Gig 'em, I guess.

After the monumental failure with the hire of Dennis Franchione, Texas A&M backs up excellent decision making with the hiring of a failed NFL head coach that couldn't get a Brett Favre led team to the Super Bowl in the then-pathetic NFC.

Mike Sherman?  Really?

Way to go Aggies! (False exuberance here.  I see nothing in this hire for anyone at TAMU to be excited about.  This is as lackluster of a hire as could be imagined.)

Comments

[alphadog]

Is it just me, or does Sherman look exactly like Franchione minus 20 lbs?

On an unrelated note, am I the only Irish fan who is pissed about Charlie's plans to 'go back home' and discuss with his people the Irish offense's problems? WTF if he being paid for? Is he merely a consultant? A proxy?

[Sandy Underpants]

Well practicing didn't work, and pretty much anything else, so I guess asking for advice from the pros might.

[Angrier and Angrier]

This is related only by the fact it has something to do with college football. During the Maryland game against NC State, a referee called a personal foul for "giving him the business)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAMtCCezpfU&feature=related

...Rumor has it "giving him the business" is an old football term for punching someone in the balls...

[David K.]

Pete Carroll had little success in the pros and has had great success in college. A number of succesful pro coaches (most recent being Charlie Weis) have had trouble in college. They are two very different environments. Not to say that means that Sherman will succeed or anything, just a caveat about equating the two leagues.

[Angrier and Angrier]

alphadog-

This is what Weis said...

"Weis plans to dissect the season to determine what went wrong. He then plans to travel to New England in February to meet with his former coaching colleagues on the Patriots so they can point out his mistakes."

...Seems to me its pretty damn obvious what his mistakes are:

Going for it on 4th down way too much.
Not having an o-line.
Having a QB who holds onto the ball too long.
Using a 3-4 defense that is too sophisticated for the players he has.
Drawing up plays that are too clever to a fault.

Etc, etc, etc.

Maybe he just needs the New England Patriot coaching staff to point out the obvious before he actually believes it.

[alphadog]

It just annoys me that he has to consult ppl outside of the ND coaching staff. It appears to me to state "I dont know what Im doing wrong, I dont believe my staff knows whats wrong, so Im going to ask some friends over a cup of coffee". Thats BS.

Did the ND athletic dept know they were buying the advice of unknown pro coaches? Who says their advice is appreciated by the ND athletic community?

It all so bogus. Charlie needs to go.

[Angrier and Angrier]

"I dont know what Im doing wrong, I dont believe my staff knows whats wrong, so Im going to ask some friends over a cup of coffee".

Did he actually say that??

If he did, he should most definitely go. The first rule of a good leader is to never admit doubt, even when you feel it. If he isn't smart enough to know that, then, yes, he should probably go...especially for the amount of money he is getting paid.

[alphadog]

No, he didnt actually say that. Thats just my interpretation of what he is doing.

[Wobbly H]

As for Charlie's whirlwind tour of advice seeking, it's something that has gotten mixed reviews in the Notre Dame nation. On one hand, it's refreshing to have a coach who admits his mistakes and seeks outside help. On the other hand, Angrier and alpha make good points.

I think Angrier is oversimplifying the problems with this team. There were obvious game planning and playcalling deficiencies, but at the root of all this is player development. Yes, his playcalling was bizarre sometimes, for example, but it seemed like he needed to grasp at straws because of the ineptitude of the play on offense, starting with the line.

These secondary problems, which are obviously of great concern, stemmed from the central problem, which was that young but highly touted players on the line couldn't block, receivers couldn't get open, etc. The glaring deficiency was the lack of player development, which is a huge coaching problem.

Weis has a lot to learn about college coaching. His all-business philosophy does not resound with college players, and his lack of contact drills and fundamental teaching came from a pro background in which these players already knew how to block, tackle, and catch. Because he hasn't coached a lot in college, he needs to learn quickly how to relate to and teach young players. Thus, it seems like going outside the organization for advice on this is prudent.

This is where I have the problem--is he going to get what he really needs from New England, a pro organization? This might be helpful to some degree, but hopefully it won't lead to more ignorance of the real problem, which is basic development of young talent in college football.

[Angrier and Angrier]

Speaking of oversimplification, Weis needs to oversimplify by focusing on the fundamentals of football. He needs to teach his receivers how to catch a ball. His QB how to get rid of a ball. He needs to lose the direct snaps and the reverses and the four linebackers and focus on what it takes for a team with inexperienced players to win.

[alphadog]

I somewhat agree with that last comment by A&A. I was ecstatic when, after the 0-2 start, Weis said he was going to get back to basics. Thats what he should have done to begin with based on the development level of his skilled players. A simple yet strong attack would have been more successful than NFL schemes and going for it on 4th and whatever. I dont know what to say about the o-line. Im not sure Weis could have done anything to help them out.

Given the determination and skill Hughes exhibited in the last 2 or 3 games, I would love to see a 2008 Irish smack-you-in-da-mouth running attack with simple pass plays for balance. Quinn is gone. Lets all get over it and regroup.

I honestly think Weis continued to call plays in 2007 for Stovall, the Shark and McNight (maybe, but hopefully not, thats all he knows). No offense to the current receiving corps, but they arent that advanced - yet. Countless slants and screens only work with above average receivers.

eh, what do I know....Im not getting millions to coach

[DUP]

"the then-pathetic NFC."

It's still nothing to write home about...

[Wobbly H]

Doba's out at WSU.

[Jim Hu]

Well, I'm at A&M and I think this is a pretty good hire. His record at GB included making the playoffs 4 times and he coached at A&M before so he knows about our weirdness traditions.

He gets great recommendations from most of his former players at both A&M and GB. He's viewed as a good recruiter and a great teacher, which makes sense given his lineage from Walsh via Holmgren. I put a lot of weight on that (but as a prof. I'm biased, of course). Unlike Weis when he was hired, he's actually coached up players who weren't super blue-chippers into playing on Sunday.

And he took less than Fran made per year and asked Byrne to spend it on the assistants. The speculation now is who can he raid from the NFL or other schools with a big asst coach war chest.

Realistically, given that ND had trouble when they thought they could snag Urban Meyer, dragging it out while high-visibility coaches turn you down publicly is not a great idea. 2005 wasn't a great recruiting year for you Domers, and I think you can't blame that all on either Ty or Charlie. And now TAMU has their job settled before all the schools start bidding up the ante.

EDSBS had a good post on this earlier today.

This is not to guarantee that he'll succeed. When you have to go up against Texas, OU, and now Tech in your own division, it's not easy to move up. But I think he's got as good a shot as any of the other names that were mentioned, including Tuberville (People complaining about Fran's lack of imagination on offense wanted Tuberville?!! $6M just for the buyout could be spent on other things).

[Andrew]

Jay, your prognostication and treatment of Sherman's resume seems overly harsh. Overall he has done pretty well, and there's really nobody out there besides Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Dennis Erickson, or Pete Carroll that's a guaranteed good hire. ATM fans should just hope he doesn't try to install the "West Coast Offense", as demonstrated by its poor fit with the college game in implementations at Nebraska, fUTLA, and [ahem] USC under the coach whose name shall not be mentioned.

[I R A Darth Aggie]

Sherman said something along the lines of "we need to recruit athletes on defense".

Good enough for me. It's better than the latter stages of RCism, and a whole lot better than Coach Fran's regime. Our D has been paper thin and slow, leading to a "bend but don't break" philosophy that all too often resulted in bad losses.

Besides, I'm more interested in seeing who he brings in on his staff.

[Angrier and Angrier]

Mike Sherman had only one losing season with Green Bay. On top of it, he got into the playoffs when the NFC Central/North included the Tony Dungy/Jon Gruden-coached Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dennis Green-coached Minnesota Vikings. Even though Sherman made the common mistake of taking on GM responsibilities (which eventually led to his ouster) he recruited a good portion of the Packers team that is now play-off bound.

In other words, Sherman is a damn good coach.

[Andrew]

If your analysis is correct, A&A, more importantly it means that Sherman is a damn good evaluator of talent -- which is even more important in college football.