as for coaches who have turned down offers, within our region alone there is gary barnett, mike gundy, and art briles...you can probably toss in les miles not going to michigan in there as well. but again, agree to disagree.
good revenue stream, and now (hopefully) the right person to manage it effectively. and that was prior to the move to the SEC. from what i understand the new SEC TV deal should be pretty lucrative for us.
The SEC is a game changer for A&M and I think a lot of Horn fans really are still hoping that it's not happening. FWIW, I think A&M in the SEC hurts OU a hell of a lot more and there is a great chance that A&M and Texas will both be elite for years to come. I'm not going to say Sumlin would never leave for another college job because anything is possible, but he has a lot of recruiting ties in Texas, has a lot of recruiting momentum, is the head coach at a flagship school in the state that produces the best football players. The NFL concerns me, but I'm not worried about other schools. As far as Manziel goes, he's definitely gone if he has anywhere near the success as last year and rightfully so. Walter Football projects his him as the #3 pick next year. Obviously, it's way early, but he would be stupid not to go if he's a 1st round pick.
Joe & jm, I understand your loyalty to your program but we definitely disagree on the National perception of A&M. At the time of hiring Sumlin, A&M did not enjoy the national recognition that last year afforded them. One year does not a reputation, or status in the National pecking order make. The year that Meyer left for Florida, Utah was much more nationally recognized than A&M was at the end of 2012, with perhaps the exception of the team recognized to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the second half of multiple televised games. So using Meyer as an example of leaving a mid-level football school (Utah) school for a National football icon (Florida) as a comparison to the temptation for career enhancement by leaving A&M for a USC, Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas, Penn State, Nebraska, etc. would be considered reasonable by anyone other than perhaps an aggie fan. Now if he stays in B/CS and enjoys more than one or two consecutive years of 10 plus win seasons, then both the national perception of A&M changes, and the possibility of Sumlin looking to move to a "top-tier" school for reasons of career enhancement changes. I think right now you would be hard pressed to find someone outside the aggie family who does not believe the chance of Sumlin leaving for some other more prestigious opportunity is at least probable. And, it would at best be a wait and see situation.
The national perception of A&M being a power might not be there yet, but it won't take long if Sumlin is successful. Not many coaches are going to downgrade to a lesser conference when they are coaching at a school that has money, great recruiting access, and are a place that has the potential to win championships. Sumlin has been successful at recruiting elite talent so the pipeline looks good and now he just needs to execute and A&M will take that next step into national prominence. Fran is really the only coach I can think of that voluntarily left the SEC to go to a lesser conference and we know what an idiot that guy was. One additional thing, while A&M might not have reached the top of the mountain on the national stage, but you have arrived when ESPN is sending Fowler and Herbstriet to your spring game and televising it live on ESPN. Not many schools are getting that kind of national exposure.
A few thoughts: 1. Five years ago I would have said manziel has zero chance to play QB in the NFL, and that that would have been a poor refection on the NFL, not Manziel. Up until that time, NFL coaches and scouts were only interested in prototypical drop-back passers that stood 6'4"+ and had rocket arms. Manziel is about 6'0", and his arm is average at best. That said, he is a hell of a playmaker, and pro coaches are now more willing to ignore the tradional metrics if the intangibles, leaderhsip and playmaking are there (see e.g. RGIII and Wislon). Thus, I think it is likely that Manziel would be drafted in the first round and given a real chance to succeed. Whether his game (and durability) translate to the NFL is anybody's guess, but for my part I'd love for the Texans to draft him. Lord knows the "protypical" statue we have at QB isn't taking us anywhere. 2. MOST coaches would leave aTm -- which ranks between 20 and 30 on most lists of the all time best CFB programs -- for one of the "elite" programs (i.e. USC, Bama, Michigan, tOSU, ND, Florida, Texas, etc). Prestige matters, not only to recruits, but to coaches and their egos. Yes, it's possible that after a decade or two Sumlin could pull a Bowden and turn a former mediocre program (FSU) into a household name, but the decline of FSU post-Bowden shows that there is a difference between the truly elite programs (e.g. USC, Bama, UT, etc) and the ones that merely flirt with being elite every so often (aTm, Tenn, Ucla, etc). And for every Bowden that stayed at a formerly middlin program and made it great, there are a dozen Browns, Sabans, Meyers. etc that left schools like UNC, MSU/LSU, Utah, etc for the elite job when it opened. 3. Now, the question is, is Sumlin like MOST coaches, or will he be like Bowden adn stay in one place for a long time despite "better" offers from the elite programs? aTm certainly has a lot going for it that many "middlin" programs don't (deep pockets, fertile recruiting, big stadium, passionate fans, etc), but then it also has some downsides (quirky campus culture and administration, some weird fans/traditions/alums that make recruiting challenging, mediocre town/location, etc). My money would be on Sumlin leavin if USC made a hard run at him, but I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed either. Wherever he goes I think he will be successful.
