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Tell Me About Texas a&m


MrPhlegm

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Talked to an aggy friend yesterday evening. His thoughts.
Everyone in CFB at the time was convinced that Jimbo was a great hire. It wasn't a bad decision.
The firing of Jimbo shows aggy commitment to excellence.
He expects the next hire to be big.
Elko and Traylor are beneath aggy. It will be an Urban type hire. Also, Traylor is a tsip hack.
 

The funny thing is in and of itself Jimbo wasn’t some spectacular hire but he was more than fine.

It was the cult of aggy with the ridiculous contract, the failure to acknowledge the warts (almost all hires have them to some degree) and the irrational exuberance that is what took a fine hire and made it disastrous.

Everything aggy touches dies. They will do it again.
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4 minutes ago, CoTex said:

If I'm leaving UW for CS, it is because I got moneywhipped.  If the money is even, daughter coming for softball, and I'm prospering.  No move.

If however, they came through with some blockbuster deal - guaranteed money for 10 years, no offset, all the gravy a coach could ever ask for, I'm moving wherever.  The question then becomes, "would the leadership of a large university ever do something like that?"  Would they ever be so desperate to win that they would agree to a lopsided deal like that?  I guess we'll see.

You mean again, right?

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17 minutes ago, Sir Ulrich said:

They are only going to make around 30 million for the first few years and they don't have knight to fill the gap. Not saying he would take the a&m job but there is a huge gap in the UW money and what the ags can offer

Gotcha. But how much are they making in their current PAC deal? I assume less than $30. And they know that number is jumping to $50+ in the future.

edit: think I fuond the answer - they get $37mm total from the PAC-12 (TV and other stuff) and expect $45mm in year 1 of the Big 10. Then $62mm in a couple years.

Big Ten: $62 million for Oregon and Washington if they join Big Ten? Analyzing the current conference distribution value in Pac 4 (sportskeeda.com)

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5 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Wtf am I looking at?

Paywall.  Got the article?

Weird. It was unrestricted on mine.

Here ya go:

Texas A&M football will pay any price, but winning can’t be bought

Quote

Usually, there is a logic to money. It’s a marker, a commonly understood measure of value, established by the consent of those who exchange it. It signals what’s important to people, what they treasure or need. But Texas A&M’s preposterous buyout of Jimbo Fisher, paying him around $76 million not to coach, robs dollars of meaning. It detaches them from any rationale or coherence, renders them mere tokens. Things that should mean the most are valued the least, and coin has all the worth of tiddlywinks.

The fevered members of the 12th Man Foundation have been hurling their oil-and-gas-sodden bucks at the Aggies football program for decades without buying a thing of real significance. They have built a locker room with recessed LED lighting; provided every comfort for their star-studded recruiting classes, including air conditioning on the practice field; and made their coach the highest paid in his realm. But none of it has made Texas A&M a factor in the championship race.

Why? A Texas fan would say, “Because they’re Aggies.” A more dispassionate answer would be that surfeit doesn’t make success. When you break the meaning of money, what you’re liable to get in return is … nothing.

Money in this era is really an abstraction, a “vocabulary of price,” according to Harvard political economist Christine Desan, author of a history of our banking system, “Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism.” Its value is no longer realistically attached to precious material such as gold and silver. Paper money is multiplied and circulated by profit-seeking banks, which have “effectively emptied it of living content.” It has become “more interesting for what it does than is,” Desan asserts. And Texas A&M is an interesting case study of what it can — and can’t — do.

The broad outrage and derision directed at Texas A&M for its buyout of Fisher are not just based in the collective sense that a public university has such badly disordered priorities but in a perception that there is something broadly destructive in its behavior, something … bankrupting. In 2021, the school gave Fisher a ludicrous contract extension, a 10-year deal fully guaranteed at $9 million per year. By 2031, Fisher will have been paid $118.1 million for six years of fair-to-middling work, with a record of 45-25. It’s more than triple any other college coaching buyout, ever.

Money is a measure of respect, among other things. But there is something inversely contemptuous and disrespectful in Texas A&M’s profligacy, a suggestion that a college football team is no more or less a worthwhile pursuit than any other rich man’s ridiculously expensive status acquisition, such as his yacht size. Many of the school’s donors and regents, the people who hired and fired Fisher, are self-made successes in oil and gas. Yet when it comes to Texas A&M football, they invoke none of the principles that actually make for success on a team or in any other organization — such as fiscal integrity, stable values and alignment around central cultural tenets. Instead, they lose all discipline.

That’s the sure sign that they don’t respect the game or find much actual instructive or philosophical value in it. One of the things football can teach is organizational dynamics. Texas A&M apparently has learned nothing.

When you break the meaning of “value,” it creates a cascade of deteriorating values, organizationally. Fisher was paid so much that it skewed perspectives across the board. Given the size of his contract, he didn’t dare go about this in any other way but the one modeled by his employers: He had to scoop every available blue-chipper to show he was “winning” in the recruiting wars. How many times was his instinct or inclination to go for a lesser-rated but desirous kid smothered by the specter of contractual and donor expectations? How much did he forfeit chemistry for a surfeit of talent? According to ESPN, the Aggies signed 70 players ranked in the top 300 under Fisher, behind only Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State, and in 2022, they had the No. 1 recruiting class overall. And yet.

A contract such as that bleeds into everything, not just recruiting but handling grievances, allocating resources, motivating — and diagnosing problems and deciding what to do about them. It can rob you of decisional flexibility. The people who pay you tend to think they can offer you suggestions or even tell you what to do. Pretty soon, your ability to make your own assessments and cope with crisis can be compromised by the wishes of others. Is that why Fisher’s coaching performance deteriorated so significantly after his 2021 extension, despite strong recruiting? The Aggies went just 19-15 after he signed it.

“There was something just not clicking to provide confidence for everyone in the program,” Texas A&M Athletic Director Ross Bjork said. “You have to adapt; you have to evolve. I’m not going to say whether he did or didn’t, but it didn’t work.”

But it sure paid.

 

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1 hour ago, 89Horn said:

I wish I had more aggy friends like this.  It would add just a little more unexpected joy to life.  Unfortunately, I have a 2%er aggy brother in law and a few other well-educated, intelligent, rationally thinking aggy friends that went to the school solely for an engineering degree.

My Cousin's husband is a full blown koolaid drinker. He's a great guy, but man, they cray. 

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4 minutes ago, alincoln said:

I wouldn't say that is their biggest issue.  The disturbingly bizarre "cult"ure together with being located in an absolute shithole are their biggest issues.

Yeah, but how much of the "cult"ure is built upon their insane drive to set themselves apart from and above their big bro: "varsity"?

I'm from a family of ags. The answer is "all of it."

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Just now, Bateshorn said:

I'm Sure DeBeor could make it work for a Fisher level deal, but I can not over emphasize how amazing the UW campus is.  The main library hall is legitimately one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever been:

Reading Room — UW Libraries

I literally wanted us to join the Pac-16 back in 2011 just so we could get trips to play UW ever 4 years.  Also getting a trip to either Phoenix or LA every year wasn't going to be bad either.  Now we get to go to less shitty destinations than the BDF but still very meh in terms of would I ever go there on purpose if it wasn't for football....

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1 minute ago, Pimphand said:

I literally wanted us to join the Pac-16 back in 2011 just so we could get trips to play UW ever 4 years.  

UDub is currently my daughter's No. 1 choice and I'm hoping she goes there next year.  I've taken a tour of the campus with her, and would love to see a game at Husky Stadium.

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3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

UDub is currently my daughter's No. 1 choice and I'm hoping she goes there next year.  I've taken a tour of the campus with her, and would love to see a game at Husky Stadium.

I was up there on my motorcycle in 2016 for the Stanford game where they ripped the doors of McCaffery's squad and outside of getting a parking ticket (which I never paid) I had an absolute blast.

They celebrated the 1991 Emtman squad's 25th anniversary at halftime and I felt really old right about then.

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25 minutes ago, alincoln said:

I wouldn't say that is their biggest issue.  The disturbingly bizarre "cult"ure together with being located in an absolute shithole are their biggest issues.

I'd say it's both - the weirdo cult and that their ENTIRE football identity is represented by a massive inferiority complex with Texas.

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23 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:


The funny thing is in and of itself Jimbo wasn’t some spectacular hire but he was more than fine.

It was the cult of aggy with the ridiculous contract, the failure to acknowledge the warts (almost all hires have them to some degree) and the irrational exuberance that is what took a fine hire and made it disastrous.

Everything aggy touches dies. They will do it again.

I 100% agree with the premise but Jimbo was a disaster hire, his failure at FSU near the end, his quiet quitting, his OL collapse, the players he picked sucked.

All of it was leading to the inevitable failure we are all expecting.

Aside from Kingsbury there is not a single glaring failure in the list of coaches they are looking at.

But yeah aggie culture would fuck up even Saban.

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34 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I'll believe Baylor is open when I see it.

Baylor and the BMDs just dropped/committed $90 million for the new football center and $125 million for the new basketball arena (city ponied up $65 million of the total cost)

they cant keep Dave at this point. he's toast.

i know folks who know folks who say he's toast and that's been a decision made a few weeks ago.

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25 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

You mean again, right?

Irony (from Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía ' dissimulation, feigned ignorance' ), in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event in which what on the surface appears to be the case or to be expected differs radically from what is actually the case.

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33 minutes ago, Sir Ulrich said:

Listened to Billy on Texags radio. Here are some basic notes 

  • Schumann won't be a candidate. Not on the Lanning/Smart track right now

yeah, he's Kirby's right hand man, has been for years since he was a GA, was Kirby's first hire at Georgia and isn't on the Kirby Smart career path? lol

that's a "we called, they said after the season and we said nevermind" response if i've ever seen one.

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14 minutes ago, South Austin said:

UDub is currently my daughter's No. 1 choice and I'm hoping she goes there next year.  I've taken a tour of the campus with her, and would love to see a game at Husky Stadium.

UW is great, but just like Texas, certain majors are very difficult for OOS applicants. I hope she gets accepted. 

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2 minutes ago, South Austin said:

If that truly is the case, I can see Baylor hiring Traylor.  He's about the best that program can get right now.

The best birthday present I can think of would be aggy dicking around with other big name candidates because Traylor is "beneath them," being turned down by everyone, including Elko, and then they turn their eyes back to Traylor and he's already in green and gold. 

Animated GIF

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1 hour ago, Sir Ulrich said:

ERob could end up being a real candidate especially if they beat LSU. 

This scenario would be really fun to watch.  Hire ace recruiter based on one game and some "players love him" vibes.  Don't forget "he loves aggieland".   Then find out later if he actually has any real HC skills.  Profit.  

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Just now, ClubWhatever said:

This scenario would be really fun to watch.  Hire ace recruiter based on one game and some "players love him" vibes.  Don't forget "he loves aggieland".   Then find out later if he actually has any real HC skills.  Profit.  

If this is at all a realistic possibility, I'm going to be rooting like a motherfucker for aggy against LSU.

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55 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

I'm Sure DeBeor could make it work for a Fisher level deal, but I can not over emphasize how amazing the UW campus is.  The main library hall is legitimately one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever been:

Reading Room — UW Libraries

That looks like a converted Cathedral. Did it start as a Catholic school?

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3 hours ago, F250 said:

Talked to an aggy friend yesterday evening. His thoughts.

Everyone in CFB at the time was convinced that Jimbo was a great hire. It wasn't a bad decision.

The firing of Jimbo shows aggy commitment to excellence.

He expects the next hire to be big.

Elko and Traylor are beneath aggy. It will be an Urban type hire. Also, Traylor is a tsip hack.

 

Does he, by any chance, ride the short bus to work?

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1 hour ago, Sir Ulrich said:

Listened to Billy on Texags radio. Here are some basic notes 

  • Lanning's total buyout is closer to $50 million all in
  • Kiffin wants the job but they don't want him (LOL)
  • Schumann won't be a candidate. Not on the Lanning/Smart track right now
  • DeBoer will get a real look but not sure if they could hire him (he has a $12 million buyout).
  • ERob could end up being a real candidate especially if they beat LSU. 

Need a giant earthmover to cut through this load of BS.

Kiffin wants the job but they won't offer. LOLOLOLOLOL

ERob could end up being a real candidate.  If they fired their $125mm man just to hire an assistant--WOW.  

Best case for the lulz would be they screw the pooch and have to hire ERob because they spent so much time chasing Dabo that UW ties up DeBoer, Duke ties up Elko, Traylor goes RapeU, while Patterson goes Pig.

Icing on the case would be if Freshwater and Bilbo agree to a $1/year contract where Bilbo only has to work one week a year--the year preceding the aggy game.  Freshwater trolling aggy by having them pay $7.5mm every year for an analyst that helps to beat them would be the ultimate schadenfreude.  Just hook it to my veins.  

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6 minutes ago, South Austin said:

If this is at all a realistic possibility, I'm going to be rooting like a motherfucker for aggy against LSU.

This. Especially because the even more likely scenario after he wins is this:

-big money ags realize he has no experience as HC and get cold feet.

-eRob gets pissed and leaves

-90% of players and recruits bail on the ags

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7 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

The replies to that are absolute gold.  It's remarkable that twitter randos are more well plugged into reality than the aggy chancellor who somehow still has a job...

JNVS was also responsible for this. His stupidity is truly mind blowing . About 1:25 for Jimbo but the whole thing is unbelievable.  "Here Coach Carthel, is a $12 plaque for actually achieving something, which this system is certainly unaccustomed to. And for you Jimbo .."

 

 

 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

JNVS was also responsible for this. His stupidity is truly mind blowing . About 1:25 for Jimbo but the whole thing is unbelievable.  "Here Coach Carthel, is a $12 plaque for actually achieving something, which this system is certainly unaccustomed to. And for you Jimbo .."

 

 

 

To Bilbo's credit he didn't look too pleased and was in a hurry to GFO after shaking the bozo's hand......

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1 hour ago, Surly Bevo said:


The funny thing is in and of itself Jimbo wasn’t some spectacular hire but he was more than fine.

It was the cult of aggy with the ridiculous contract, the failure to acknowledge the warts (almost all hires have them to some degree) and the irrational exuberance that is what took a fine hire and made it disastrous.

Everything aggy touches dies. They will do it again.

Does aggy not understand that they can’t hire a coach that “fits “, someone who knows all about aggy and their glorious traditions?  Bringing in such a “fit “ means you remain in the same old rut……mediocre.  They have to hire someone  who is 180 degrees different than themselves, doesn’t give a shite about their traditions, tells them that he wants girl cheerleaders and no milkmen on the field…so, I’m not sure that coach exists.

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10 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

JNVS was also responsible for this. His stupidity is truly mind blowing . About 1:25 for Jimbo but the whole thing is unbelievable.  "Here Coach Carthel, is a $12 plaque for actually achieving something, which this system is certainly unaccustomed to. And for you Jimbo .."

 

 

 

 

 

Jimbo: “I hope I fill in a couple.”

Narrator: Jimbo did not, in fact, fill in a couple, carrying on a treasured Texas A&M tradition of pairing the highest of expectations with the most mediocre of results.

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