Texas A&M has fired Mike Sherman
- Thread starter Rockport
- Start date
If TAMU can't do any better than malzahn they need to discontinue football, tear down the stadium and let cows graze on Kyle Field.
I remember thinking that Sherman was a bit of an uninspiring hire back in 2008. Since Pete Carroll launched USC into the stratosphere back in 2002, a lot of schools have tried the "retread NFL coach" thing with varying degrees of success, and I guess Texas A&M thought they might have the same luck.
Amazing how closely Sherman's tenure at A&M mirrored Mike Shula's at Alabama:
- Both were former NFL coaches brought in immediately following the Dennis Franchione regime (although Shula followed four months of Mike Price).
- Both followed almost identical trajectories at their respective schools: a losing season, a break-even season with a middling bowl game, a break-through season with a Cotton Bowl berth, and then a regression back to break-even.
- Sherman was 25-25 at Texas A&M, while Shula was 26-23 at Alabama.
There are obvious differences between the two: Sherman is older with a much more accomplished resume, and for the most part he had prolific offensive teams impaired by a porous defense at A&M. Shula had the opposite problem - great defenses hampered by sluggish offenses. I have heard that Sherman is a true class act, and I hope he lands on his feet somewhere. I think he'd make an excellent FBS offensive coordinator.
As for Sherman's replacement, there's been a lot of discussion about Sumlin. I don't think he'd be a bad hire, but I would approach it cautiously. Bear this in mind: Case Keenum has been the starting quarterback for the entirety of Sumlin's tenure at UH, and the one year where Keenum was injured they regressed to 5-7. I like the offensive system Sumlin runs, which is a modified version of Leach's Air Raid run at a quicker pace. But I'm not sure how successful it could be on a consistent basis in the SEC. If they hire Sumlin, he needs a darn good defensive coordinator and he needs to recruit lights-out.
Amazing how closely Sherman's tenure at A&M mirrored Mike Shula's at Alabama:
- Both were former NFL coaches brought in immediately following the Dennis Franchione regime (although Shula followed four months of Mike Price).
- Both followed almost identical trajectories at their respective schools: a losing season, a break-even season with a middling bowl game, a break-through season with a Cotton Bowl berth, and then a regression back to break-even.
- Sherman was 25-25 at Texas A&M, while Shula was 26-23 at Alabama.
There are obvious differences between the two: Sherman is older with a much more accomplished resume, and for the most part he had prolific offensive teams impaired by a porous defense at A&M. Shula had the opposite problem - great defenses hampered by sluggish offenses. I have heard that Sherman is a true class act, and I hope he lands on his feet somewhere. I think he'd make an excellent FBS offensive coordinator.
As for Sherman's replacement, there's been a lot of discussion about Sumlin. I don't think he'd be a bad hire, but I would approach it cautiously. Bear this in mind: Case Keenum has been the starting quarterback for the entirety of Sumlin's tenure at UH, and the one year where Keenum was injured they regressed to 5-7. I like the offensive system Sumlin runs, which is a modified version of Leach's Air Raid run at a quicker pace. But I'm not sure how successful it could be on a consistent basis in the SEC. If they hire Sumlin, he needs a darn good defensive coordinator and he needs to recruit lights-out.
I'm not either. Fortunately for me I'm not an A&M fan but as an outside observer I'm not sure he is the best hire. Its always difficult to assess coaches that play in the non AQ conferences that are in cities where there is an overwhelming amount of talent. Houston is one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country and even if he doesnt get the top kids out of there he still has a serious advantage over other non AQ schools. I think Tulsa is a perennial contender as well for the same reason.
If I were in A&M's shoes, I'd open the pocket book (and they have a big one!) and I'd get a big time coach. Making a coaching transition is always rough, but they be will doing it in their first year in the SEC West. A&M better get real serious about about football, or they will yearn the days when they were winning 6 or 7 games and actually going to bowls.
Arizona State gave up on trying to get Sumlin...
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/ncaa_football/111202-arizona-st.-ends-talks-with-sumlin%27s-agent
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/ncaa_football/111202-arizona-st.-ends-talks-with-sumlin%27s-agent
That might have something to do with the timing of Sherm's departure. Just do the math on that one. A logical deduction. Lots of ags in Houston. But he is a hot commodity so who knows. I think we will know who the coach is next week.
Will be interesting to see if Sumlin coaches in the Sugar Bowl if in fact he takes the job. He might be expected to hit the ground running which would be a shame for Houston as a non aq qualifier to a BCS game.
Why not Chizik? :biggrin: Without a doubt the only coach currently in the business with a undefeated season and national championship to his name and not on anyone's "wish" list.
What does that say about the mighty Chiz? How about..everything.
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