The Ags were stale the past few years - and honestly underachieved with the talent they had. RC and the whole regime had to go. Dennis is, in my opinion, a good coach with a good track record. Good recruiter? He better be. Good game day coach in real D1? We'll see. He has three years to prove those points. He has everything at his disposal to be successful - including a two year honeymoon.
Tomlinson and Patterson put TCU where they are today. TCU won ugly defensive games under Pattersons DC watch, while fRan was smart enough to hand it off to Tomlinson as often as possible. Patterson continues to win 10 games a season, only without the benefit of a heisman trophy contender.
great first post kablooey. Dennis had better start producing pretty quickly or much of this talk and promises will look rather ridiculous. no big deal though. we've seen it before. RC was supposedly SOOOOOO much better than Mack. anyone remember that?
For all the talk about Dennis, he should see success this year. RC recruited well. He is a better recruiter and talent evaluator than Dennis. With that, Dennis is inheriting a solid team on both offense and defense (not great, but solid). Unlike all other teams he coached, except Alabama, he is coming into a program with a foundation of solid players. As a result, we will see his metal this year. Solid or weak.
ever met the guy w/ the "looks challenged" girlfriend? she's kind of a *****. she's not very good-looking. despite most telling him otherwise, he's convinced she's special. most laugh silently, but some actually comment on it. that was RC. then, he realizes she really is what most people thought. he badmouths her, dumps her *** and admits she was nothing special other than an occasional good lay(the OU game). you remind him that everyone other than his best friends pointed this out the entire time he was w/ her. he hates to and will seldom admit he was wrong and lauds his "new" girlfriend. her name is "Fran". "Fran" is better-looking and more appealing than his last one. you'd nail her given the chance, but would never have her as a girlfriend. you even give him props for the improvement. he just won't shut the f**k up about her though. he claims she's the best looking girl in America. you laugh as he's explaining this. she's not even the best looking girl in the room. you're courteous and say nothing w/ silent pity knowing that her history suggests she'll dump the guy the minute a better looking and richer guy asks her out. you can't resist anymore and tell him she's a ***** and while good-looking, not great. he gets angry and attempts to explain otherwise. she's dated some really ******* ugly guys in the past who ended up better off than when she started dating them. she even went down on a guy in the Air Force for one minute a few years ago, but that was the first, only, and last time. that's your date aggy.
Hollisdude - Fair post. Question on Mack in light of your giving Fran 3 years to produce. On the outside but possible chance that Texas loses 3 of 4 of the KState, OU, Nebraska and A&M games, is Mack under any pressure or is a nine win season still good enough? Lama
"On the outside but possible chance that Texas loses 3 of 4 of the KState, OU, Nebraska and A&M games." if that happens(unrealistic as you say), then we'll discuss it. however, that's about as likely as aTm winning the Big 12 this year. is Franchioni under pressure if the streak against his rival(Tech) and continue? what about a bad loss to TX at home? what if he gets an absolute ***-kicking in Norman? what if he finishes 5th in the Big 12 South? does he have a free pass for "cleaning up the mess RC left", or did he call bad games b/c you think you're supposed to be better than Tech, OK ST, and Missouri?
TEX-*** err AUS - Funny post. I'm sure all the former Fijis and SAEs that lurk here will get off on the chick analogy and tell you you're the greatest. One question, and try to be honest. If it was 1999 and Fran was born five years earlier and had made the exact same stops with the same results at NM, TCU and Bama, and he left to come to Texas, how stoic and patient would you be? Recruiting DOES matter - but a coach who can win the big game doesn't suck
"If it was 1999 and Fran was born five years earlier and had made the exact same stops with the same results at NM, TCU and Bama, and he left to come to Texas, how stoic and patient would you be?" currently that wouldn't happen here. you're school is a different story. coach smack? care to compare performances? look at your depth chart btw.
The TCU gig would look more impressive if they floundered after he left, a la Carolina completely falling apart after Torbush took over for Brown. If anything Patterson improved the TCU program over Franchione. Did Torbush improve on Brown at Carolina? Plenty of TCU people say that Patterson was/is the heart and soul of that program.
No coach smack intended. Any Aggie who tells you he's not jealous of Mack and his success in Austin, title or no title, is a liar. But knocking us for finally getting someone besides RC on the sideline, especially if that someone is a coach that Bama was sick to lose? Come on now, you can find better "look at poor Aggy" material than that.
dollydude - Nice trap, but ... we "might" lose two of those four (KState and OU) - but Mack has passed his test. If, looking back, we gave Mack three years to produce - then in my opinion he certainly did produce. He produced in all ways possible. Did he win an NC? No. But in my mind, what I wanted was a consistent program that won every year and challenged and got back into the top 10. I wanted Texas to be respected again. Mack did all those things in his first three years. Now it's time for a little more expectation on our part. 11-2 is great. Top 5 is great. But an NC has to come. The beast demands to be fed. Now - I would think Ags are willing to give Fran three years to do exactly the same thing. If he doesn't have you back in the top 10 consistently, if people don't fear playing the Ags again, if he's not elevated the program - then I think I know Ags well enough that he's done. If you don't get what you want in three years - then you got the wrong guy. If the Ags go 6-6, 7-5, 8-4 over the next three years, well I think Fran has failed the test. If he's not in the 10-11 win plateau by year three .... y'all been sold a bill of goods.
kablooey - Not saying he has. Just pointing out that all the 5 stars in the world may never even land Mack a single conference championship if he can't win a couple of big games each year.
Maybe if Dennis does his job whipping your *** will once again be considered "a big game." As opposed to just beating Nebraska and KSU on the road.
Fran has not even coached a game, he has an average team, a tough schedule, yet the ag's are giving him the MNC and coach of the year. Dream on farmers dream on.
Mike - Since you asked so nicely. 1939 1st 1940 6th 1941 9th 1956 5th 1957 9th 1975 11th 1976 7th (close) 1985 6th 1986 12th 1987 9th (close) 1992 7th 1993 8th 1994 8th
I expect Franchione to do well at A&M. But not enough to satisfy sky-high expectations. Anything better than 6 wins would be great this year in my book, but my Agg buddies claim that 8-9 wins is reasonable. For some strange reason he reminds me of John Mackovic. Franchione is not a warm guy and is very "corporate". His history also suggests his teams are susceptible to losing a few every year they shouldn't. I'm not sure that will fly any better in BCS than it did in Austin. And Franchione will get ZERO breaks from the media if he stumbles. His personality and controversial history will hurt him badly if he doesn't hit a good stride in three years.
I wasn't going to add this bit of trivia, but I changed my mind. A&M's Conference Record 1985 1st 1986 1st 1987 1st 1988 1st 1989 T-2nd 1990 T-2nd 1991 1st 1992 1st 1993 1st 1994 1st 1995 T-2nd (South) 1996 3rd (South) 1997 1st (South) 1998 1st 1999 T-2nd (South) I guess I'd want to forget the 80s and 90s, too.
People seem to forget that the springboard for our success was the 9-3 season we had in 1998 and all the positive press we got for turning this program around and Ricky. 9-3 begot the #1 recruiting class in the nation and so on and so forth. We also did this without the competition that Dennis faces. Aggy has no Ricky Williams and a tough, tough schedule. They should be running the George Bush playbook and lower expectations to the bare minimum and hope to exceed them. If not, they are not going to have a very fun time.
