(Not meant to be pedantic toward you, @Dbeasyβjust general observations prompted by your post).
Of course DeBoer wouldnβt be interested in TAMU. Would Harbaugh leave Michigan for Cal? Of course not. Itβs a significant step down professionally. Harbaughβs only going to be tempted by a step up (NFL). Similarly, DeBoer wouldnβt be interested in a significant step down (even if it did pay well). Heβs at a better program than TAMU currently, and not many jobs would be interesting to him. Blue bloods are probably the only college gigs that could pull him away from an outstanding gig that he already has.
As many have pointed out, Aggies would be much happier and better adjusted in life if they would just accept their place in the academic and athletic pecking order.
They are a decent regional school with a good engineering program, marginal programs in other disciplines, a decent little regional network, and a decent ROTC program. They are a middle of the road athletic program. If they just accepted that, and enjoyed 8-4 seasons, with the occasional upset of a top team, they would be happy.
But theyβve convinced themselves that theyβre on an academic par with MIT, with an alumni network like Yale, with a military program like West Point, and an athletic program like Alabama in football, Duke in basketball, and UT in baseball.
A chronic mismatch of self perception/expectations on one hand and reality on the other hand. No wonder theyβre so unhappy and frustrated all the time.