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Texas Recruiting Notes 2024: Bags Don't Beat Bankrolls


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18 minutes ago, Foosters said:

Imagine wanting to play for this team

 

 

 

From the LSU 247 article on the incidents during practice ... this cracked me up.  The guy actually thought that was the expression!

Ha ha ha ha ....  🤣  🤣  🤣  🤣 

 

image.thumb.png.03207f9d2aa125601ba09fd7367c7b68.png

 

 

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59 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Hudson talk pops up every now and then. Seems like for zero reasons other than $9.95ers ginning things up during lulls.

the longer he drags it out, the higher % chance he goes to a non TTU school i assume?

if his composite # was say #30 instead of #6 i think they wouldn't write about him much. but as #6 overall and #2 in Texas they know they are going to get asked a ton if they don't say anything and it ups the word count, so....

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8 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

image.gif.05f0a5b6860b2a5f519f5ca7843db9a0.gif

Since I looked it up,

Brouhaha, “excited public interest; the clamor attending some sensational event,” comes from Medieval French brou, ha, ha, an exclamation used by characters representing the devil in 16th-century drama.

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2 hours ago, Getafix said:

 

Hoo, boy.

So, ESPN has a list of CFB's biggest underachievers.

We are in Tier II: CFP no-shows.  Also in that tier are USC and Miami. Not great, Bob, but "CFP no-show" doesn't sound like the worst slam. 

Topping the list, second year in a row?  Your Texas A&M Aggies.

 

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Ranking college football's biggest underachievers

ESPN

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Ranking college football's biggest underachievers

ESPN

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Aug 7, 2023, 07:00 AM ET

 

Retaining the No. 1 spot in college football is normally a great thing.

Not in these rankings. And not for Texas A&M.

No team ever wants to be No. 1 in college football's underachiever tiers, the annual preseason exercise examining the programs that do the least with the most. Keeping the top spot is especially painful, but it has happened with the Aggies.

Georgia was the inspiration for the initial rankings. Coach Kirby Smart's team proceeded to win it all in 2021 and repeated last year, cementing itself as college football's preeminent program.

Texas A&M's placement atop last year's rankings came with the caveat: Look at Georgia! Just be like Georgia! The Aggies had signed the nation's No. 1 recruiting class, headlined by four defensive line recruits rated in ESPN's top 7 nationally, several standout perimeter players and Conner Weigman, ESPN's No. 27 overall prospect. Coach Jimbo Fisher had enough to challenge in the SEC West and build on an 8-4 season.

Instead, the Aggies regressed and went 5-7, logging their first losing record since 2008 and Fisher's first full losing season as a head coach (he left 5-6 Florida State for Texas A&M in 2017 and the Seminoles went on to finish 7-6). There's no choice but to leave Texas A&M right at the top.

The list includes other repeat selections, as certain programs, despite clear advantages, continue to spin their wheels or backslide. The objective is to identify programs that aren't capitalizing on long-term edges such as history, location, fan/booster base and financial resources, and new ones such as NIL clout and media rights revenue.

Much like the first two versions, I've divided teams into six different tiers. Unlike Georgia and Texas A&M, not every team that appears is a realistic national championship contender. Some shouldn't expect to be in the conference title mix very often. But all should be expecting and achieving more.

To maintain consistency, teams are evaluated primarily on the past 20 seasons (2003 to 2022) with extra emphasis on the last 5 to 7. Teams that have made the College Football Playoff are exempt -- TCU wouldn't appear anyway, but the Horned Frogs are officially clear -- as are national champions from the past 15 seasons (2008 to 2022).


Tier I: Aggies keep top spot

Texas A&M: After the 2020 season, Texas A&M appeared to be on its way under Fisher. The Aggies had navigated an SEC-only schedule to record their first AP top-5 finish since 2012. Financial clout has never been the issue in Aggieland, and few programs were better positioned for the NIL era.

Instead, Texas A&M went 13-11 overall and 6-10 in SEC play over the past two seasons. Despite one of the nation's strongest NIL collectives and an excellent recruiting location less than two hours from Houston in southeast Texas, the Aggies haven't translated success to the field. Last season, they dropped a Week 2 home game to Appalachian State and endured a five-game losing streak before finishing with an upset over LSU.


Fisher might have been fired if not for a very A&M-like contract that makes a change financially prohibitive for the immediate future. Instead, he fired offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey and brought in Bobby Petrino. While the move indicates Fisher will take a less hands-on role with the unit, it sets up a potentially combustible combination of two headstrong coaches who have built their reputations on calling offensive plays and not being second-guessed (at least internally).

Texas A&M has no national titles since 1939, no conference titles since 1998, no BCS championship or CFP appearances and no consecutive AP top-10 finishes since a streak of three straight from 1992 to 1994.

Maybe 2023 is the season for a Texas A&M breakthrough. The defense is undeniably talented, especially up front. If the offense can reach the 30-point mark more often -- it happened just twice last season -- and Weigman takes off under Petrino, the Aggies could make a push in the SEC West, where Alabama seems a bit shaky and LSU is in the second year of a new regime.

"I still think they're a ticking time bomb, but if they win early, and they've got an easy schedule to start, it sets up," an SEC West assistant coach said. "They didn't have quarterback play last year, but Weigman kept coming along, and I thought he was a good player at the end of the year. Did [Fisher] right the ship? If he did, they're going to be good."

Texas A&M's deep-pocketed boosters have and will continue to step up financially. While most schools wouldn't entertain firing Fisher any time soon, given the guaranteed money on his contract (around $77 million), Texas A&M can spend its way out of trouble. There are also two seemingly A-list coaching candidates within the state in TCU's Sonny Dykes and UTSA's Jeff Traylor.

The urgency in Aggieland couldn't be any higher for a program that has failed to reach its potential for 30 years.

Tier II: CFP no-shows

USC: The Trojans are close to removing themselves from this tier, but their futility during the CFP era has stood out. A program that claims 11 national championships and eight Heisman Trophy winners, including quarterback Caleb Williams last season, has not won college football's biggest prize since 2004. Coach Lincoln Riley nearly guided the Trojans to their first CFP appearance in his first season before a deflating loss to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game. USC has one more year of Williams (barring injury) and one more year in the Pac-12 before a seismic move to the Big Ten. History and location have always favored USC, and the program is finally stepping up financially in areas such as facilities and NIL. Athletic director Mike Bohn's messy departure adds to a period of administrative turbulence USC must fix with his replacement. But the team is gathering top-tier talent, both through recruiting and especially the transfer portal. USC's lukewarm vibe during the latter part of coach Clay Helton's tenure, which resembled the pre-Pete Carroll era, has vanished under Riley. But the team needs to make its CFP debut soon.

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Texas: Since former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger proclaimed the program was back after a 2019 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, the Longhorns are 28-20, just ahead of Army and Toledo in overall win percentage (46th nationally). During the same span, Baylor and Kansas State have won the Big 12, while TCU made the CFP with a first-year coach (Dykes) and a team that had gone 5-7 the previous season. Big 12 coaches considered Texas to be the league's most talented team in 2022. Although the Longhorns pushed Alabama in Week 2 and walloped Oklahoma 49-0, they also dropped five games by seven points or fewer and put up just 10 points at home against TCU. The Texas brand hasn't matched the on-field product for a very long time, and the behind-the-scenes politics with a large and influential booster base adds to the challenge. But coach Steve Sarkisian once again has the Big 12's best roster, and a league title -- and possible CFP appearance -- seems essential before jumping to the SEC. Texas has had just one national title since 1970 and only two conference titles since 1996.


Miami: The past 20 years have been especially sobering for the U. Miami is 152-99 overall with no conference titles since claiming a shared Big East crown in 2003. The CFP era hasn't brought much more of note, as the Hurricanes have no AP top-10 finishes and just three top 25-finishes since 2009. Miami has an incredible championship history and a location near many high-level recruits. The school lacks the massive fan/donor base as others on this list, though, and only recently started to make the necessary investments under coach Mario Cristobal. But Cristobal's first season flopped, as the team went 5-7 with five blowout losses, and the staff largely turned over in the winter. Cristobal will have time to course-correct. He's an elite and tireless recruiter, and Miami has become a notable NIL player, although the recent news around booster John Ruiz is concerning. A bigger concern is Miami has gone through several coaches with ties to the school and/or city and not resembled a consistent national contender.

 

 

I will never understand why "What if Mississippi State was weirder but had more money" is considered a sleeping giant, but you'll never see me complain when they get made fun of for wasting their money. 

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1 minute ago, RollingPresidential said:

I will never understand why "What if Mississippi State was weirder but had more money" is considered a sleeping giant, but you'll never see me complain when they get made fun of for wasting their money. 

because of this

Black Outline Of Texas Map Stock Illustration - Download Image Now - Texas,  Outline, Shape - iStock

 

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4 minutes ago, Leanderman said:

"aggy actually cares desperately about sports and winning at football in particular."

I can see that when you post pictures of their "Hall of Champions".

JFC is this a bit?

Every post lives at the intersection of technical illiteracy and inane one-liners, so you're either futureman's Bob Hope adjacent sock, or you're a contemporary of Bob Hope.

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3 hours ago, Foosters said:

Imagine wanting to play for this team

 

3 hours ago, perfectchaos007 said:

Sounds like a perfectly normal non-toxic “culture” they have there in the Baton Rouge 

A lot of old-school coaches felt that fall camp really didn't get started until there was a fight or two.

There's a thin line between having a "toxic culture" and having a bunch of choir boys who don't hit and compete.

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47 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Mississippi State hasn’t had 50,000 undergraduates every year for decades, or oil money, or proximity to major in-state metro areas, or [insert everything else about living in Texas vs. Mississippi].

Aggy has one of the biggest alumni bases in the country, a ton of money, and is more or less the favored school for most Houston area and East Texas people.  And unlike other underachievers on paper like Cal or UCLA, aggy actually cares desperately about sports and winning at football in particular.

It should be almost impossible for them to have accomplished so little in sports, but that’s where the “weird” part comes into play.  Doing dumb shit with supreme confidence and inevitably having it all backfire spectacularly is part of their culture.  

Get the fuck out of here with the bolded. That's just an ignorant statement. They're not the favored school anywhere in this state outside of BCS. Katy/Cypress they might have a strong plurality, but that isn't Houston and there are a shit ton of Texas and LSU fans in those places to make sure the notion of a majority even in those burbs is never a reality. 

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4 hours ago, Foosters said:

Imagine wanting to play for this team

 

4 hours ago, perfectchaos007 said:

Sounds like a perfectly normal non-toxic “culture” they have there in the Baton Rouge 

I mean, let's not pretend this board wouldn't be circle jerking about having "gangstas" reminiscent of the 05 team vs good kids from good families if this happened at at Texas.

1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

It should be almost impossible for them to have accomplished so little in sports

Never really thought about it this way, but it's true. And also really funny.

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1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

Mississippi State hasn’t had 50,000 undergraduates every year for decades, or oil money, or proximity to major in-state metro areas, or [insert everything else about living in Texas vs. Mississippi].

Aggy has one of the biggest alumni bases in the country, a ton of money, and is more or less the favored school for most Houston area and East Texas people.  And unlike other underachievers on paper like Cal or UCLA, aggy actually cares desperately about sports and winning at football in particular.

It should be almost impossible for them to have accomplished so little in sports, but that’s where the “weird” part comes into play.  Doing dumb shit with supreme confidence and inevitably having it all backfire spectacularly is part of their culture.  

Sigh. I won’t criticize your notion that Houston is overrun with aggys. Shit, CDC said the same thing to me when I introduced myself to him. That said, I believe Houston has the most living Texas Exes outside of Austin. 
 

When you see aggy inside the Beltway they’re usually driving to work. You could drive miles and miles in River Oaks, West U, Bellaire, Tangelwood, and Memorial and never see an aggy flag. 
 

They run the Rodeo. I won’t even try to debate that. My committee is probably the lightest on aggys and it’s still 90% gomers. 

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2 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

Mississippi State hasn’t had 50,000 undergraduates every year for decades, or oil money, or proximity to major in-state metro areas, or [insert everything else about living in Texas vs. Mississippi].

Aggy has one of the biggest alumni bases in the country, a ton of money, and is more or less the favored school for most Houston area and East Texas people.  And unlike other underachievers on paper like Cal or UCLA, aggy actually cares desperately about sports and winning at football in particular.

It should be almost impossible for them to have accomplished so little in sports, but that’s where the “weird” part comes into play.  Doing dumb shit with supreme confidence and inevitably having it all backfire spectacularly is part of their culture.  

I guess. Anecdotal but I've lived on the East Coast for 12 years now and most people I deal with know UT and couldn't tell you where A&M is.

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Time to move on, no shame in losing a DE to LSU.
Hopefully one of Vasek, Tapp, Bledsoe, Burke, Walton etc can develop into decent pass rusher. 

Time to move on?? What the fuck??

Even if he says LSU, we push and flip him by signing day. We are about to shine on the field and LSU will blow once again under a coach that doesn’t fit their program.
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1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

I said Houston area for a reason.  They may not have a plurality in River Oaks, but the fanbase for college sports in every fucking suburb is aggy central. Of course there are also lots of Texas fans because it’s a giant metro area, but it’s more aggy on the whole.

aggy definitely permeates East Texas.  I know ctj thinks he’s defending our honor by saying aggy only owns BCS, but I’m more than happy to (accurately) give aggy credit for Vidor, Jasper, and all the other lovely rural towns of East Texas.  I’m not claiming those for UT.  There are plenty of athletes from East Texas, though.

Of course aggy isn’t a national brand - the whole point is they’re weirdos who never win anything of consequence.  But they’re the program who has to go to the greatest weird ass idiotic lengths to avoid said winning.

North East Texas (Tyler/Longview) is absolutely not primarily atm country. I’d say Baylor is just as well-represented. And UT’s contingent is at least as big, if not bigger. I can’t speak for Lufkin/Nacogdoches or places further south.

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35 minutes ago, Chili dog said:

North East Texas (Tyler/Longview) is absolutely not primarily atm country. I’d say Baylor is just as well-represented. And UT’s contingent is at least as big, if not bigger. I can’t speak for Lufkin/Nacogdoches or places further south.

Second that. The Academy here loves to pump aggy gear but the shit just sits on the shelves.  The UT gear is always picked over and sparse. During the jff days there were plenty of aggy flags flying and also after significant (lucky) wins. But they pull that shit down as soon as the tides turn. Frontrunners all the way around here. 

The UT shirts, flags etc stay strong year round. 

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12 hours ago, Getafix said:

 

 

 

From the LSU 247 article on the incidents during practice ... this cracked me up.  The guy actually thought that was the expression!

Ha ha ha ha ....  🤣  🤣  🤣  🤣 

 

image.thumb.png.03207f9d2aa125601ba09fd7367c7b68.png

 

 

Definitely would prefer a brew ha-ha personally.  Beer more than coffee.

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  • texifornia changed the title to Texas Recruiting Notes 2024: Bags Don't Beat Bankrolls

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