Tell Me About Texas a&m

[Jiggy-Z 3437]

2 hours ago, immamac said:

they should have never fired Sherman - he should have just hired an OC and they would have been set. The O-Line he built there was dynasty level shit. 

I have discussed this very point with an aggy friend of mine.

I don't think Sherman would have had the same 1st year success as Sumlin, due to the unfamiliarity in the SEC with that offense Sumlin was running but they still would have been very good.

Longer term, Sherman's quality line recruiting and development would have paid dividends.

Sherman had some bad years at the beginning due to the craziness of the big 12 offenses and lack of existing talent but had them on the right track.

As usual, aggy failed to fully take advantage of the conference move and a "down" Texas program.

[Redneck Mutha 8009]

19 minutes ago, Deej said:

Which aggy then quietly funnels back into the football team. 

[T-shirt Sip 2107]

49 minutes ago, Deej said:

Which aggy then quietly funnels back into the football team. 

Or to Jimbo. 

[Dennis Taylor 18875]

15 hours ago, TOR said:

Now aggy is in that thread trying to claim the tweet was satire and they were totally not serious.

Satire requires self awareness so there is not a chance in hell that was not 1000% serious 

[DixonHur 11387]

34 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

As usual, aggy failed to fully take advantage of the conference move and a "down" Texas program.

Sadly, I'm not sure you need the quotes around the word down. 

Until last year we'd been wandering the desert for over a decade.

[Fud 9557]

Kingsbury isn't leaving LA to be a OC in a college town 

[Fud 9557]

Gerry- "According to sources, Texas A&M wide receiver Evan Stewart is a strong candidate to enter his name into the NCAA Transfer portal. The portal window opens December 4.

Stewart is not expected to travel with the Aggies to LSU this week.

According to sources, Alabama is considered the team to beat. Ohio State, Texas and Oregon, among others, are also expected to be under consideration.

The 6-foot, 175-pound former 5-star prospect hauled in 53 passes for 649 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2022. He has 38 receptions for 514 yards and four scores this season."

(A&M's portal window is already open, fwiw)

[Sir Ulrich 5191]

3 minutes ago, Fud said:

Gerry- "According to sources, Texas A&M wide receiver Evan Stewart is a strong candidate to enter his name into the NCAA Transfer portal. The portal window opens December 4.

Stewart is not expected to travel with the Aggies to LSU this week.

According to sources, Alabama is considered the team to beat. Ohio State, Texas and Oregon, among others, are also expected to be under consideration.

The 6-foot, 175-pound former 5-star prospect hauled in 53 passes for 649 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2022. He has 38 receptions for 514 yards and four scores this season."

(A&M's portal window is already open, fwiw)

He also mentioned on a live stream that Texas will be very selective. Then today said something about mature WRs but cleaned it up by saying in production terms. 

[Horn80 6131]

38 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

I have discussed this very point with an aggy friend of mine.

I don't think Sherman would have had the same 1st year success as Sumlin, due to the unfamiliarity in the SEC with that offense Sumlin was running but they still would have been very good.

Longer term, Sherman's quality line recruiting and development would have paid dividends.

Sherman had some bad years at the beginning due to the craziness of the big 12 offenses and lack of existing talent but had them on the right track.

As usual, aggy failed to fully take advantage of the conference move and a "down" Texas program.

I’ve thought this about Sherman for years. He was so close to getting aggy over the hump but the painful close loses blinded them to just how close they really were.  

[kevwun 15924]

Looks like Evan Stewart buying back in lasted 1 whole game.  He's gonna have a lot of fun adjusting to Nick Saban.

Edited November 21, 2023 by kevwun

[Dennis Taylor 18875]

14 minutes ago, Fud said:

Kingsbury isn't leaving LA to be a OC in a college town 

I was surprised he came back from Thailand. He knows those morons and there's not a chance in hell I'd go back and deal with them and recruiting BS if I was him

 

 

[Fud 9557]

Just now, Dennis Taylor said:

I was surprised he came back from Thailand. He knows those morons and there's not a chance in hell I'd go back and deal with them and recruiting BS if I was him

 

He has to coach to keep getting paid due to the NFL's "duty to mitigate" clause in coaches' contracts 

[DixonHur 11387]

11 minutes ago, Fud said:

Gerry- "According to sources, Texas A&M wide receiver Evan Stewart is a strong candidate to enter his name into the NCAA Transfer portal. The portal window opens December 4.

Stewart is not expected to travel with the Aggies to LSU this week.

According to sources, Alabama is considered the team to beat. Ohio State, Texas and Oregon, among others, are also expected to be under consideration.

The 6-foot, 175-pound former 5-star prospect hauled in 53 passes for 649 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman in 2022. He has 38 receptions for 514 yards and four scores this season."

(A&M's portal window is already open, fwiw)

Remember this?  Cook pulling a Carnac...Mr. Stewart, come on down.

 

[TrashMaster G 17612]

Would Stewart be a fit here? He strikes me as a douchebag primadonna.

[kevwun 15924]

I am pretty sure Sark wants nothing to do with Stewart after his recruitment.

[nnm 36657]

16 minutes ago, Fud said:

He has to coach to keep getting paid due to the NFL's "duty to mitigate" clause in coaches' contracts 

aggy boosters, GC, CFO, Board of Regents, Bjork, Sharp, et al:

”What the hell is that?”

[TrashMaster G 17612]

1 minute ago, nnm said:

aggy boosters, GC, CFO, Board of Regents, Bjork, Sharp, et al:

”What the hell is that?”

You left out the contract lawyers that graduated from agggy's fine law school.

[ClubWhatever 12158]

7 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I am pretty sure Sark wants nothing to do with Stewart after his recruitment.

And that's fair. 

[TOR 5817]

Quit on his high school team, quit on aggy, why in the world would Sark want someone that toxic in the room?

[DixonHur 11387]

10 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Would Stewart be a fit here? He strikes me as a douchebag primadonna.

Why do you say that?  I haven't followed his time at aggy closely, but I haven't seen any indications of him being any more of a prima donna than most other WRs.

I mean I'd have be frustrated with Jimbo's offense too if I were him.

9 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I am pretty sure Sark wants nothing to do with Stewart after his recruitment.

Again, why?  He decommitted.  So what, happens all the time and it was Sarks first year.  Sark didn't have an issue taking Ewers.

Plus, if anyone knows that personal growth is possible it's Sark.  I doubt he'd hold Stewart's recruitment against him.  He was an 18 yo kid being pulled in many directions.

I'd like to see Sark kick the tires if nothing else.

[DixonHur 11387]

6 minutes ago, TOR said:

Quit on his high school team, quit on aggy, why in the world would Sark want someone that toxic in the room?

Again, I'm unfamiliar with this backstory.  What happened in HS?

Aggy I get.  I would have quit on Dumbo too.

[Hagbard Celine 10926]

here's the wfaa text article:

Spoiler

Texas A&M Athletic Director Ross Bjork talks firing Jimbo Fisher and eating the $76M he's guaranteed

Bjork’s tenure in College Station, and the Aggies’ future, hinges on the decisions he'll make for TAMU's football program in the next few weeks.

Author: Chris Lawrence
Published: 9:32 PM CST November 20, 2023
Updated: 7:36 AM CST November 21, 2023
 

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — When he walks the concourse at Texas A&M’s football stadium, Athletic Director Ross Bjork sees a field of dreams.

"It really gives you goosebumps, thinking about what’s going to happen," he says.

Bjork envisions more than 100,000 screaming fans making Kyle Field shake as the Aggies host their first ever college football playoff game.

"People have no idea the magnitude of that," he says, "from restaurants to hotels…"

As he trails off, Bjork is reminded of the immediate reality, and unrelenting questions from from students, fans and boosters.

"They’ve invested," Bjork says. "And they’ve been wondering why? Why hasn’t this worked?"

The "this" in question is a major university with access to the most fertile recruiting ground in the country. Playing in the most successful conference in college football, the SEC. Being financially backed by the 12th Man Foundation, which has well over half a billion dollars in commitments to the athletic department.

"The expectation is we should be competing for a national championship," Bjork says. "That should be the goal. Can we win it every year? No one can. But let’s at least be in the conversation."

But with only two 10-win football seasons in the past 20 years, the Aggies haven’t even been the subject of small talk. Which is ultimately what got its head coach Jimbo Fisher fired earlier this month.

"It was my decision, my recommendation," Bjork says. "President [Mark] Walsh agreed. You take that to Chancellor [John] Sharp. He agreed."

That trio did so knowing A&M will owe Fisher $76 million for the remainder of his famously guaranteed contract.

Ask Bjork how the university can afford that record buyout, and he's adamant about not asking boosters to pay off someone they fired.

"I don’t believe it’s really prudent to go to a donor and ask them to buy a coach out of his contract," he says.

Fisher is due an initial payment of $19 million before January 12. Bjork says the Board of Regents authorized tapping the 12th Man Foundation to pay that part of what Fisher's owed: "We found money that was discretionary, that was flexible money, essentially in reserve accounts."

As for the other $57 million due over the next seven years?

"We’ve already found ways to reduce expenses, and we have some new revenues coming our way," Bjork says, noting the home games A&M will host against Texas, LSU and Notre Dame next year. "And then in the fall of ’24, we have a new TV agreement within the SEC. We’re going to be solely on ABC, ESPN.”

But even that’s not enough to cover $57 million, Bjork concedes. The buyout, he says, will force A&M to confront how much it’s been spending.

“We’ve had some excess,” he admits. “Our staff pool for the entire football program was over $13 million. Other programs in the SEC are in the $9 million to $10.5 million range.”

Bjorks says other sports are safe some seeing their budgets cuts, and says job cuts will be confined to the football program.

“Analysts, recruiting positions, operational positions,” Bjork says when asked where he says fat can be trimmed.

He also pointed out how the Aggies’ travel budget was out of sync with other teams.

"Our program under Coach Fisher was leaving [for away games] on Thursday nights," Bjork says. "And so that’s added hotel rooms, that’s added meals. Everybody else leaves on Friday for a road game."

In the end, A&M essentially paid $2.5 million for each one of Coach Fisher’s wins. And for the money still owed to him, you could run four cities in Texas for an entire year -- Melissa, Royse City, Crowley and Decatur.

One aspect of the contract will hamstring the university for years to come: After winning nine games and going to the Orange Bowl in 2021, A&M extended Fisher and kept the original parameters of his deal in place, fully guaranteeing his pay through 2031.

There’s no offset, or stipulation to reduce the amount, if Fisher gets another job. So even if he’s being paid millions of dollars to coach another team, Texas A&M will owe Jimbo Fisher every dime of that $76 million it promised to pay him.

"It was a mistake, as we look back on it," Bjork says. "There’s a lot of other buyouts where if coaches got let go today, would be more than what our buyout is. But those programs are winning. Ours didn’t work."

The athletic director says Texas A&M will not give its next coach a fully guaranteed deal.

“To me as we look forward, somebody has to earn that,” he says. “If they have a plan and really believe in themselves and believe that Texas A&M has all these resources, OK... let’s match that up with an incentive-based contract.”

With the college football playoff expanding to 12 teams next year, Bjork sees an opportunity to structure a deal based on specific benchmarks: “If you host or make the playoff, here’s a number; if you make the semi-finals, here’s a number. And so far, the feedback has been, ‘Absolutely. I know I can win a national championship at A&M.’”

Bjork frequently walks around Kyle Field during home games to get a feel for how the program is performing. He says having the season be all but over by the end of October is unacceptable.

“We can’t put ourselves in that position,” he says. “We had 103,000 people at our game against Mississippi State. I’m walking the field before the game and people from the visiting team were asking me, ‘Why are all these people here?’ To me, you have to have games that matter in November.”

Bjork’s tenure, and the Aggies’ future, hinges on his next hire. And with the transfer portal opening on December 4th, he confirms that a decision is imminent.

“Thanksgiving weekend, let’s see where we are,” he says. “Do we need to keep going because somebody’s playing? But by December 3 or 4, to me, we need clarity on who our next coach is.”

While he opposes asking donors to foot the bill for the past, Bjork is confident they’ll be ready to invest in what’s to come.

“One thing about Aggies: If they believe in a plan, if they believe in a vision and there’s some excitement, they will help the program financially,” he says.

 

"It was my decision, my recommendation," Bjork says. "President [Mark] Walsh agreed. You take that to Chancellor [John] Sharp. He agreed."

Dear Ross: whose decision was it to write a 10-year guaranteed deal?  Whose decision was it to extend during the rona?  Who insisted on insertion of the language about "coach recognizes his job is important...."

Who?

[nnm 36657]

10 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

"It was my decision, my recommendation," Bjork says. "President [Mark] Walsh agreed. You take that to Chancellor [John] Sharp. He agreed."

Those should be the first 3 fired. Along with GC and CFO. 

[NoName 16407]

14 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Again, I'm unfamiliar with this backstory.  What happened in HS?

i thought Evan Stewart got suspended and then "opted out" from Frisco Liberty? was it @closetojumping who shared some insight here or someone else back then? don't want to call him out if he doesn't remember but looks like he said it was being a general shithead + drug test failure maybe?

in his recruit thread @Scholz heard he was suspended for a week for claiming to have COVID to get out of practice, then he opted out a few days later.

[Scholz 11960]

Just now, NoName said:

i thought Evan Stewart got suspended and then "opted out" from Frisco Liberty? was it @closetojumping who shared some insight here or someone else back then? don't want to call him out if he doesn't remember but looks like he said it was being a general shithead + drug test failure maybe?

in his recruit thread @Scholz heard he was suspended for a week for claiming to have COVID to get out of practice, then he opted out a few days later.

Yes I can vouch.  I know a teacher at Frisco Liberty.  He's a flake and a quitter.  Hard pass.

[Vermin 3058]

He’s also made of glass.

[kevwun 15924]

He also committed and then decommitted from Texas inside of a month and lied to the coaching staff a lot.  He has been a pain in the ass at ATM and has now quit on 2 teams in a row.  Let someone else be the 3rd.

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by kevwun

[TrashMaster G 17612]

Any more questions, @DixonHur?

[Professor Chesney 499]

Evan Stewart’s blocking efforts make AD Mitchell look like Jordan Whittington in comparison.

[DixonHur 11387]

11 minutes ago, NoName said:

i thought Evan Stewart got suspended and then "opted out" from Frisco Liberty? was it @closetojumping who shared some insight here or someone else back then? don't want to call him out if he doesn't remember but looks like he said it was being a general shithead + drug test failure maybe?

in his recruit thread @Scholz heard he was suspended for a week for claiming to have COVID to get out of practice, then he opted out a few days later.

 

9 minutes ago, Scholz said:

Yes I can vouch.  I know a teacher at Frisco Liberty.  He's a flake and a quitter.  Hard pass.

I'm still down for Sark to kick the tires.  Losing AD, Worthy and Whitt is gonna hurt.  If he's grown at all I'd give him a shot.

IIRC, Blue and Ewers both skipped their senior seasons too, and Ewers was a bit of a prima donna when he got here.  I think the locker rooms is strong enough now to deal with players like that.

But I'm not terribly invested either way.

2 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Any more questions, @DixonHur?

Lol, no.  I think I'm done.

[jimmyjazz 46186]

Just now, DixonHur said:

I'm still down for Sark to kick the tires.  Losing AD, Worthy and Whitt is gonna hurt.  If he's grown at all I'd give him a shot.

Man, Sark has quickly managed to build a team full of dudes who DON'T quit on each other.  We don't need to invite poison into the locker room.

[kevwun 15924]

There will be other receivers in the portal you know.  We don't have to settle for a turd.

[Scholz 11960]

I'm not worried about WR.  We've got dudes and Sark has shown he knows how to work the portal.  Receivers want to play in his offense and we've got QBs with draw.

[Pimphand 5908]

1 minute ago, Scholz said:

I'm not worried about WR.  We've got dudes and Sark has shown he knows how to work the portal.  Receivers want to play in his offense and we've got QBs with draw.

Yeah honestly I'm not sure what aggy affords us in the portal.  They have some front 7 defensive talent that could be interesting but we need DB support and none of their WR move the needle enough (except maybe Moose) to overlook the issues and the rest of their offense is a hard pass. 

[HillCountryBevo 231]

How should we feel if aggy hired Jeff Fisch?

[ousux 5602]

I am pretty sure Sark wants nothing to do with Stewart after his recruitment.

I can understand that, but do you really want him going to an SEC team we'll have to play? I'd rather they make amends and have him come join Cook next season.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18584]

Counterpoint: Nothing would induce more aggie misery than Evan Stewart scoring the winning touchdown for Texas in College Station.

[Pimphand 5908]

4 minutes ago, HillCountryBevo said:

How should we feel if aggy hired Jedd Fisch?

Point and laugh that they hired SS Rum Runner's successor to be Bilbo's successor.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Pimphand

[kevwun 15924]

4 minutes ago, ousux said:

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

I am pretty sure Sark wants nothing to do with Stewart after his recruitment.

I can understand that, but do you really want him going to an SEC team we'll have to play? I'd rather they make amends and have him come join Cook next season.

His success there is far from assured.  He has to make it through Spring Ball first and not end up on Saban's shit list.  I think we can do better.  Most people had no clue who Mitchell was this time last year.

Edited November 21, 2023 by kevwun

[Thatguy 8876]

11 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

Yeah honestly I'm not sure what aggy affords us in the portal.  They have some front 7 defensive talent that could be interesting but we need DB support and none of their WR move the needle enough (except maybe Moose) to overlook the issues and the rest of their offense is a hard pass. 

This where I'm at. Their front is solid and they haven't even gotten coached by Hop In the Portal yet.

[closetojumping 62879]

3 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Counterpoint: Nothing would induce more aggie misery than Evan Stewart scoring the winning touchdown for Texas in College Station.

It's not a good counterpoint, outside of humor. 

The "Evan Stewart is committing to/decommitting from/going to sign with/transferring to Texas" saga has been hashed 1000 times on the recruiting board. It's tiring. Suffice it to say, the guy is a quitter, a drama queen, only out for himself, made of glass, and big time into weed. He pushed Jimbo Fisher around like he had his hand up his ass. I don't want that shitbag any closer to Texas than he is right now. Alabama is looking to overpay in the portal this cycle, apparently, and Stewart is a target. I'm hoping he eats up a chunk of their budget and then pulls his bullshit there and attempts to burn the whole program down because he's not getting his way.

Outside of QB, WR is the most talent rich position in the portal every single year. I doubt that ever changes because of the prima donna/high demand nature of the position. Texas will be one of the magnets for the best WRs out there. Let Stewart go take a heaving dump on someone else's future. 

[Navin R. Johnson 726]

Their front 7 rack up stats against below .500 teams and FCS teams. What have they done against winning teams?

Edited November 21, 2023 by Navin R. Johnson

[Beau Vine 54442]

4 hours ago, closetojumping said:

He's whip smart and a very likeable person, but he's also ... a full-blown red ass.

[utee94 15865]

*thayer

[Vermin 3058]

14 minutes ago, HillCountryBevo said:

How should we feel if aggy hired Jeff Fisch?

It don’t make a shit.

[closetojumping 62879]

2 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

It's a paradox, no doubt.

[Pimphand 5908]

7 minutes ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

Their front 7 rack up stats against below .500 teams and FCS teams. What have they done against winning teams?

Cooper's forced fumble, 11 tackles, and 3 sacks against Alabama was just meh right?  Like I get talking shit just maybe get closer to the target

[kevwun 15924]

He's portaling to the NFL though.

[Pimphand 5908]

Just now, kevwun said:

He's portaling to the NFL though.

No doubt

[Navin R. Johnson 726]

1 minute ago, Pimphand said:

Cooper's forced fumble, 11 tackles, and 3 sacks against Alabama was just meh right?  Like I get talking shit just maybe get closer to the target

Cooper is gone next year. And in the meantime he will enjoy watching his beloved aggy teammates play in the Texas Bowl.