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Tell Me About Texas a&m


MrPhlegm

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3 hours ago, Horn80 said:

A&M is being universally recognized in media for being fools for signing Jimbo to the worst contract in sports history. 

Just another in the myriad examples that there is indeed such thing as bad publicity. It's nice that their spastic yell leaders are also in the spotlight telling stupid stories and doing micro-pushups to the soundtrack of a movie from 1970.

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33 minutes ago, Longboard Horn said:

A&M Commerce aka East Texas State, is number 1 in the Southland Conference currently, their first season in FCS! 

1F4DF670-250B-4ECE-A645-9DC2C38DACAE.jpeg

Ironically at the same event that Jon Sharp gave Jimbo the fake plaque, Colby Carthel (now HC at SFA) was half-ass recognized for actually winning a national championship for A&M Commerce 

 

 

Screenshot_20221024-094851_Twitter.jpg

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4 hours ago, Horn80 said:

A&M is being universally recognized in media for being fools for signing Jimbo to the worst contract in sports history. 

The first contract was out there, but looking at where we are now with salaries, it wouldn't have been that bad (well, aside from the fully guaranteed bit) if Jimbo was actually accomplishing anything. It's that raise and extension for nothing other than the concern LSU would poach him that  is so fucking ridiculous. He was getting $7.5 million a year and gets that extension/raise after the 9-1 COVID year in which he lost to Bama by 4 touchdowns. 

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18 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Ironically at the same event that Jon Sharp gave Jimbo the fake plaque, Colby Carthel (now HC at SFA) was half-ass recognized for actually winning a national championship for A&M Commerce 

 

 

Screenshot_20221024-094851_Twitter.jpg

Did Jimbo just get back from TGI Friday’s with that deep v? Ooh la la.

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I have to admit I didn't have "Mike Elko is killing it at Duke and would be undefeated or have 1-loss if he was head corch at aggy" on my aggy Misery Bingo card:

1884930433_ScreenShot2022-10-24at10_36_53AM.png.5e222747c1565b7e4dbffea61d3b4cc8.png'

Duke has lost two of the last three games and has notched wins over (checks notes) Temple, Northwestern, NC A&T, Virginia and Miami.

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7 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I have to admit I didn't have "Mike Elko is killing it at Duke and would be undefeated or have 1-loss if he was head corch at aggy" on my aggy Misery Bingo card:

1884930433_ScreenShot2022-10-24at10_36_53AM.png.5e222747c1565b7e4dbffea61d3b4cc8.png'

Duke has lost two of the last three games and has notched wins over (checks notes) Temple, Northwestern, NC A&T, Virginia and Miami.

The guy that posted that hasn't followed Duke since Elko got off to a hot start.  I'm absolutely confident that he was making assumptions Elko was still flying high. 

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12 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

The guy that posted that hasn't followed Duke since Elko got off to a hot start.  I'm absolutely confident that he was making assumptions Elko was still flying high. 

to be clear, you don't think that being 5-3 at Duke this year isn't high flying for Duke?

they lost to Kansas by 8, Ga Tech by 3 in OT and UNC by 3.

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last year they went 3-9 including losing 8 in a row (none 1 of the 8 was close) - they lost to UNC by 31 points. in 2020 they were 2-9 (beat Syracuse and Charlotte, in the Charlotte game they threw for 127 total yards.)

they lost huge in most games the last few years. in 2020 they lost to a 3-6 Florida State by 20 points - 56-35. in 2021 during that 8 game losing streak they averaged a 31 point loss - and this includes one loss by 4 points.

Elko was a great hire for Duke and is a hell of a coach. their win totals the last 5 years are 3, 2, 5, 8 (includes a bowl win) and 7 (includes a bowl win) - Elko has already won 5 in his first 8 games. they are going bowling - their remaining games are vs 2-5 BC, 2-5 VaTech, 4-3 Pitt and 6-1 wake. there is a world where they are 8-3 going into that Wake Forest game which is a home game.

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3 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Ironically at the same event that Jon Sharp gave Jimbo the fake plaque, Colby Carthel (now HC at SFA) was half-ass recognized for actually winning a national championship for A&M Commerce 

 

 

Screenshot_20221024-094851_Twitter.jpg

FF to 1:25.  1:98 is money too.  "You can fill in whatever (national championship) date you want to."  "I hope to fill in a couple!!!"

 

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2 hours ago, NoName said:

Elko was a great hire for Duke and is a hell of a coach. their win totals the last 5 years are 3, 2, 5, 8 (includes a bowl win) and 7 (includes a bowl win) - Elko has already won 5 in his first 8 games. they are going bowling - their remaining games are vs 2-5 BC, 2-5 VaTech, 4-3 Pitt and 6-1 wake. there is a world where they are 8-3 going into that Wake Forest game which is a home game.

I don't disagree.  I also believe he's likely a better coach than Jimbo.  Poor wording on my part.  I should have said "remains undefeated" in lieu of flying high.  There was quite a bit of chatter on txaggy when he was 3-0 or whatever to start off the season. 

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5 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Shamelessly stealing a post from Bull Sprig at Work on Orangebloods. You hate to see it but, then again, you love to see it. 


in his most recent Podcast, Looch says "not a pretty scene" in the locker room after the SC loss.

"This is a fractured locker room. There is no leadership. It looks like a totally rudderless ship out there"

in reference to the pressure, Jimbo is under: "He can't yell his way out of it" "Unbelievable to watch Conor Weigman out there for 4 or 5 plays and he's getting his ass chewed coming off the field after the first possession of his college career"

"everything looks like a train wreck out there"

"real fear with the way things are going, Jimbo is going to look up at end of the season and all the talented Freshmen are going to portal out"

"It is like the Titanic and people looking for life rafts The program is to the point where it is every man for himself"




on TexasAgs:

lots of discussions about players being on double-secret suspension and not playing ( smoke that it was Denver Harris and a couple of others)

up to 4 players were rumored to be out partying in Columbia Friday night - might be related to above

word is getting around that numerous players are looking to possibly opt-out for 2022 and then portal out

1. Thank you for this

2. I'm going to need a ton more of this to wash down that loss but thank you.

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1 hour ago, bad_teammate said:

I will always enjoy the misery of A&M, regardless of my own team's suffering. it would be sweeter if we were good, but I'll take it anyway

Yea, I neither get nor need some mindless reminders of our game from people who can't keep their bleeding and blithering on Texas football threads.

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9 hours ago, Horn80 said:

A&M is being universally recognized in media for being fools for signing Jimbo to the worst contract in sports history. 

Not even close....

https://www.businessinsider.com/nba-will-pay-two-brothers-500-million-to-get-out-of-crazy-business-deal-made-in-1976-2014-1

As background the NBA/ABA merger left two teams behind. One took a one time cash payout. The other took a percentage of the TV contract until "the end of time".  Granted this was in the 70's and the NBA championship was on tape delay but suddenly Magic, Bird and Michael showed up. In defense this was the last negotiating point  to allow the merger and it was something like 3am so everyone agreed. The family of the Memphis team appreciated all the hard work for almost 40 years. Got millions for doing absolutely nothing

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6 minutes ago, AUinHsv said:

Not even close....

https://www.businessinsider.com/nba-will-pay-two-brothers-500-million-to-get-out-of-crazy-business-deal-made-in-1976-2014-1

As background the NBA/ABA merger left two teams behind. One took a one time cash payout. The other took a percentage of the TV contract until "the end of time".  Granted this was in the 70's and the NBA championship was on tape delay but suddenly Magic, Bird and Michael showed up. In defense this was the last negotiating point  to allow the merger and it was something like 3am so everyone agreed. The family of the Memphis team appreciated all the hard work for almost 40 years. Got millions for doing absolutely nothing

aggy loses again 

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This was about schools handing out bigger and bigger guaranteed contracts but mostly it's about Jimb_.

Spoiler

Staples: Jimbo Fisher isn’t the only one with a massive contract, but Texas A&M is at the inflection point first

COLLEGE STATION, TX - OCTOBER 23: Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher pleads his case with the official during first half action during the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field on October 23, 2021 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
By Andy Staples
Oct 24, 2022

93


Every Saturday night, Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman react to the weekend’s slate of games on The Andy Staples Show & Friends. On Mondays, Andy revisits his and Ari’s biggest takeaway from Saturday night’s instant reaction. This week: Jimbo Fisher and his ‘deeds’ to the Texas A&M football program. 

An athletic director greeted me once a few years ago with this: “We’ve lost our minds.”

The topic was whatever mega-contract a football coach had just signed. These things blur together, so I can’t even remember which contract it was. It might have been Kevin Sumlin’s extension at Texas A&M in 2013. It might have been Bret Bielema’s deal at Arkansas.

The deal itself doesn’t matter. What matters is that ADs hadn’t even begun to lose their minds. In the past year, many of that AD’s colleagues have screamed “Hold my beer!” and then done deals with coaches that make everything that came before look downright sane. Across the country, schools have surrendered any leverage they might have had to their football coaches, and a few are already dealing with a fallout that could last for years with no satisfying resolution.

Handing out a fully guaranteed deal for double-digit years is fine and probably even sensible when the coach is Alabama’s Nick Saban. But Saban might be the only coach — I’ll entertain arguments for Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Georgia’s Kirby Smart — who actually deserves the level of security that some schools have passed out recently. Some of the recipients might just as easily languish in mediocrity as compete for a national title.

Jimbo Fisher is in the middle of his fifth season at Texas A&M. Following Saturday night’s 30-24 loss at South Carolina, Fisher’s team is 3-4 this season. He is an offensive guru whose team has yet to score more than 24 points against an FBS opponent in 2022. Fisher is 37-18 in his career at Texas A&M. Sumlin, who was fired after Year 6, was 39-16 in his first 55 games at the school and never finished worse than 7-5 in the regular season. With Ole Miss, Florida, Auburn and LSU remaining on the schedule, 7-5 seems a fairly high bar to clear in 2022. And even though the Aggies’ recruiting rank surged in the class of 2022, the product on the field seems to be regressing. The offensive line seems perpetually young. The receivers have yet to develop. The Aggies are beset by first- and second-year problems in Year 5.

What can the school and the athletic department do about it? Nothing.

No one is firing Fisher. And Fisher doesn’t have to listen to anyone in College Station if he chooses not to listen. Fisher certainly can make changes to improve the program, and he’ll almost certainly try to do that. But everything has to be his idea. He has all the leverage, thanks to a contract extension last season that fully guaranteed him an average of $9.5 million a year through 2031. Note that word “fully,” because it has to do all the lifting. If Texas A&M officials wanted to fire Fisher without cause after the regular season, they’d owe him an $85,950,000 buyout.

That number effectively makes Fisher the football equivalent of a Supreme Court justice for the next five or six years. You may not like what he’s doing. You may disagree with his philosophy. But he doesn’t have to care because he’s basically untouchable. He doesn’t have to listen to anyone. Not athletic director Ross Bjork. Not chancellor John Sharp.

Texas A&M donors may wish Fisher would adapt his offensive philosophy or hire someone else to call plays, but unless they want to pool what amounts to the cost of a new football building, he doesn’t have to worry about their anger, either. Texas A&M handed Fisher every bit of leverage, and now program and coach are stuck with one another.

What recourse does a school have? We’ve seen Kansas try to gin up NCAA rules violations to try to get out of paying David Beaty’s buyout. Beaty sued, and the plan blew up when then-athletic director Jeff Long was shown video of people on the staff of Beaty’s successor Les Miles violating the same rule Beaty’s staff was accused of breaking. Kansas settled with Beaty for about what the school would have paid him in buyout money. It appears Tennessee will get out of paying former coach Jeremy Pruitt’s $12.6 million buyout because a school and NCAA investigation revealed some of the brunchiest violations of NCAA rules of which a school has been accused. Pruitt retained the same attorney that Beaty used, but he thus far hasn’t taken any action against Tennessee.

This strategy would be especially unwise at Texas A&M.

While Fisher, like all of these coaches, has clauses in his contract that allow the school to fire him for violations of NCAA rules, the Aggies’ past actions would give an attorney plenty to work with if such a firing arose. In July 2020, Fisher was hit with a show-cause order for recruiting rules violations committed in 2019. He was suspended briefly from several different recruiting activities as a result. The actual violation seemed to spring from what amounted to sting operation run by a high school coach that also ensnared Florida’s Dan Mullen, but the specifics don’t matter as much as the timing. Texas A&M gave Fisher that extension after all this happened. That would give an attorney in a wrongful termination case an opportunity to point out that the school picks and chooses when it cares about rules violations.

Even though it seems to have worked at Tennessee, that strategy is more likely to wind up embarrassing everyone and not saving the school enough money. Trying to find dirt on a coach in order to fire him for free can blow up in a school’s face. Just ask the people at Auburn, where a cadre of donors got an internal investigation rolling in January and then tried to smear coach Bryan Harsin with rumors in order to get out of Harsin’s contract. To quote Harsin: “It didn’t work.” Now Auburn will wind up paying Harsin millions to not coach when it fires him without cause at some point in the next two months.

For the briefest of moments, I thought the dumbest use of athletic department funds in college football history was Auburn paying Gus Malzahn more than $21 million to go away following the 2020 season only to hire a coach (Harsin) who was all but guaranteed to be worse at coaching Auburn than Malzahn. Then came the cavalcade of guaranteed deals, where it appears no one gave any thought to the fact that major college football coaching hires are far more likely to end in divorce than actual marriages.

Did everyone think they’d just grow old together? Maybe in a few cases. But in others, ADs probably thought, “Well, if this doesn’t work, I’ll get a fat buyout. And this being college athletics, someone else will hire me anyway because I was an AD at a big school.”

USATSI_17267157-scaled.jpg
 
Scott Woodward (right) has brokered two of the largest fully guaranteed coaching contracts in history.Photo: Patrick Dennis / USA Today

In a period of a few months, we watched agents Jimmy Sexton and Trace Armstrong steamroll those ADs. Some of those ADs effectively signed their own termination deals years ahead of time when they handed out absurdly long contracts that were mostly or fully guaranteed. Well, except then-Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour, who retired shortly after giving coach James Franklin a mostly guaranteed 10-year contract that ensures Franklin’s buyout doesn’t drop below $40 million until 2027. New AD Pat Kraft will have to practice saying “I didn’t make that deal” as Penn State fans relive last week’s annihilation at Michigan and wonder when the Nittany Lions will compete for Big Ten and national titles again.

Brian Kelly’s 10-year, $95 million contract at LSU is 90 percent guaranteed unless he wins a national title. If that happens — and we should note here that LSU’s last three coaches won national titles and two of them got fired — it jumps to fully guaranteed. That was the price to get Kelly to leave a good situation at Notre Dame, and LSU athletic director Scott Woodward happily paid it. (Woodward has a hand in Fisher’s deal at Texas A&M, and we’ll explain that shortly.)

Mel Tucker has a fully guaranteed 10-year, $95 million contract at Michigan State. Unlike Kelly, Tucker has never led a team to an undefeated regular season, a national title game or the College Football Playoff. But before Kelly got the LSU job, Michigan State officials were afraid Tucker might leave for LSU after a 10-2 regular season in 2021. Tucker might do incredible things in the future at Michigan State, but his body of work at that point didn’t justify that kind of guaranteed money.

Yet the Spartans were so scared of having to search for another coach that they made a deal that gives them no other option if Tucker doesn’t live up to expectations. And inconveniently enough, the Spartans are 3-4 this season. They’ve already been smoked by Ohio State, so it’s abundantly clear how far Michigan State is from the results for which the school is paying.

Lincoln Riley (USC) and Mario Cristobal (Miami) are at private schools, so their contract details aren’t publicly available. But given that USC had to lure Riley from a comfortable situation at Oklahoma and Miami had to lure Cristobal from a comfortable situation at Oregon, it’s logical to surmise that each coach has a significant percentage — if not the entire contract — guaranteed. That’s fine at USC, where Riley is 6-1 and the Trojans have clearly improved from the product predecessor Clay Helton put on the field at the end of his tenure. It’s not fine at Miami, where the Hurricanes are 3-4 and have lost home games to Middle Tennessee State and Duke.

Miami also lost to Texas A&M, which — combined with the Aggies’ fortunate win against Arkansas the following week — staved off a full-scale meltdown in Aggieland until Saturday’s loss at South Carolina. While some of these other situations could wind up in similar places, Texas A&M gets most of the attention because it is the first to approach an inflection point where fans, donors and administrators are legitimately asking, “What if he isn’t the guy?”

We know this because most Aggies were already out on Sumlin at this point in his tenure, and Sumlin’s results to that point were better than Fisher’s are now.

Bjork was the AD when Fisher got the extension last year, but the genesis of the contract goes back to Woodward, who served as Texas A&M’s AD before he returned home to Louisiana in 2019. It was Woodward who fired Sumlin after the 2017 season. By that time, Woodward already had targeted Fisher. He wanted a coach who was a proven national title competitor. A “rare-air coach,” as Woodward termed it while working at Texas A&M.

At the time, only four working coaches had won a national title. Saban, Swinney and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer weren’t going anywhere (as far as anyone knew at the time). That left Florida State’s Fisher, who had been embroiled in conflict for several years with the Seminoles’ administration. Still, despite the issues, Florida State was a very good job. Woodward knew he had no leverage, so he offered Fisher a fully guaranteed, 10-year, $75 million contract. Woodward told me in 2018 that he’d been authorized to offer more, but Fisher accepted that deal. Still, the terms were completely friendly to Fisher because Woodward had no leverage. If Fisher wanted to leave Texas A&M for another job, the buyout owed the school was $0.

This figure came into play in 2021 when Woodward — now at LSU — fired Tigers coach Ed Orgeron. Woodward’s affection for Fisher was well known, so the fear in College Station was immediate. If Woodward wanted to, he could hire Fisher for the second time in four years. Fisher had nothing tying him to Texas A&M except the promise of $7.5 million a year for the following six years, and Woodward could improve upon both those numbers if he wanted to hire Fisher at LSU. It’s unclear if Woodward would have hired Fisher over Kelly, but by the time the Tigers did their deal with Kelly it didn’t matter. Fisher had agreed to an extension at Texas A&M that gave him 10 years remaining and a raise that bumped his salary by an average of $2 million a year.

Essentially, the Aggies gave Fisher the deed to the program.

He owns them now — for better or for worse.

And if Fisher doesn’t figure out how to make Texas A&M better soon, it’s going to get a whole lot worse.

 

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