Yeah he should just quit now. When teams recruit well they never get any of the recruits, it all turns to ashes in their mouths. Strong's strict no laughing policy will have the tables turned somn' mighty fast. Oh lordy, lordy. We Aggie folk done sent too many top 10 picks into the NFL in consecutive years, elite recruits hate that. They wanna play for mean, old, grumpy Charlie and get tucked in at 9:35pm on Fridays. The logic used to be, TAMU wasn't good - nobody would go there. Then it was, UT and OU are too good, nobody will go to TAMU. Then it was, the SEC is too hard, nobody will go to TAMU. Then it was, UT has ESPN now, they're all going there. Then it was, College Station is boring, nobody will go there. Now it is, okay, **** man, they have recruits now, but nahhhh, those recruits they signed wont wind up going there. <---- that is literally your logic at this point
Add the the $400+ million dollar renovation of Kyle Field to that list. The fundraising for the renovation would not have been possible without Sumlin, the sec, and JFF. So yeah that last game against UT was a tough one to lose, but that is literally the only fall back UT fans have on A&M right now because the A&M program is now years ahead of UT program. When the renovation is done A&M will have better facilities than UT to add to an already more talented pool of players / recruits. And like it or not the best high school football players around the country want to play in the SEC. Have fun with 3-Star Charlie up there in Austin.
IDK if this has already been posted but Snoop Dogg (AKA Snoop Lion) sent A&M some custom made cleats. This is pretty cool. Im sure young recruits love this sort of thing. A&M definitely has the "cool" factor in recruiting right now. http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2014...-snoop-lion-dogg-adidas-cleats-aggie-football http://www.chron.com/sports/aggies/article/Aggies-Snoop-Dogg-Texas-A-M-Adidas-Shoes-5573076.php
Sometimes the Aggie Jokes just write themselves. Spoiler Anyhow, it actually masks a larger issue that Aggie types are now very slow to grasp The decline of the Mack Brown era occurred largely while he was still loading up on vaunted 4- and 5- star players. Why did this occur? Because the gap between 3 stars and 4 and 5 stars has narrowed considerably to to paricipation/evolution of the high school game in the last 10 years, particularly in Texas and the other big states. The amount of top 100/55/300/whatever recruits has stayed constant throughout hte last 20 years. Thae amount of players that are skilled enough to qualify has increased substantially, due to spread offenses, population growth, plain-old better training etc. Accordingly Baylor, Texas A&M etc can find Heisman trophy winners and have lots of success without necessarily fielding top ranked recruiting classes (though in an absolute sense, these classes are better than their top "ranked" classes in years past), and Mack Brown can squander everything despite fielding top ranked classes, because going out and getting the "top" guys simply can't compensate for the lack of having the rest of the program in working order anymore. There's simply too many good players to go around.
Brown couldn't do anything with his talent, TAMU plastered its nuts all over the first 10 picks of the NFL draft the past, what? 3 years? 4? And again next year with another LT. A Heisman, a DPoY, #2 pick overall.
Because there are bias and/or lazy recruiting websites that don't rate recruits accurately? Entitlement? No progressive coaching? Complacency?
All of those things - which exist in a universe where recruiting is much easier due to the absolute increase in the size of the pool.
I think every college football fan in America is aware how the decline of the Mack Brown era occurred largely while he was still loading up on vaunted 4- and 5- star players. You are stating the obvious. Name a program that has won a national championship without recruiting top high school football talent. The programs that win year after year in big time conferences sign 4 and 5 star talent and then effectively develop that talent. So far A&M has proven to develop their young players (take a look at recent A&M players on NFL rosters vs recent UT players on NFL rosters) if A&M can keep them out of jail. If the talent keeps signing with A&M, based on the recent track record of developing talent, the future of A&M football looks bright. Yes diamonds in the rough / misevaluated talent / late bloomers do occur, and there is no doubt that the spread has effected the way schools / scouting services need to evaluate talent (Coach Sumlin has very much been on the forefront of the changing landscape in college football recruiting).
My logic at this point is that I don't believe recruits will stick around until Feb. if you go 6-6 which is what I predict. Thursday, Aug. 28 at *South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. loss Saturday, Sept. 6 vs. Lamar, Kyle Field win Saturday, Sept. 13 vs. Rice, Kyle Field win Saturday, Sept. 20 at SMU, Dallas, Texas win Saturday, Sept. 27 vs. *Arkansas, Arlington, Texas toss-up Saturday, Oct. 4 at *Mississippi State, Starkville, Miss. toss-up Saturday, Oct. 11 vs. *Ole Miss, Kyle Field loss Saturday, Oct. 18 at *Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala. loss Saturday, Nov. 1 vs. Louisiana-Monroe, Kyle Field win Saturday, Nov. 8 at *Auburn, Auburn, Ala. loss Saturday, Nov. 15 vs. *Missouri Kyle Field loss Thursday, Nov. 27 vs. *LSU, Kyle Field loss 6 wins max and 4 wins could potentially happen. There is no Johnny manziel to bail you out anymore. Take a look at sumlin's record when Case Keenum wasn't playing, I think you will be shocked. I don't see how your defense gets that much better from last season considering you just lost 3 starters and maybe even another 1. Are recruits going to be impressed by wins over smu, and rice?
That'd suck if you're right. That's way below expectations, but A&M generally doesn't meet unreasonable expectations anyways.
You make good points - but the key component is changing landscape. 4 and 5 stars aren't as valuable as they used to be on a relative basis, which emphasizes the need to stay ahead of the curve. The same parity boomerang that propelled Texas A&M and Baylor from afterthoughts to players can work in reverse.
So, does this sense of entitlement come naturally, or is it some freshman orientation class at UT? These recruits were in elementary school when UT won their national championship. Doesn't exactly resonate with them any more. Kids see the nationally televised games A&M plays every week against the LSUs, Alabamas, and Auburns of the world. Games in half full stadiums against Iowa St. and Kansas pale in comparison. That being said, yes A&M will have to capitalize on all this and start winning 9-11 games a year or they will stagnate. But to assume that Sumlin's going to tank is taking a lot for granted.
I agree that the national title that Texas won in 05 doesn't mean anything to these recruits. I think we agree that both Texas and TAMU have to have good years to flip/maintain the recruiting. IMO Texas will do well if they win 10 games this year while TAMU flames out. I would much rather Texas games be on national tv than the LHN which has been a failure.
Games being on national tv or LHN is not an either or proposition. LHN is the third tier rights. LHN is guaranteed two games contractually. Other than that, it is who picks first. ESPN/ABC picks its Big 12 games first....then Fox...then it goes to the third tier (ESPN3 or LHN).
I think the biggest advantage players finally realized was having the chance to play in the gorgeous city of college station was just too good to pass up. Eventually people will understand Austin is at a true disadvantage.
It's just weird man. TAMU recruits well and everyone is talking about the recruits not mattering, theorizing the recruits will just leave anyways. What are y'all even talking about, man? What do you want, for them to just disband athletics? They already moved to the SEC, just pretend the don't exist if it'll make you happier.
