Alabama17Tide
Member
Monday Thoughts
Mark Passwaters | Editor
You figure it out
Monday Afternoon pricing for West Texas Intermediate Crude: $43.46/bbl, up 5 cents
Henry Hub natural gas price: $2.75/Mcf, up 13 cents
Here we go again
For the fourth straight season, the Aggies are folding in November.
If Texas A&M had taken care of business the way it should have Saturday, it would be number 2 in the nation today.
Think about that. Second. Only behind Alabama, who you gave a fight to.
Instead, they're working their way out of the top 25 after humiliating themselves by losing to the worst two teams in the SEC West.
The loss to Mississippi State was a total collapse. Everything went wrong. The loss to Ole Miss was systemic. By and large, the players did what they were supposed to do. They followed their leadership, and ended up losing.
Right now, what's different between the 2016 Aggies and the 2011 Aggies? The coach is better paid, the stadium is nicer and the conference is cooler. But A&M continues to go out and play complacent, uninspired football at critical times. Instead of getting better during the season, they get worse. It happened in 2013. It happened in 2014. It happened last year and it's happening again now. The players have changed. The coordinators have changed. The head coach is the single constant.
Kevin Sumlin has said himself that everything starts with him. Ok, let's take the man at his word. If he's aware of the situation, why has the same story played out year after year? Why the same repeated problems? Why does the offense become conservative and stagnate after getting big leads, and why does an aggressive defense top attacking?
More importantly, why do these teams all seem to get rudderless down the stretch? Right now, you can't blame anyone who thinks that the Aggies were getting more leadership from a 23-year-old transfer quarterback than they were from a $10 million coaching staff.
By the time Mike Sherman got the gate, his players were upset and frustrated, they played confused and the fan base was dismayed. It sure seems like we're headed that way again, but it's all the more painful because they're about two minutes, or one decent defensive stop, from being in the playoff chase. Instead, they're a punchline.
Again.
9-3
I said before the season that Kevin Sumlin needed 9 wins this year to feel like his job was secure. Right now, A&M has 7 and two games left. I have believed that to be the case all year and, from what I heard over the weekend, I don't have any reason to alter that.
I talked to a number of donors who we will describe as quite well off and connected, and they were all livid Sunday. One came out and said there was "no support" for Sumlin among the fellow BMAs he had talked to. That may be a bit (or a lot) harsh, but it gives you the idea of the mindset after the last two losses.
8-4 is treading water. This year was supposed to show marked improvement, not the same old same. Since Johnny Manziel left, A&M is 0-3 against Alabama, 1-2 against Mississippi State, 0-3 against Ole Miss and 0-2 against LSU with the Tigers coming to town Thanksgiving night.
Last year, Les Miles was coaching for his job. This year, you may have TWO coaches -- Sumlin and Ed Orgeron -- playing for theirs. Let's be clear: LSU elites don't want Orgeron but may have their hands forced. A&M's elites have had about enough of Sumlin, from what's been said since Saturday, but you don't fire a guy who has a shot at 10 wins. It's foolish and counterproductive -- after all, if you want progress, isn't that a clear sign?
So, it's all up to Sumlin to prove that he's got this thing going in the right direction. His team is still capable of pulling out of this swan dive, but winning out seems almost imperative. If he goes 8-4 again, that's playing with real fire.
Fundamentals (clap, clap, clapclapclap)
This afternoon, I had lunch with a site member who will remain nameless, but he brought something up that I hadn't noticed. He said a couple of people he'd talked to had picked up on a couple of things: first, A&M's linebackers are doing something fundamentally wrong off the snap and two, the offensive linemen are still giving away what the playcall is.
I went back, and he was right. Now, to explain.
As was pointed out to him by a very, very good defensive player Saturday, "the linebackers need to key on the guards. The guards will tell you where the play's going." In other words, don't try to follow the ball or read the quarterback's eyes. Key on the guards.
A&M's guys aren't doing that. They're following the ball, and that gets them out of position. The guy who does that least is Claude George, who is normally just a kamikaze right into the middle of the line. Sumlin may not like that much, but it's been about as effective as anything they've tried in the past month.
On the offensive side of the ball, pass plays are being given up by the linemen (mostly the tackles) having their outside foot back for pass plays and having their feet even for runs. That's one of the big reasons, I would guess, that Ole Miss held up against the two wide, two tight set Saturday night. The Rebels shot through and blew up most of A&M's counter plays because the linemen were getting in behind Jermaine Eleumunor or Keaton Sutherland (who were pulling) and getting to the backs.
In other words, they were keying on the guards.
Could two quarterbacks hold the keys to A&M's decision-making?
Jarrett Stidham will make his decision in Mid-December.
If the Aggies go 8-4, there's not much you can say about the product on the field that could save Kevin Sumlin's job. Four straight November swoons would be really tough to justify and excuse.
But what about off it? That could be the thing that alters the equation. The Aggies have possibly the nation's best 2017 QB in Kellen Mond and are after the guy who was possibly 2015's best, Jarrett Stidham.
Mond, as he has been for months, is solid to A&M and has already signed his financial aid paperwork. He intends to arrive at the mid-term. Whether a change in coaching would alter that isn't known, but Sumlin personally recruited him. You'd have to think it would be an issue.
Stidham, the former Baylor quarterback, has kept his options very quiet. We've heard that A&M, LSU and Auburn were the top contenders, and I heard today for the first time a couple of people say they've got a clue on where he was leaning: A&M. That, of course, would be a massive coup for the Aggies, because they'd bring in a guy (maybe for just a season) who could put up huge numbers in Noel Mazzone's system. He can run (not quite as well as Knight) and can throw far better.
So if you're the people in charge of things, do the hopes of getting Mond, Anthony Hinds, Stidham and Santino Marchiol, among others, on campus sway your thinking? That sure would make a football team better in a big way.
The idea of making a coaching change is never an easy one. In A&M's case, it could be an extremely difficult one with no clear answer. But the next month (or months) will be fascinating to watch play out.
AggieYell.com - Monday Thoughts
Mark Passwaters | Editor
You figure it out
Monday Afternoon pricing for West Texas Intermediate Crude: $43.46/bbl, up 5 cents
Henry Hub natural gas price: $2.75/Mcf, up 13 cents
Here we go again
For the fourth straight season, the Aggies are folding in November.
If Texas A&M had taken care of business the way it should have Saturday, it would be number 2 in the nation today.
Think about that. Second. Only behind Alabama, who you gave a fight to.
Instead, they're working their way out of the top 25 after humiliating themselves by losing to the worst two teams in the SEC West.
The loss to Mississippi State was a total collapse. Everything went wrong. The loss to Ole Miss was systemic. By and large, the players did what they were supposed to do. They followed their leadership, and ended up losing.
Right now, what's different between the 2016 Aggies and the 2011 Aggies? The coach is better paid, the stadium is nicer and the conference is cooler. But A&M continues to go out and play complacent, uninspired football at critical times. Instead of getting better during the season, they get worse. It happened in 2013. It happened in 2014. It happened last year and it's happening again now. The players have changed. The coordinators have changed. The head coach is the single constant.
Kevin Sumlin has said himself that everything starts with him. Ok, let's take the man at his word. If he's aware of the situation, why has the same story played out year after year? Why the same repeated problems? Why does the offense become conservative and stagnate after getting big leads, and why does an aggressive defense top attacking?
More importantly, why do these teams all seem to get rudderless down the stretch? Right now, you can't blame anyone who thinks that the Aggies were getting more leadership from a 23-year-old transfer quarterback than they were from a $10 million coaching staff.
By the time Mike Sherman got the gate, his players were upset and frustrated, they played confused and the fan base was dismayed. It sure seems like we're headed that way again, but it's all the more painful because they're about two minutes, or one decent defensive stop, from being in the playoff chase. Instead, they're a punchline.
Again.
9-3
I said before the season that Kevin Sumlin needed 9 wins this year to feel like his job was secure. Right now, A&M has 7 and two games left. I have believed that to be the case all year and, from what I heard over the weekend, I don't have any reason to alter that.
I talked to a number of donors who we will describe as quite well off and connected, and they were all livid Sunday. One came out and said there was "no support" for Sumlin among the fellow BMAs he had talked to. That may be a bit (or a lot) harsh, but it gives you the idea of the mindset after the last two losses.
8-4 is treading water. This year was supposed to show marked improvement, not the same old same. Since Johnny Manziel left, A&M is 0-3 against Alabama, 1-2 against Mississippi State, 0-3 against Ole Miss and 0-2 against LSU with the Tigers coming to town Thanksgiving night.
Last year, Les Miles was coaching for his job. This year, you may have TWO coaches -- Sumlin and Ed Orgeron -- playing for theirs. Let's be clear: LSU elites don't want Orgeron but may have their hands forced. A&M's elites have had about enough of Sumlin, from what's been said since Saturday, but you don't fire a guy who has a shot at 10 wins. It's foolish and counterproductive -- after all, if you want progress, isn't that a clear sign?
So, it's all up to Sumlin to prove that he's got this thing going in the right direction. His team is still capable of pulling out of this swan dive, but winning out seems almost imperative. If he goes 8-4 again, that's playing with real fire.
Fundamentals (clap, clap, clapclapclap)
This afternoon, I had lunch with a site member who will remain nameless, but he brought something up that I hadn't noticed. He said a couple of people he'd talked to had picked up on a couple of things: first, A&M's linebackers are doing something fundamentally wrong off the snap and two, the offensive linemen are still giving away what the playcall is.
I went back, and he was right. Now, to explain.
As was pointed out to him by a very, very good defensive player Saturday, "the linebackers need to key on the guards. The guards will tell you where the play's going." In other words, don't try to follow the ball or read the quarterback's eyes. Key on the guards.
A&M's guys aren't doing that. They're following the ball, and that gets them out of position. The guy who does that least is Claude George, who is normally just a kamikaze right into the middle of the line. Sumlin may not like that much, but it's been about as effective as anything they've tried in the past month.
On the offensive side of the ball, pass plays are being given up by the linemen (mostly the tackles) having their outside foot back for pass plays and having their feet even for runs. That's one of the big reasons, I would guess, that Ole Miss held up against the two wide, two tight set Saturday night. The Rebels shot through and blew up most of A&M's counter plays because the linemen were getting in behind Jermaine Eleumunor or Keaton Sutherland (who were pulling) and getting to the backs.
In other words, they were keying on the guards.
Could two quarterbacks hold the keys to A&M's decision-making?
Jarrett Stidham will make his decision in Mid-December.
If the Aggies go 8-4, there's not much you can say about the product on the field that could save Kevin Sumlin's job. Four straight November swoons would be really tough to justify and excuse.
But what about off it? That could be the thing that alters the equation. The Aggies have possibly the nation's best 2017 QB in Kellen Mond and are after the guy who was possibly 2015's best, Jarrett Stidham.
Mond, as he has been for months, is solid to A&M and has already signed his financial aid paperwork. He intends to arrive at the mid-term. Whether a change in coaching would alter that isn't known, but Sumlin personally recruited him. You'd have to think it would be an issue.
Stidham, the former Baylor quarterback, has kept his options very quiet. We've heard that A&M, LSU and Auburn were the top contenders, and I heard today for the first time a couple of people say they've got a clue on where he was leaning: A&M. That, of course, would be a massive coup for the Aggies, because they'd bring in a guy (maybe for just a season) who could put up huge numbers in Noel Mazzone's system. He can run (not quite as well as Knight) and can throw far better.
So if you're the people in charge of things, do the hopes of getting Mond, Anthony Hinds, Stidham and Santino Marchiol, among others, on campus sway your thinking? That sure would make a football team better in a big way.
The idea of making a coaching change is never an easy one. In A&M's case, it could be an extremely difficult one with no clear answer. But the next month (or months) will be fascinating to watch play out.
AggieYell.com - Monday Thoughts
