Well, Ags, I'm cautiously optimistic about our new football coach--with a bit more emphasis on the optimism than the caution.
There is, as we have learned, no way to know in advance how someone is going to do in a new coaching position, but plenty of signs are pointing in a good direction.
He has coaching experience in a nice variety of categories--he's coached and (for the most part) won in the NFL, both in Texas and in Green Bay, a place that prides itself on tradition and fan loyalty. Does that remind you of anywhere else? The NFL coaching is a benefit both for recruiting (what hotshot high school athlete doesn't want to play for somebody who might be able to guide them to a pro career?) and for allowing him not to be a jerk by abandoning one group of college guys to coach a different bunch. (Yes, I mean you, two former A&M coaches whose names need not invade this space.)
But he's also, very importantly, coached at the college level. And he's actually coached at A&M, doing a pretty darn good job as O-Line coach. Also, of course, he's been talking a really good game about how much he respects our traditions and uniqueness: "From the Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!, to the Muster, the elephant walk, the rings -- everything about this university, I believe in. There's so much of this university beyond football. There are so many facets to it that make it so special. I think my understanding of that will help me be a better head coach." Frankly, I don't think knowing the words to the War Hymn will boost anybody's winning percentage. But it's icing on the cake.
Now, I'm not going to get my hopes too far up, so I'm not deciding right now that Sherman is Aggie football's savior, the one brought by divine providence (or Bill Byrne) to deliver Texas A&M to the promised land (which I think means a national championship, not just beating division rivals). However, I don't know what else, at this stage, we could ask for.
He seems like a decent guy who still has the liking and respect of his former bosses and players. He seems like a reasonable investment with a good ratio of promise to cost (not like--shudder--Steve Spurrier would have been). More importantly, he seems like he may be able to win some games, although that is the biggest question mark. Finally, he seems like the kind of fella who, if he does win games--even a whole heck of a lot of games--he may just stick around at A&M. That, I think, would be the ideal situation: a coach we want to keep and who wants to be kept.
Gig 'em, Coach Sherman; now let's go Beat The Hell Outta everybody!
3 comments:
I really hope someone ($Bill?) has shown him the Sherman needs a stache thread. I think that will really make him glad he chose Aggieland. ;)
I think I'm going with cautiously optimistic as well. I think he'll do alright. =)
I just don't know. NFL coaches don't seem to do well in college, for the most part (Callahan at Nebraska, Weis at Notre Dame, that guy that got fired at Ga. Tech). Carroll at USC is the obvious exception. I'd have rather seen a college coach get the job. But I guess we'll just have to see what happens.
Yeah, people have pointed out the college vs. NFL thing, but I do think that Sherman's college experience matters. Certainly, he climbed higher in the ranks in the NFL, but he has solid recruiting/working with college dude experience. Besides that, people have said that his coaching style is very teaching-focused, so I think that it's possible that his personal attributes will overcome any "NFL curse" type thing.
Also, sadly, I think the Sherman stache thread is pretty lame (http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1026749&page=1&forum_id=5 for the curious). There ought to be a rule that you can't start a photoshop thread without actually having something to post. At least the Sherman one isn't like the Turgeon one where page one was all "Pg 1!!!" with no staches til page 2.
(And I still think the best TexAgs photoshop thread ever was "He's a Rock Star, Baby!")
Post a Comment