SEC title game). With a transfer quarterback leading the charge, excitement is off the charts in Baton Rouge, and playing in Purple & Gold is looking like a very attractive destination for Texas prospects. And that, my friends, is very much an apples-to-apples comparison when you consider the Ags and Bayou Bengals compete in the same division.
Down the road in Austin, the folks in Burnt Orange are once again putting the cart ahead of the horse, but Steve Sarkisian's Horns are 6-3 and could end up claiming a Big 12 title. They could also finish with five regular-season losses, but the reality is Texas won a top-15 road game on the same day the Ags were losing at home by three scores to an unranked Florida team and are set to host College GameDay for the second time this season. It remains to be seen what the Longhorns achieve this season, but the arrow is certainly pointing up. Texas has momentum when A&M clearly does not, and that's never a good thing.
Of course, the reason GameDay is returning has to do with the fact that the Horns are squaring off against undefeated No. 4 TCU. In year one under Sonny Dykes, the Horned Frogs have caught fire and are positioned to crash the four-team playoff field. In year one.
Another “year one” accomplishment of note occurred in South Bend on Saturday night when Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish knocked off previously unbeaten Clemson. Why is Notre Dame relevant to this discussion, you ask? Because on the same day the Aggies were shocked at home by an overwhelming Sun Belt underdog, so were the Irish, who somehow managed to right the ship enough to take down the then-fourth-ranked Tigers in front of Touchdown Jesus.
What Kelly, Dykes and Freeman are doing in year one and even what Josh Heupel is doing in Knoxville in year two (not to mention the fact that the Ags have fallen in recent weeks to first-year Florida boss Billy Napier and second-year head man Shane Beamer at South Carolina) makes what's transpired in College Station this fall exponentially more frustrating.
However, more important than that is the fact that some of the aforementioned programs will build on their current momentum and become very real players in the conference and region in the immediate future. If, say, for example, the Vols, Horns and Bayou Bengals soar, programs like A&M and Oklahoma had better figure things out in a hurry.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs
On Monday, Fisher said that Conner Weigman will be the Aggies’ starter on Saturday at Auburn.
As far as Fisher and the Aggies go, any hope for something to be excited about between now and the season's end probably rests with Weigman and the defense getting some key players back. As stated previously, this team hasn't been good all season, but recent attrition has made it virtually impossible to show the hoped-for steady improvement. What Jimbo cannot do is assume that Weigman emerging as the future at quarterback and the team simply getting healthy and more experienced is enough.
That's not even in the ballpark when it comes to what it's going to take.
The reality is that the Ags have no momentum on the field and even less on the recruiting front.
Five-star linebacker Anthony Hill‍ — probably the single-most important player in the 2023 cycle for the Ags — decommitted on Monday after spending the entire weekend in College Station and will likely land in Austin (this coming after the Aggies lost five-star linebacker and potential SEC Freshman of the Year Harold Perkins in '22), and there are rumblings that A&M's other five-star commit is set to open things up, as well.
Wins over Auburn and UMass aren't moving the needle, and even a home win over LSU to end the regular season would merely qualify as bittersweet.
What matters far more at this point in the season is Fisher deciding he's seen enough and embracing change. Texas A&M and the fifth-year head coach are locked into a long-term marriage due to an unprecedented contract. Rather than rail against Jimbo, the powers-that-be are letting him know they're willing to do whatever it takes to get things back on track and then some. I'm fully expecting Fisher to welcome the opportunity to free himself up to do more in terms of presiding over the program day-to-day (and especially on gamedays) and making a significant hire on offense. That's not the only change we'll see over the next few weeks, but it would certainly be the biggest and, in my opinion, the most impactful. A hunting man himself, Jimbo is also aware of the fact that poachers from around the country have his talented young players in their sights. As such, keeping the 2022 class together might be more important than anything the Aggies do on the recruiting front. That's especially true with the transfer portal available. A mass exodus would make it very difficult to envision Fisher and the Ags quickly digging out of their current hole.
Then again, if Jimbo makes the right moves between now and, let's just call it, Jan, 1, the talent on hand is more than good enough for an immediate reversal of fortune. Snag the right OC and keep Weigman, and the Aggies could enter next season positioned better than at any point during the current head coach's tenure.
Fisher was able to get out of Tallahassee before the walls came crumbling down at Florida State, but he's in it for the long haul this time around. Thing is, there's a lifeline waiting if he chooses to take hold. What Jimbo decides to do over the next six weeks or so is going to ultimately define not only his tenure in Aggieland but also the short-term future of A&M football.
From where I sit — and based on what I see happening all around the Aggies in the state and conference — the upcoming stretch represents Jimbo's last best chance to get it right

 

Reads to me like this:
Jimbo doesn’t want to hire an OC and that’s the only way he saves his job or gets any monetary support from boosters going forward.

[BornAndRaised 12307]

2 minutes ago, Handcruser said:

Reads to me like this:
Jimbo doesn’t want to hire an OC and that’s the only way he saves his job or gets any monetary support from boosters going forward.

Yeah, I read it all unfortunately. It seems like Aggy is forcing a splash OC on him, but I legitimately don't know who it could be, or why he'd give in.

[Pato del Muerto 52566]

1 minute ago, BornAndRaised said:

Yeah, I read it all unfortunately. It seems like Aggy is forcing a splash OC on him, but I legitimately don't know who it could be, or why he'd give in.

They could take the choice away from him and have the AD fire his assistants. That would force him or the AD to hire someone new. I’d be interested in how jimbo would react to his boss executing such a move. 

[Hornlover 8830]

1 minute ago, BornAndRaised said:

Yeah, I read it all unfortunately. It seems like Aggy is forcing a splash OC on him, but I legitimately don't know who it could be, or why he'd give in.

Why he'd give in? Because he wants to win games. He knows that if he sits idly by doing nothing, and booster support erodes, he will have five or six more years of losing records and no ability to change his fortunes.

So he has to figure out for himself if it's more hurtful to his pride to bring in an OC, or to be the captain of a rotting sinking ship that has no chance of competing. 

[Hiphopopotamos 20876]

6 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

Yeah, I read it all unfortunately. It seems like Aggy is forcing a splash OC on him, but I legitimately don't know who it could be, or why he'd give in.

Its going to be a very interesting hire.  What young aspiring OC is going to want to be under Jimbo's thumb - do they think there is any chance Jimbo is going to hand over control of the offense to someone else.

Even if he is willing to hand over the offense - whats he willing to run?  Maybe Jimbo has his Saban moment where he realizes wide open offense are the present and future, but I doubt it.  Its one thing for the GOAT, a defensive wizard, to recognize that rule changes were making defense harder to play against those new-fangled up tempo offenses - but I don't see QB Whisperer and offensive savant Jimbo having the same epiphany.

Is a Matt Canada type OC hire going to move the needle with donors or recruits? 

This might be the most fascinating hire of this off-season. 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Hiphopopotamos

[BornAndRaised 12307]

2 minutes ago, Hornlover said:

Why he'd give in? Because he wants to win games. He knows that if he sits idly by doing nothing, and booster support erodes, he will have five or six more years of losing records and no ability to change his fortunes.

So he has to figure out for himself if it's more hurtful to his pride to bring in an OC, or to be the captain of a rotting sinking ship that has no chance of competing. 

He's old and rich. I don't think he cares much about winning on the field anymore.

[Post Oak 20256]

Art Briles is rested and ready

[MH BEVO 1265]

7 minutes ago, BornAndRaised said:

Yeah, I read it all unfortunately. It seems like Aggy is forcing a splash OC on him, but I legitimately don't know who it could be, or why he'd give in.

So the same people that were convinced that Jimbo was an offensive genius are now going hand pick another offensive genius?  
 

[Not a Sock 2337]

3 minutes ago, Hornlover said:

Why he'd give in? Because he wants to win games. He knows that if he sits idly by doing nothing, and booster support erodes, he will have five or six more years of losing records and no ability to change his fortunes.

So he has to figure out for himself if it's more hurtful to his pride to bring in an OC, or to be the captain of a rotting sinking ship that has no chance of competing. 

If Jimbo was capable of that level introspection he would still be the coach of FSU.

[BurntOrange&White 39960]

Threatening Jimbo with for cause to take a reduce buyout, this is the dysfunction we need!

Edited November 8, 2022 by BurntOrange&White

[Rimbo 26051]

16 minutes ago, Handcruser said:

Jimbo doesn’t want to hire an OC and that’s the only way he saves his job or gets any monetary support from boosters going forward.

I mean, other than the $85 million dollar buyout.

That's saving his job right now. Quite a bit.

[Skipper 6192]

6 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Its going to be a very interesting hire.  What young aspiring OC is going to want to be under Jimbo's thumb - do they think there is any chance Jimbo is going to hand over control of the offense to someone else.

This is the problem.  It's not like going to work for Saban where you are dealing with an asshole that may dictate philosophy at times but is largely going to leave it up to you to gameplan and call a game.  This is going to work for an asshole that has also called plays his entire career and is going to micromanage every decision on your side of the ball.  And then absolutely throw you under the bus when something doesn't go right.  A "big name" or up and comer that has other Power 5 options isn't going to sign up for that. 

[SamMan 1368]

Taylor was the fucking pied piper. This is bizarre. I love it. I remember all the shit he was posting around signing day when Stewart was dragging his feet. What strikes me the most is how incredibly strong last year’s recruiting class was in the state of Texas, and outside of offensive line, the aggies cleaned up. That’s before mentioning all of the out of state talent they landed. I still can’t believe how badly they have misplayed a winning hand. If the shit continues to slide, they might look back at the 2023 class like Texas did the 2017 class where there was so much momentum and strong & co fucked it all away.

[Gut Wagon 8087]

It's an exponentially worse version of the Shaka Smart scenario, right down to the ill-advised extension. Aside from the sheer amount of money owed, the main difference is that no rube is going to take this problem off aggy's hands. 

[utexas8 1465]

So weigman is playing this weekend?

[GTX Horn 1710]

4 hours ago, texifornia said:

Clearly Jimbo has “the flu” as well

[Pato del Muerto 52566]

13 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

It's an exponentially worse version of the Shaka Smart scenario, right down to the ill-advised extension. Aside from the sheer amount of money owed, the main difference is that no rube is going to take this problem off aggy's hands. 

Without the extension, they’d owe him like 35ish million after this season?  They could maybe even talk about swinging that, but for sure after 2023.  They’d have options at least. But they just had to double down. 

[Basil 755]

Its going to be a very interesting hire.  What young aspiring OC is going to want to be under Jimbo's thumb - do they think there is any chance Jimbo is going to hand over control of the offense to someone else.
Even if he is willing to hand over the offense - whats he willing to run?  Maybe Jimbo has his Saban moment where he realizes wide open offense are the present and future, but I doubt it.  Its one thing for the GOAT, a defensive wizard, to recognize that rule changes were making defense harder to play against those new-fangled up tempo offenses - but I don't see QB Whisperer and offensive savant Jimbo having the same epiphany.
Is a Matt Canada type OC hire going to move the needle with donors or recruits? 
This might be the most fascinating hire of this off-season. 

Plus, the rubes at aggy have Dunning Krugered themselves into believing an OC is the missing piece. And they talk about “calling plays” but it’s not calling plays, it’s installing a new, modern offense and calling plays under that new offense. That is generally a multi-year project. But aggy wont have multi-year patience in year 6 of the Jimbo fiasco. Advantage: everyone else.

[Scholz 11956]

Dumbo being “the smartest man in the room” over there is the problem.

[Butch Had Not 2992]

The rumors will have guys like:

Longo

Garrett Riley 

Lebby

K briles

Dillingham 

They will end up with Dan Enos because of $$$

 

[texifornia 57074]

[texifornia 57074]

[fattyflattie 4638]

19 minutes ago, Basil said:

Plus, the rubes at aggy have Dunning Krugered themselves into believing an OC is the missing piece. And they talk about “calling plays” but it’s not calling plays, it’s installing a new, modern offense and calling plays under that new offense. That is generally a multi-year project. But aggy wont have multi-year patience in year 6 of the Jimbo fiasco. Advantage: everyone else.

That OC better bring a new Oline or it won’t matter. 

[texifornia 57074]

[TexasRenegade 2460]

"Then again, if Jimbo makes the right moves between now and, let's just call it, Jan, 1, the talent on hand is more than good enough for an immediate reversal of fortune. Snag the right OC and keep Weigman, and the Aggies could enter next season positioned better than at any point during the current head coach's tenure."

 

 

What the heck is Lucci on.  An OC a d Weigman is all they need?

[texifornia 57074]

[Butch Had Not 2992]

4 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

That OC better bring a new Oline or it won’t matter. 

Cow and calf deal?

[texifornia 57074]

[EZ$ 2105]

3 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

"Then again, if Jimbo makes the right moves between now and, let's just call it, Jan, 1, the talent on hand is more than good enough for an immediate reversal of fortune. Snag the right OC and keep Weigman, and the Aggies could enter next season positioned better than at any point during the current head coach's tenure."

 

 

What the heck is Lucci on.  An OC a d Weigman is all they need?

Didn’t you read, they are just an injury here or lower initial ranking there from being undefeated. 

[texifornia 57074]

[Redneck Mutha 8007]

7 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

What the heck is Lucci on.  An OC a d Weigman is all they need?

[Elmer_Fudd 22313]

[Pato del Muerto 52566]

I note they seem to think 5-7 last year didn’t hurt our recruiting. Yeah all those Texas kids signing with aggy last year had nothing to do with our record and everything to do with the recruiting prowess of the same head coach that they are coming unglued about right now. 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Pato del Muerto

[Frank Drebin 5650]

Liucci: Jimbo Fisher's extension will be another 'bargain' for Texas A&M

By Billy Liucci
September 1, 2021
97
15,543

Tweet Share Jump to Discussion
 

---

Key notes from Billy Liucci interview

• You're going to see this contract be 10 years, starting from now, with an average right around $9 million per year. You're starting the existing deal over with a significant raise to make him the second-highest paid coach in the SEC behind Nick Saban and one of the highest-paid in college football.
• This is a great deal. We're going to look at it again as a great bargain. We've been talking about it for the last three years and how wrong people were the first time. Now they're doing it again. People don't seem to understand the no-buyout thing, and that makes me laugh. The buyout is $9 million a year, $90 million guaranteed.
• Nick Saban doesn't look like he's going to retire anytime soon, but say Alabama comes after Jimbo Fisher in three years when Saban is done. That's the only school that could take Fisher with the money that Texas A&M is paying. If Alabama does that, it means the next three years have been really good in Aggieland.
• A buyout does nothing. When was the last time a school didn't hire a coach they wanted because of a buyout? Do you think a one-year buyout, another $9 million, would keep A&M from going to get a coach? The buyout is $90 million. It also keeps the coach here. It's like the SEC not having a grant of rights. The SEC basically says, "You want to leave? Go."
• I don't think there is any danger of Fisher leaving. The danger is losing money. If it doesn't work, you lose money. Everyone is making a big deal about it, but it's like me and Olin living in the same neighborhood. If I saw him driving a Maserati, that's Olin's business. Not mine. The way the media is acting would be like me walking around the neighborhood calling Olin an idiot for spending that money on a car. Who's the idiot in that scenario?
• A&M is three years into this, and they have a pretty good idea of what they're investing in. People are saying it's only one good year, but it's not. It's one great year and three years of progress. Jimbo's first year was a nice, strong season. They finished ranked and won a bowl game, playing great football at the end of the year. His third year was a top-five finish, an Orange Bowl championship and a legitimate argument to be in the playoff.
• In 12 years as a coach, Fisher has a national title, a playoff berth and another top-five finish. He probably has five top-ten finishes in 12 years to go along with that. At what point do you look at that resume and say that Fisher is an elite head coach in this game? He is. It's not debatable. Texas A&M has a coach that is among the very best, the top five, in this game.
• If you look at what Fisher is doing in recruiting and don't feel extremely confident in your investment, I don't know what to tell you.
• Regarding the timing, coaches don't like negotiating during the season. What if Texas A&M reached the playoff this year and LSU spiraled? I think Texas A&M did the right thing. We got our guy, and he's locked up for as long as he wants to coach.
• This guy won a national title. He won 27 of 28 games with Jameis Winston in 2013 and 2014. People want to say it was all Winston, but you can't take away a guy's best player. If you take away Vince Young, what did Mack Brown do? Take away Joe Burrow, Ed O doesn’t win a championship.
• I know what Dan Mullen has done, and I know what Jim Harbaugh has done. What in the hell have they done that Jimbo hasn't done? Mullen won a New Year's Six game, and Florida caught some criticism for that extension. The blowback shows how big the spotlight is on Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher.
• For the people that say A&M isn't relevant, you're hearing most of that from Texas, Oklahoma and some from LSU. They're whining fake tough guys.
• If you say a negative thing about Oklahoma, the Sooners go insane. Somebody asked me if I'd rather have Lincoln Riley or Jimbo at Texas A&M, at the answer is Jimbo. Riley is a good coach, but he coaches in a league where he has five times the talent as anybody he plays. They're both good coaches, but it's apples to oranges. Jimbo Fisher is a great fit at Texas A&M.
• Texas might be the most delusional fanbase in American sports. They're loud on Twitter. They get these talking points, and no matter how bad their team is or how good things are going in College Station, they cannot come off their talking points. How much money did they pay to fire Herman and hire Steve Sarkisian? We know what Sark has done. You want to boil it down to Fisher not winning a title in three years? You spent $75 million to hire Sarkisian.
• LSU is just scared. They had that great year and smoked the Aggies in 2019, but they've lost two of three to Texas A&M. Jimbo Fisher is the guy they've tried to hire twice. Ed Orgeron is a trainwreck of a coach, and they know it. They were hoping they could possibly hire Fisher at some point, and the Aggies just put up a wall around College Station.
• A day ago, what was the big cry coming out of Austin, Baton Rouge and Norman? That Fisher would be in Baton Rouge in a year. That was the battle cry from those three fanbases, and they wouldn't shut up about it. Today, 10 years and $90 million later, A&M is stupid for paying it? It's a constantly moving target.

[Hank Chinaski 6315]

“bashing team and coaches is not”…one thing?

[Sealtm6 35]

[Longhornfrenzy 5819]

On day's like this, I miss the best in the biz Taylor Hamm.

[BigSwingingD 719]

1 hour ago, BornAndRaised said:

This is a significant amount of words from Liucci, but honestly, feels like he's waving the white flag a bit.

 

  Hide contents

Photo: Jamie Maury, TexAgsTexas A&M Football
Cover Story: Crucial decisions on horizon for Fisher & Co.
By Billy LiucciNovember 7, 2022
3040Tweet
Share
Stood toe to toe with then No. 1 Alabama until the final snap in Tuscaloosa. Showed real fight in battling back from down 17-0 on the road against South Carolina. Had the ball with a chance to beat an Ole Miss team currently residing in the top ten a week ago in a game during which the future of the offense was on display. Then, Saturday, the offense puts together by far its best half of football of the season, and a flu/injury-ravaged team shows plenty of resolve in front of the home fans.

Unfortunately, what I just described are four conference losses (and five in a row, overall).

For the first time since 1980, the Ags have dropped five straight games. They're sitting at 3-6 overall and are in danger of not qualifying for a bowl for the first time since year one under Mike Sherman back in 2008, and a 1-7 SEC record is very much on the table.

This wasn't supposed to be the season in which we would spend each week clinging to silver linings. Yet here were are, and this week might be the most disheartening of a season that long ago fell off the rails.

Look, what we saw Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies put on the field against Florida was essentially a M.A.S.H. unit and quite possibly as young a college football team as you're ever going to see. I'm pretty sure that A&M was without more than half of what the expected two-deep looked like entering the season or even as recently as four games ago. The battle of attrition this year has been unprecedented and reached epidemic (pun intended) proportions this week after the Aggie locker room was hit by a nasty flu outbreak. When it rains, it really does pour, and a perfect example of how tough the 2022 season has been for Fisher and the Ags is true freshman Conner Weigman looking absolutely brilliant in his first career start only to fall ill, miss the entire week and subsequently a very winnable SEC home game against Florida. Instead of building on perhaps the most encouraging quarterback performance seen in Aggieland in nearly a decade, Weigman was forced to sit it out, and Haynes King was thrust back into action despite nursing multiple injuries.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs
With Conner Weigman sidelined with the flu, Haynes King returned to the starting lineup for the Maroon & White.
It was that kind of Saturday for the Aggies, who stormed out of the gates offensively and went into the locker room with a 24-20 halftime lead before being outscored 21-0 the rest of the way. But if we're speaking the truth here, the reality is it has been that kind of season for Fisher and the Maroon & White, dating back to Appalachian State... Long before injuries could be cited as the primary factor in the Ags not getting it done.

The reality is that this year's Texas A&M football team simply isn't very good. In fact, this team is flat-out bad... One of the bottom four or five in the Southeastern Conference, if we're going off of actual resumes and head-to-heads.

We’re nine games into a 12-game season, and the Ags' three wins have come against Sam Houston, a sub-.500 Miami team sporting lopsided losses to Florida State, Duke and Middle Tennessee and an Arkansas squad that just dropped a home game to Liberty. Whether it's injuries, illness, inconsistency or ineptitude, if it could go wrong for the Aggies in Fisher's fifth season, it has.

The Aggies lost on Saturday in part because, for the second straight week, an opposing staff outmaneuvered the A&M brain trust at halftime. Still, the biggest reason the home team fell to Florida was the fact (yes, I said fact) that the Ags were playing without well over a dozen starters and/or key contributors. The Ags were worn down — and eventually worn out — by Florida and ended up losing a one-sided decision for just the second time this season. The other, at Mississippi State in early October, had everything to do with turnovers and unforced errors on the Aggies' part. The problem is that neither Florida nor Mississippi State are good football teams. They're average by any SEC metric... and South Carolina and 5-4 Appalachian State are something worse than that.

Entering the season, the feeling in this corner was that the Aggies were over-ranked at No. 6. Fisher's squad was simply too inexperienced along the defensive front and at quarterback and very light at linebacker. However, there was certainly enough there for A&M to field what should probably have been a top-15 team during the first half of the season and one that was playing top-10 football throughout the second half. Forget for a moment all of the reasons why they're not, and think for a second about the opportunity the program missed this fall because the Ags have fallen so far short of the mark.

The reality is that this year's Texas A&M football team simply isn't very good. In fact, this team is flat-out bad... One of the bottom four or five in the Southeastern Conference, if we're going off of actual resumes and head-to-heads.
In taking a look at the entire schedule, it's safe to say that only LSU and Ole Miss turned out to be better than expected, while teams like Miami, Arkansas, Mississippi State and even Alabama all fell well short of preseason hype. Not quite as short as our Aggies did, unfortunately, but you get the point.

Looking back on the way the schedule played out and how those games went, a good but not great A&M team probably runs the table during the first half when you factor in how things played out in Tuscaloosa as the Tide was forced to play backup quarterback Jalen Milroe. Since that game, the Ags took Ole Miss down to the final minute in Weigman's first-ever start, and South Carolina, Florida and Auburn are all unranked for a reason.

That's the long way of saying had this year's Aggies even come close to living up to the preseason billing, they're probably playing Georgia for the SEC title in a few weeks. Trust me, I understand how wild that statement reads today. However, in year five under Fisher and with what looked to everyone in college football (and I'm talking even most of those in the national media) like a very good mix of experience and tremendous young talent, the West was there for the taking. More so than at any point in A&M's 11 years in the league.

For a litany of reasons — most of which were controllable within Bright and on the field and some that certainly weren't (particularly of late) — the Aggies were unable to take advantage. But the real reason for pointing this out nine games in, following a one-sided loss to a four-loss Florida team, isn't to state the obvious.

It's timely this week, perhaps more so than ever, because of what transpired around the country on Saturday. I'm not talking about the Gators pulling away in the second half. I'm referencing what went down in places like Baton Rouge, Manhattan, South Bend and Fort Worth, among other places.

Fisher and the Aggies losing momentum in such stunning fashion is one thing, but A&M's freefall coinciding with other coaches and programs making big moves in the region and around the Southeastern Conference is another altogether.

It's vitally important that Fisher, his staff and the powers that be in Aggieland realize and fully grasp exactly how unstable the current terrain is for an outfit that was considered Alabama's greatest threat as recently as two months ago. In today's volatile college football climate, the state and trajectory of any program can change in the blink of an eye.

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Kelly is 7-2 in year one at LSU and just knocked off Alabama in OT, 32-31.
Take a look around.

In year one under Brian Kelly, an LSU team that suited up something like 38 players in last year's bowl game just knocked off Alabama and is a near shoo-in to do something A&M hasn't done (play in an SEC title game). With a transfer quarterback leading the charge, excitement is off the charts in Baton Rouge, and playing in Purple & Gold is looking like a very attractive destination for Texas prospects. And that, my friends, is very much an apples-to-apples comparison when you consider the Ags and Bayou Bengals compete in the same division.

Down the road in Austin, the folks in Burnt Orange are once again putting the cart ahead of the horse, but Steve Sarkisian's Horns are 6-3 and could end up claiming a Big 12 title. They could also finish with five regular-season losses, but the reality is Texas won a top-15 road game on the same day the Ags were losing at home by three scores to an unranked Florida team and are set to host College GameDay for the second time this season. It remains to be seen what the Longhorns achieve this season, but the arrow is certainly pointing up. Texas has momentum when A&M clearly does not, and that's never a good thing.

Of course, the reason GameDay is returning has to do with the fact that the Horns are squaring off against undefeated No. 4 TCU. In year one under Sonny Dykes, the Horned Frogs have caught fire and are positioned to crash the four-team playoff field. In year one.

Another “year one” accomplishment of note occurred in South Bend on Saturday night when Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish knocked off previously unbeaten Clemson. Why is Notre Dame relevant to this discussion, you ask? Because on the same day the Aggies were shocked at home by an overwhelming Sun Belt underdog, so were the Irish, who somehow managed to right the ship enough to take down the then-fourth-ranked Tigers in front of Touchdown Jesus.

What Kelly, Dykes and Freeman are doing in year one and even what Josh Heupel is doing in Knoxville in year two (not to mention the fact that the Ags have fallen in recent weeks to first-year Florida boss Billy Napier and second-year head man Shane Beamer at South Carolina) makes what's transpired in College Station this fall exponentially more frustrating.

However, more important than that is the fact that some of the aforementioned programs will build on their current momentum and become very real players in the conference and region in the immediate future. If, say, for example, the Vols, Horns and Bayou Bengals soar, programs like A&M and Oklahoma had better figure things out in a hurry.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs
On Monday, Fisher said that Conner Weigman will be the Aggies’ starter on Saturday at Auburn.
As far as Fisher and the Aggies go, any hope for something to be excited about between now and the season's end probably rests with Weigman and the defense getting some key players back. As stated previously, this team hasn't been good all season, but recent attrition has made it virtually impossible to show the hoped-for steady improvement. What Jimbo cannot do is assume that Weigman emerging as the future at quarterback and the team simply getting healthy and more experienced is enough.

That's not even in the ballpark when it comes to what it's going to take.

The reality is that the Ags have no momentum on the field and even less on the recruiting front.

Five-star linebacker Anthony Hill‍ — probably the single-most important player in the 2023 cycle for the Ags — decommitted on Monday after spending the entire weekend in College Station and will likely land in Austin (this coming after the Aggies lost five-star linebacker and potential SEC Freshman of the Year Harold Perkins in '22), and there are rumblings that A&M's other five-star commit is set to open things up, as well.

Wins over Auburn and UMass aren't moving the needle, and even a home win over LSU to end the regular season would merely qualify as bittersweet.

What matters far more at this point in the season is Fisher deciding he's seen enough and embracing change. Texas A&M and the fifth-year head coach are locked into a long-term marriage due to an unprecedented contract. Rather than rail against Jimbo, the powers-that-be are letting him know they're willing to do whatever it takes to get things back on track and then some. I'm fully expecting Fisher to welcome the opportunity to free himself up to do more in terms of presiding over the program day-to-day (and especially on gamedays) and making a significant hire on offense. That's not the only change we'll see over the next few weeks, but it would certainly be the biggest and, in my opinion, the most impactful. A hunting man himself, Jimbo is also aware of the fact that poachers from around the country have his talented young players in their sights. As such, keeping the 2022 class together might be more important than anything the Aggies do on the recruiting front. That's especially true with the transfer portal available. A mass exodus would make it very difficult to envision Fisher and the Ags quickly digging out of their current hole.

Then again, if Jimbo makes the right moves between now and, let's just call it, Jan, 1, the talent on hand is more than good enough for an immediate reversal of fortune. Snag the right OC and keep Weigman, and the Aggies could enter next season positioned better than at any point during the current head coach's tenure.

Fisher was able to get out of Tallahassee before the walls came crumbling down at Florida State, but he's in it for the long haul this time around. Thing is, there's a lifeline waiting if he chooses to take hold. What Jimbo decides to do over the next six weeks or so is going to ultimately define not only his tenure in Aggieland but also the short-term future of A&M football.

From where I sit — and based on what I see happening all around the Aggies in the state and conference — the upcoming stretch represents Jimbo's last best chance to get it right

 

 

 

[Laxtonto 12090]

2 minutes ago, Longhornfrenzy said:

On day's like this, I miss the best in the biz Taylor Hamm.

I have to admit days like this make me miss @Machinator

[BigSwingingD 719]

9 minutes ago, Longhornfrenzy said:

On day's like this, I miss the best in the biz Taylor Hamm.

Holy shit, @Longhornfrenzy I was just thinking about that pigmy. We need a well check STAT.

Didn't that little fucker go 0 and 16? Suck it Hamm you pigmy hayseed.

[Longhornfrenzy 5819]

Looks like they had a little Hamm 2 days ago 

Just now, Longhornfrenzy said:

Looks like they had a little Hamm 2 days ago 

No doubt named after Kyle field

[totallynotabuttpirate 5403]

1 hour ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

.....Is a Matt Canada type OC hire going to move the needle with donors or recruits? 

This might be the most fascinating hire of this off-season. 

Best part is it don't make a shit with their oline. We have 12 years of experience with that concept. 

[Vertigo 20308]

51 minutes ago, TexasRenegade said:

"Then again, if Jimbo makes the right moves between now and, let's just call it, Jan, 1, the talent on hand is more than good enough for an immediate reversal of fortune. Snag the right OC and keep Weigman, and the Aggies could enter next season positioned better than at any point during the current head coach's tenure."

 

 

What the heck is Lucci on.  An OC a d Weigman is all they need?

The amount of times Liucci has said that keeping Weigman is crucial tells me that Mr Weigman must have raked Jimbo's ass across his desk and dunked him in his trashcan last week.

[WBT 20652]

38 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Liucci: Jimbo Fisher's extension will be another 'bargain' for Texas A&M

By Billy Liucci
September 1, 2021
97
15,543

Tweet Share Jump to Discussion
 

---

Key notes from Billy Liucci interview

• You're going to see this contract be 10 years, starting from now, with an average right around $9 million per year. You're starting the existing deal over with a significant raise to make him the second-highest paid coach in the SEC behind Nick Saban and one of the highest-paid in college football.
• This is a great deal. We're going to look at it again as a great bargain. We've been talking about it for the last three years and how wrong people were the first time. Now they're doing it again. People don't seem to understand the no-buyout thing, and that makes me laugh. The buyout is $9 million a year, $90 million guaranteed.
• Nick Saban doesn't look like he's going to retire anytime soon, but say Alabama comes after Jimbo Fisher in three years when Saban is done. That's the only school that could take Fisher with the money that Texas A&M is paying. If Alabama does that, it means the next three years have been really good in Aggieland.
• A buyout does nothing. When was the last time a school didn't hire a coach they wanted because of a buyout? Do you think a one-year buyout, another $9 million, would keep A&M from going to get a coach? The buyout is $90 million. It also keeps the coach here. It's like the SEC not having a grant of rights. The SEC basically says, "You want to leave? Go."
• I don't think there is any danger of Fisher leaving. The danger is losing money. If it doesn't work, you lose money. Everyone is making a big deal about it, but it's like me and Olin living in the same neighborhood. If I saw him driving a Maserati, that's Olin's business. Not mine. The way the media is acting would be like me walking around the neighborhood calling Olin an idiot for spending that money on a car. Who's the idiot in that scenario?
• A&M is three years into this, and they have a pretty good idea of what they're investing in. People are saying it's only one good year, but it's not. It's one great year and three years of progress. Jimbo's first year was a nice, strong season. They finished ranked and won a bowl game, playing great football at the end of the year. His third year was a top-five finish, an Orange Bowl championship and a legitimate argument to be in the playoff.
• In 12 years as a coach, Fisher has a national title, a playoff berth and another top-five finish. He probably has five top-ten finishes in 12 years to go along with that. At what point do you look at that resume and say that Fisher is an elite head coach in this game? He is. It's not debatable. Texas A&M has a coach that is among the very best, the top five, in this game.
• If you look at what Fisher is doing in recruiting and don't feel extremely confident in your investment, I don't know what to tell you.
• Regarding the timing, coaches don't like negotiating during the season. What if Texas A&M reached the playoff this year and LSU spiraled? I think Texas A&M did the right thing. We got our guy, and he's locked up for as long as he wants to coach.
• This guy won a national title. He won 27 of 28 games with Jameis Winston in 2013 and 2014. People want to say it was all Winston, but you can't take away a guy's best player. If you take away Vince Young, what did Mack Brown do? Take away Joe Burrow, Ed O doesn’t win a championship.
• I know what Dan Mullen has done, and I know what Jim Harbaugh has done. What in the hell have they done that Jimbo hasn't done? Mullen won a New Year's Six game, and Florida caught some criticism for that extension. The blowback shows how big the spotlight is on Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher.
• For the people that say A&M isn't relevant, you're hearing most of that from Texas, Oklahoma and some from LSU. They're whining fake tough guys.
• If you say a negative thing about Oklahoma, the Sooners go insane. Somebody asked me if I'd rather have Lincoln Riley or Jimbo at Texas A&M, at the answer is Jimbo. Riley is a good coach, but he coaches in a league where he has five times the talent as anybody he plays. They're both good coaches, but it's apples to oranges. Jimbo Fisher is a great fit at Texas A&M.
• Texas might be the most delusional fanbase in American sports. They're loud on Twitter. They get these talking points, and no matter how bad their team is or how good things are going in College Station, they cannot come off their talking points. How much money did they pay to fire Herman and hire Steve Sarkisian? We know what Sark has done. You want to boil it down to Fisher not winning a title in three years? You spent $75 million to hire Sarkisian.
• LSU is just scared. They had that great year and smoked the Aggies in 2019, but they've lost two of three to Texas A&M. Jimbo Fisher is the guy they've tried to hire twice. Ed Orgeron is a trainwreck of a coach, and they know it. They were hoping they could possibly hire Fisher at some point, and the Aggies just put up a wall around College Station.
• A day ago, what was the big cry coming out of Austin, Baton Rouge and Norman? That Fisher would be in Baton Rouge in a year. That was the battle cry from those three fanbases, and they wouldn't shut up about it. Today, 10 years and $90 million later, A&M is stupid for paying it? It's a constantly moving target.

[Chopper 17243]

FluChee: I knew the ags weren't good enough to be ranked 6th pre-season. They should've been 15th. <meaning, it's not fair that the college football media gets to make fun of TAMU for being ranked so highly only to finish outside of the top 25...the ags are always the victims of something or other>

Also FluChee, next sentence: It's only because of injuries and bad luck that we're not going to be playing Jawja for the conference championship.

Meanwhile the imbeciles on his website call for the ban hammer because they need it to help save their off-season. Where's tough guy Billie when they need him?

 

 

 

 

[Mr. Mojo Risin' 2205]

I don't believe you

[Redneck Mutha 8007]

BOMC that got aggy ranked so high in the preseason so that it would tank their season and ruin their streak of #1 recruiting classes.

[The Dog 44120]

1 hour ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

I still can't fucking believe they can't cuss on fucking SECRant. 

[UDontKnow 10447]

19 minutes ago, The Dog said:

I still can't fucking believe they can't cuss on fucking SECRant. 

Frick SECRant! 

[Pato del Muerto 52566]

29 minutes ago, Mr. Mojo Risin&#x27; said:

I don't believe you