Tis the season to change coaches..
Just today, Arkansas paid Houston Nutt $3 million to resign as head football coach, Georgia Tech gave Chan Gailey the axe, and Duke canned Ted Roof as coach. It's that time of year.
It did not take Texas A&M long to hire a new coach. He is just down the road in Houston, in the person of Mike Sherman, offensive coordinator of the Houston Texans. Sherman likes A&M so much he coached there twice as an assistant, and is now returning as head coach. He also becomes the second consecutive Texans offensive coordinator to become a college head coach, following Troy Calhoun, now the Air Force coach.
Did A&M fire Fran for this? Sherman once coached the Green Bay Packers, so he can sell an NFL future to recruits. However, in the words of Colorado coach Dan Hawkins, "this is Division I football! It's the Big 12!" A guy can lose six games in the NFL and get a raise. Lose 6 games in college football, and you're in the unemployment line. College football is a totally different animal. Fans and donors aren't totally happy unless you win every game. It's hard to tell if this is the next Pete Carroll, or the next Dave Wannstedt, both former NFL coaches with varying degrees of success in college football.
A&M is going to continue to have a hard time cracking the top half of the Big 12 South division. They find themselves behind OU, Texas, and Texas Tech. They can possibly pass Tech, especially if the Pirate, Mike Leach, takes another job. The Ags have proven they can beat Texas, but they have to beat the other teams to pass them in the standings. It's not easy to be an Aggie.
3 comments:
Not just the firing, but why hire so quickly? Seriously? I think they should have spent more time on this one, but that's not the Aggie way. Now they've hired a coach from a team you hate so things couldn't be better! :)
First, I don't hate the Texans. I don't mind if they do well, but I don't lose sleep if they lose. I do find them inferior to the more established team in Texas. I also get sick of the NFL TV rules which sometimes keep us from getting Cowboy or other good games, but the Texans are Houston's team, and the people of Houston deserve to watch their team on TV.
I think the money people at A&M were working on this deal for weeks. Sherman apparently made some friends in high places, and used some connections to get the job. We'll see how this works out. I don't know for sure, but I think he may be getting paid less than Fran. I'm sure the Ags will get more wins per dollar in this case.
I find this hire to be underwhelming, but I really don't care as long as the Ags beat Texas and lose to OU. Fran was good at that.
Is Houston Nutt related to the late great Grady Nutt?
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