11/26 UPDATE
Late night update (11 pm)
52,518 Views | 445 Replies | Last: 25 sec ago by RoyValLiucci
11:21p, 11/25/23
Staff
AG
Guys, if I'm a betting man tonight I think Mark Stoops remains at Kentucky, which will be an absolutely fascinating development the likes of which I've never covered in more than 25 years on the job. As I said earlier, a deal was not done but he was the choice and it was to the point that I heard Stoops had even told folks in and around the program that he was heading to A&M (which is why things originally began to leak out from Bluegrass country).
All potential coaching hires have a finish line and I'm not getting the feeling that this one is going to get there.
Nevermind, Matt Jones of KSR is reporting that Stoops is going to remain at Kentucky, which fits into what I was just told as I was typing this.
Long story short, this one never got to the finish line and the roadblock was tonight's meeting to approve the hire involving the A&M brass.
With this news breaking as I type, I can say I've never seen anything like this but have also been on the phone with every level of this thing throughout the night and think this is very likely to go one of two ways for the Aggies:
The Ags pivot and tab former DC and Duke boss Mike Elko and team him with Elijah Robinson and a new-look staff or simply remove the interim tag from E-Rob and revamp things from there accordingly. Either way would be wildly popular with players and the current recruits.
Of course, another option would be continuing the search but my bet is on the Ags sticking closer to home on this one.
ABSOLUTELY INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11/25 Update
Saturday night update...Stoops-to-Aggieland?
4,987 Views | 168 Replies | Last: 0 sec ago by Green343Liucci
8:48p
Staff
AG
I'm not going to say a deal is done to bring Kentucky's Mark Stoops to Aggieland but will say I'm expecting that to be the case as early as tonight. I stated yesterday that there was real momentum on the side of the longtime Kentucky head man being Ross Bjork's choice to succeed Jimbo Fisher as Texas A&M's next head coach and as I type this update, I'm expecting we'll see Stoops arrive in College Station as early as tomorrow.
I'll have more shortly but barring something hitting a wall tonight, Mark Stoops will be making the move West across SEC country.
When I mentioned Stoops yesterday, I was about three days into chasing down said scoop. All of the 'breaking' Ryan Day or Dabo Swinney stuff was simply smoke and mirrors in the agent and coaching world, as the guys drawing the most serious interest down the stretch were Stoops and Duke's Mike Elko, along with Utah's Kyle Whittingham entering the mix late. Arizona's Jedd Fisch was close to receiving an in-person interview, as well, but the Aggies made their choice and didn't look back when going with the man who has led Big Blue Nation for the past eleven seasons.
More shortly and a full update and video feature breaking down the hire once the news becomes official.
11/12 UPDATE
******11/5 UPDATE.....
ACES
Johnson is out for the season
Moss is out for the season
*******2/24/23 UPDATE*********
SEC is trying to let aggy down easy
A&M, Texas ADs war over location of first SEC game between Ags, Horns
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The Athletic's Sam Khan wrote an article in The Athletic today which indicated that Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte aren't on the same page about where the two schools will resume their rivalry when the Horns officially enter the Southeastern Conference in 2024.
Bjork stated last year in an interview with Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle that the Aggies anticipated that the contest would be played in College Station. In his comments to Khan which fellow staff member David Ubben tweeted out, he noted that “just because of everything that’s transpired, and we’ve expressed that to the SEC, and I guess we'll just leave it at that.” Although Bjork didn't say that he or A&M had been told that the first meeting by the league that their first meeting would take place at Kyle Field, he did note that “Let’s just say that is a very, very firm position from our standpoint.”
Meanwhile, Del Conte was told of Bjork's comments and replied in today's piece “That’s all news to me. I read it somewhere, I just haven’t heard it from the powers that be. As far as I know, that’s just internet fodder”. This comes just days after Del Conte said about the rivalry that "To not play Texas A&M for all these years, it's just sad and ludicrous. I feel bad for our fans and I feel bad for the state of Texas."
The Aggies are adamant about the resumption of the series being at home dating back to the summer of 2021 when news first broke that the conference had invited both Texas and Oklahoma to become members. The school left the Big 12 in large part because of the way that the conference was operated with the formation of the Longhorn Network (which seemed like it would ensure that any financial discrepancy between the two programs would be long lasting as long as the Aggies remained in the league). Free of the Horns and whatever influence they were perceived to have on A&M, the school thrived in its new surroundings as the only in state program that was a member of the best athletic conference in the country. The addition of Texas changed all of that and A&M was resentful towards the league after they enabled the league to penetrate the state's cable footprint via the SEC Network.
As a result, the Aggies want the game to be played at home since they perceive that the Horns are following them into their new home. Meanwhile, the final game between the two schools was played in 2011 in College Station and Texas probably wonders why they shouldn't get the next one in Austin.
In the meantime, there's 14 other programs that will be involved in the decision as to when and where and even how often they play and those schools will probably hold the power (along with input from the league's broadcast partner, ESPN, and commissioner Greg Sankey) as to how everything will eventually be decided.
**** 1/1/29 UPDATE ****
Female students are passing this around campus
**** 1/1/23 UPDATE ****
*****. 12/14 UPDATE*****
LMAO.. Look like another is about to jump ship..
***UPDATE 11/28***
***UPDATE 11/20***
Another Arrest
FSU2.0
***Updated 11/117***
crazy that aggy was able to sit on this info for 2+ weeks
the info FINALLY made it to their 247 board.. nothing on TA yet
***UPDATE 11/15***
Fisher adamant that Texas A&M's football program is not in disarray
By Olin BuchananNovember 14, 2022
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A six-game losing streak. Four players suspended. A key starter benched. A heralded five-star recruit decommitting.
Those seem like symptoms of a toxic football team culture and a program in disarray.
Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher disagrees.
Although the Aggies have endured seemingly incessant drama on and off the field this season, Fisher remains adamant the program is not unraveling.
“It’s not in disarray,” Fisher said during his weekly press conference on Monday afternoon. “We’ve got very good players here. We’ve got good guys we’ll keep coaching. Good young players.
“We’re not in disarray in recruiting. We’re not in disarray in our team. Our guys are playing their tails off, playing hard. We’ve got to continue to help them play better. They have a great attitude and demeanor. It looks very good.”
Despite Fisher’s reassurance, much of the Aggie populace is concerned about the Texas A&M football program and its long-term outlook.
The Aggies’ 13-10 loss to Auburn last Saturday was their sixth consecutive defeat. A&M previously hasn’t suffered six straight losses since 1972.
“We’re not in disarray in recruiting. We’re not in disarray in our team. Our guys are playing their tails off, playing hard. We’ve got to continue to help them play better. They have a great attitude and demeanor. It looks very good.”
- A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher
That skid looks to have had a negative impact on recruiting.
Last week, Anthony Hill — the No. 1 rated linebacker prospect in the country — announced he had rescinded his commitment to A&M.
Early signing day is a month away. A&M’s 2023 recruiting class is ranked No. 23 nationally, but there are concerns that some of the Aggies' remaining 11 commitments might also reconsider.
However, Fisher apparently isn’t panicking.
“We’re in good shape in recruiting and what we’re doing,” he said. “There are other ways in recruiting, like signing a full class. There’s other ways with (transfer) portals and different things to address things now.”
The transfer portal can be an effective tool in constructing a team. Arkansas last season and Tennessee and TCU this year are examples of programs that made dramatic improvements through the transfer portal.
A&M has gotten only minimal activity with the transfer portal. The Aggies bought in tackle Jahmir Johnson last season. This year, they brought in quarterback Max Johnson.
Also, Fisher complained that other teams are violating rules to get transfers, which would increase the difficulty of filling voids via the portal.
“If they stay in the portal awhile, you can recruit guys,” Fisher said. “If they’re in the portal for one day, how do you get to recruit them? And how do you know they’re going in? To know that, you’d have to be doing what? … Tampering.
“We’re not going to do that, and we ain’t ever going to do that.”
Fisher appears to have other even more immediate issues to address.
Coaches always speak of the importance of a championship culture. Yet, there are questions surfacing about the current culture at A&M.
In September, freshman receivers Evan Stewart and Chris Marshall and freshman defensive backs Smoke Bouie and Denver Harris were suspended for a game against Miami for violating team rules.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
Fisher said that Muhammad, the Aggies’ second-leading receiver, will be available for Saturday’s contest vs. UMass.
Last month, Harris, Marshall and freshman offensive lineman PJ Williams were suspended for another violation of team rules after a loss to South Carolina.
Then, last Saturday, starting sophomore receiver Moose Muhammad was benched after the opening kickoff.
Muhammad announced via Twitter he had been benched for wearing sleeves under his jersey. Apparently, receivers were instructed not to wear sleeves.
Fisher would not comment on the incident Saturday night, only saying it was an “internal issue.”
He repeated that at the press conference.
“That was an internal issue, which was handled,” he said. “We’ve adjusted, all talked and are moving on.”
Still, players violating team rules and ignoring coaches' instructions raise questions about the culture within the program.
“There is a standard. When the standard is not what we do, we address it and move on.” Fisher said. “We’re always going to address it. We’re going to keep the way we’re going to do things and get back to where it needs to be.”
Notes
• Fisher would not reveal the status of several injured players, including tight end Max Wright and running back Devone Achane, for the upcoming game against Massachusetts. He just said all players are “day to day.” However, Fisher did say Achane would play again this season.
• The season-ending game against LSU on Nov. 26 will kick off at 6 p.m. at Kyle Field.
***UPDATE 11/13/22***
Sleevegate!!!!
Team rule? Uhhhhhh
from FL game lst week
Much more going on here than a refusal to take sleeves off
***UPDATE 11/11/22***
******. 11/08 UPDATE*******
woke up to this gem of an article from Looch
Cover Story: Crucial decisions on horizon for Fisher & Co.
By Billy LiucciNovember 7, 2022
Stood toe to toe with then No. 1 Alabama until the final snap in Tuscaloosa. Showed real fight in battling back from down 17-0 on the road against South Carolina. Had the ball with a chance to beat an Ole Miss team currently residing in the top ten a week ago in a game during which the future of the offense was on display. Then, Saturday, the offense puts together by far its best half of football of the season, and a flu/injury-ravaged team shows plenty of resolve in front of the home fans.
Unfortunately, what I just described are four conference losses (and five in a row, overall).
For the first time since 1980, the Ags have dropped five straight games. They're sitting at 3-6 overall and are in danger of not qualifying for a bowl for the first time since year one under Mike Sherman back in 2008, and a 1-7 SEC record is very much on the table.
This wasn't supposed to be the season in which we would spend each week clinging to silver linings. Yet here were are, and this week might be the most disheartening of a season that long ago fell off the rails.
Look, what we saw Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies put on the field against Florida was essentially a M.A.S.H. unit and quite possibly as young a college football team as you're ever going to see. I'm pretty sure that A&M was without more than half of what the expected two-deep looked like entering the season or even as recently as four games ago. The battle of attrition this year has been unprecedented and reached epidemic (pun intended) proportions this week after the Aggie locker room was hit by a nasty flu outbreak. When it rains, it really does pour, and a perfect example of how tough the 2022 season has been for Fisher and the Ags is true freshman Conner Weigman looking absolutely brilliant in his first career start only to fall ill, miss the entire week and subsequently a very winnable SEC home game against Florida. Instead of building on perhaps the most encouraging quarterback performance seen in Aggieland in nearly a decade, Weigman was forced to sit it out, and Haynes King was thrust back into action despite nursing multiple injuries.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
With Conner Weigman sidelined with the flu, Haynes King returned to the starting lineup for the Maroon & White. It was that kind of Saturday for the Aggies, who stormed out of the gates offensively and went into the locker room with a 24-20 halftime lead before being outscored 21-0 the rest of the way. But if we're speaking the truth here, the reality is it has been that kind of season for Fisher and the Maroon & White, dating back to Appalachian State... Long before injuries could be cited as the primary factor in the Ags not getting it done.
The reality is that this year's Texas A&M football team simply isn't very good. In fact, this team is flat-out bad... One of the bottom four or five in the Southeastern Conference, if we're going off of actual resumes and head-to-heads.
We’re nine games into a 12-game season, and the Ags' three wins have come against Sam Houston, a sub-.500 Miami team sporting lopsided losses to Florida State, Duke and Middle Tennessee and an Arkansas squad that just dropped a home game to Liberty. Whether it's injuries, illness, inconsistency or ineptitude, if it could go wrong for the Aggies in Fisher's fifth season, it has.
The Aggies lost on Saturday in part because, for the second straight week, an opposing staff outmaneuvered the A&M brain trust at halftime. Still, the biggest reason the home team fell to Florida was the fact (yes, I said fact) that the Ags were playing without well over a dozen starters and/or key contributors. The Ags were worn down — and eventually worn out — by Florida and ended up losing a one-sided decision for just the second time this season. The other, at Mississippi State in early October, had everything to do with turnovers and unforced errors on the Aggies' part. The problem is that neither Florida nor Mississippi State are good football teams. They're average by any SEC metric... and South Carolina and 5-4 Appalachian State are something worse than that.
Entering the season, the feeling in this corner was that the Aggies were over-ranked at No. 6. Fisher's squad was simply too inexperienced along the defensive front and at quarterback and very light at linebacker. However, there was certainly enough there for A&M to field what should probably have been a top-15 team during the first half of the season and one that was playing top-10 football throughout the second half. Forget for a moment all of the reasons why they're not, and think for a second about the opportunity the program missed this fall because the Ags have fallen so far short of the mark.
The reality is that this year's Texas A&M football team simply isn't very good. In fact, this team is flat-out bad... One of the bottom four or five in the Southeastern Conference, if we're going off of actual resumes and head-to-heads.
In taking a look at the entire schedule, it's safe to say that only LSU and Ole Miss turned out to be better than expected, while teams like Miami, Arkansas, Mississippi State and even Alabama all fell well short of preseason hype. Not quite as short as our Aggies did, unfortunately, but you get the point.
Looking back on the way the schedule played out and how those games went, a good but not great A&M team probably runs the table during the first half when you factor in how things played out in Tuscaloosa as the Tide was forced to play backup quarterback Jalen Milroe. Since that game, the Ags took Ole Miss down to the final minute in Weigman's first-ever start, and South Carolina, Florida and Auburn are all unranked for a reason.
That's the long way of saying had this year's Aggies even come close to living up to the preseason billing, they're probably playing Georgia for the SEC title in a few weeks. Trust me, I understand how wild that statement reads today. However, in year five under Fisher and with what looked to everyone in college football (and I'm talking even most of those in the national media) like a very good mix of experience and tremendous young talent, the West was there for the taking. More so than at any point in A&M's 11 years in the league.
For a litany of reasons — most of which were controllable within Bright and on the field and some that certainly weren't (particularly of late) — the Aggies were unable to take advantage. But the real reason for pointing this out nine games in, following a one-sided loss to a four-loss Florida team, isn't to state the obvious.
It's timely this week, perhaps more so than ever, because of what transpired around the country on Saturday. I'm not talking about the Gators pulling away in the second half. I'm referencing what went down in places like Baton Rouge, Manhattan, South Bend and Fort Worth, among other places.
Fisher and the Aggies losing momentum in such stunning fashion is one thing, but A&M's freefall coinciding with other coaches and programs making big moves in the region and around the Southeastern Conference is another altogether.
It's vitally important that Fisher, his staff and the powers that be in Aggieland realize and fully grasp exactly how unstable the current terrain is for an outfit that was considered Alabama's greatest threat as recently as two months ago. In today's volatile college football climate, the state and trajectory of any program can change in the blink of an eye.
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Kelly is 7-2 in year one at LSU and just knocked off Alabama in OT, 32-31.
Take a look around.
In year one under Brian Kelly, an LSU team that suited up something like 38 players in last year's bowl game just knocked off Alabama and is a near shoo-in to do something A&M hasn't done (play in an SEC title game). With a transfer quarterback leading the charge, excitement is off the charts in Baton Rouge, and playing in Purple & Gold is looking like a very attractive destination for Texas prospects. And that, my friends, is very much an apples-to-apples comparison when you consider the Ags and Bayou Bengals compete in the same division.
Down the road in Austin, the folks in Burnt Orange are once again putting the cart ahead of the horse, but Steve Sarkisian's Horns are 6-3 and could end up claiming a Big 12 title. They could also finish with five regular-season losses, but the reality is Texas won a top-15 road game on the same day the Ags were losing at home by three scores to an unranked Florida team and are set to host College GameDay for the second time this season. It remains to be seen what the Longhorns achieve this season, but the arrow is certainly pointing up. Texas has momentum when A&M clearly does not, and that's never a good thing.
Of course, the reason GameDay is returning has to do with the fact that the Horns are squaring off against undefeated No. 4 TCU. In year one under Sonny Dykes, the Horned Frogs have caught fire and are positioned to crash the four-team playoff field. In year one.
Another “year one” accomplishment of note occurred in South Bend on Saturday night when Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish knocked off previously unbeaten Clemson. Why is Notre Dame relevant to this discussion, you ask? Because on the same day the Aggies were shocked at home by an overwhelming Sun Belt underdog, so were the Irish, who somehow managed to right the ship enough to take down the then-fourth-ranked Tigers in front of Touchdown Jesus.
What Kelly, Dykes and Freeman are doing in year one and even what Josh Heupel is doing in Knoxville in year two (not to mention the fact that the Ags have fallen in recent weeks to first-year Florida boss Billy Napier and second-year head man Shane Beamer at South Carolina) makes what's transpired in College Station this fall exponentially more frustrating.
However, more important than that is the fact that some of the aforementioned programs will build on their current momentum and become very real players in the conference and region in the immediate future. If, say, for example, the Vols, Horns and Bayou Bengals soar, programs like A&M and Oklahoma had better figure things out in a hurry.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
On Monday, Fisher said that Conner Weigman will be the Aggies’ starter on Saturday at Auburn.
As far as Fisher and the Aggies go, any hope for something to be excited about between now and the season's end probably rests with Weigman and the defense getting some key players back. As stated previously, this team hasn't been good all season, but recent attrition has made it virtually impossible to show the hoped-for steady improvement. What Jimbo cannot do is assume that Weigman emerging as the future at quarterback and the team simply getting healthy and more experienced is enough.
That's not even in the ballpark when it comes to what it's going to take.
The reality is that the Ags have no momentum on the field and even less on the recruiting front.
Five-star linebacker Anthony Hill — probably the single-most important player in the 2023 cycle for the Ags — decommitted on Monday after spending the entire weekend in College Station and will likely land in Austin (this coming after the Aggies lost five-star linebacker and potential SEC Freshman of the Year Harold Perkins in '22), and there are rumblings that A&M's other five-star commit is set to open things up, as well.
Wins over Auburn and UMass aren't moving the needle, and even a home win over LSU to end the regular season would merely qualify as bittersweet.
What matters far more at this point in the season is Fisher deciding he's seen enough and embracing change. Texas A&M and the fifth-year head coach are locked into a long-term marriage due to an unprecedented contract. Rather than rail against Jimbo, the powers-that-be are letting him know they're willing to do whatever it takes to get things back on track and then some. I'm fully expecting Fisher to welcome the opportunity to free himself up to do more in terms of presiding over the program day-to-day (and especially on gamedays) and making a significant hire on offense. That's not the only change we'll see over the next few weeks, but it would certainly be the biggest and, in my opinion, the most impactful. A hunting man himself, Jimbo is also aware of the fact that poachers from around the country have his talented young players in their sights. As such, keeping the 2022 class together might be more important than anything the Aggies do on the recruiting front. That's especially true with the transfer portal available. A mass exodus would make it very difficult to envision Fisher and the Ags quickly digging out of their current hole.
Then again, if Jimbo makes the right moves between now and, let's just call it, Jan, 1, the talent on hand is more than good enough for an immediate reversal of fortune. Snag the right OC and keep Weigman, and the Aggies could enter next season positioned better than at any point during the current head coach's tenure.
Fisher was able to get out of Tallahassee before the walls came crumbling down at Florida State, but he's in it for the long haul this time around. Thing is, there's a lifeline waiting if he chooses to take hold. What Jimbo decides to do over the next six weeks or so is going to ultimately define not only his tenure in Aggieland but also the short-term future of A&M football.
From where I sit — and based on what I see happening all around the Aggies in the state and conference — the upcoming stretch represents Jimbo's last best chance to get it right.
****11/07 UPDATE****
***UPDATE 11/06***
Looch's admission that Jimbos "priority 1" is to keep Weigman is all the portal rumor confirmation we need
***11/05 UPDATE*****
FL game will be ugly
***11/03 UPDATE***
from the transcript of his most recent podcast
Dalton Hughes: GKHarmon98. Billy, do you anticipate any of the four suspended freshmen returning this season?
Billy Liucci: I don't want to answer that. The answer is I don't know. I don't anticipate any of the four returning this week for the Florida game. This season? I don't know. I used the word indefinite because that was relayed to me. You had some absolute freaking troglodytes, I mean of the highest order, one step above, I don't know, troglodyte, where does that fall? Just absolute losers trying to push the narrative that the suspension was one game, and us reporting it turned it into more. That's not how that works. It's embarrassing that people think they would try to push that on me and get that to stick. If you're listening, I think you're a complete loser.
Again, you’re welcome to come in here and explain to me why that's true. It's not. It was one of the more embarrassing attempts I've seen on me in a long time and I just smacked it down. Just smacked it right across Twitter and across the internet. It was unfair. It was stupid. It was ridiculous. It's like report the news, don't report the news, report it.
The whole thing was- I haven't seen anything like it in a while, and the people involved are scum. You're scum. You're not Aggies, you're scum. And so there was that.
But back to the point at hand, it was indefinite. Indefinite did not mean one week. I'd be surprised if we saw them out there this week. But as far as I know, they have not been dismissed and I think there's a path back for them if they want it. And I hope they take that path because it's obviously very talented players and also very young that they can all recover. You can recover from mistakes that aren't... It's not talking about a couple of those guys a few years ago, who was it? Golden and Darian Claiborne and what they got kicked off for as either freshmen or sophomores. We're not talking about stuff like that. We're talking about far less egregious, just poor decision-making by young freshmen. So hopefully, they can work their way back. I'd love to see it because of good kids and very promising football careers if they want it.
Dalton Hughes: Dagwood13. Billy, do you think the lack of offensive recruits will play a role in Jimbo hiring an OC?
Billy Liucci: No, I think the whole thing does all work together, though. I think if you really, truth serum, I think people would be sitting there going, "Well, no quarterback wants to come because of our situation." Well, now your situation might be eventually where you only have Weigman. Who knows? It's not a sure thing, but it's possible. And then the other part of it is, "Oh, we got young running backs." I think running back could be an issue ultimately, too if LJ Johnson doesn't return. So I would be looking at that and being very concerned.
Now they could say we signed all these guys last year, but they didn't load up numbers. They signed one running back. Correct? They signed one quarterback. Correct? They signed three receivers. It's not a wild number. One of them's indefinitely suspended right now. And the only position I'd say they loaded up at offensively was at tight end. So yeah, running back, wide receiver, quarterback, it's not like the numbers are scaring people away. It's definitely something that I think would create a little more sense of urgency.
Dalton Hughes: Will Yulkeith Brown and Brian George be back this week?
Billy Liucci: I don't know. I've heard rumblings on Yulkeith quite possibly. I had also heard that Brian George might be unavailable the rest of the way, not having to do with any sort of trouble.
Dalton Hughes: Gigem314. Do you see the locker room rallying around Conner down the final stretch?
Billy Liucci: Yeah, I could see that. I think you already saw the juice that he provides when he is out there. There's a different kind of energy. I think he ignites some hope, not just with the fans but in that locker room too. Guys, they know they could get the ball on any drop back, they know they need to- there's a little bit of a different level when he is out there for whatever reason. Some quarterbacks, and I've said it all along, that was one of the things that made him so special in terms of being a quarterback prospect was that. You could see it at Bridgeland plain as day. Brauny’s known him in baseball for every, same way in baseball, which I think sometimes is even more difficult to have that effect, but he does
Dalton Hughes: LittleSebastian13. How hot is Addazio's seat?
Billy Liucci: I don't know. You'd have to get Jimbo to tell you what he thinks of the job he is doing. I haven't heard that he's out. I haven't heard that he's in. I do know he signed a one-year deal, so that's all I know.
Dalton Hughes: CB1919. After all the back and forth over Jimbo pulling or not pulling Conner out of concussion protocols, what is his status? All good for Saturday?
Billy Liucci: I think his status is fine, but what worries me this time of year is I've heard there are a lot of guys missing time this week and anybody that has kids right now that's listening probably knows what I'm going to say, there's a flu going around pretty heavy. I know several sports teams are being affected by it right now at A&M. And maybe Florida is too, who knows? But that would be the more thing that's affecting A&M's prep this week, I think. Well, I would say that, but injuries are pretty bad, too, right now. And Lane Kiffin's going on and on about faking injuries... I'll be interested to see how many guys got hurt last week that don't play this week. I think, particularly along the defensive front, the Aggies are going to be pretty banged up.
Dalton Hughes: AngelDad, what is your biggest concern regarding Aggie football and what is your biggest positive?
Billy Liucci: Biggest positive is obviously the young talent and specifically this week after what we saw Saturday. I love the Weigman, Evan Stewart connection. I think that would be, some of these really dynamic ones that have been way up there, top of the SEC since we've seen the Aggies come in and join the league. That is really exciting. And along with all the true freshman talent that's been on display this year, it's one of the few bright spots.
The biggest concern is that there seems to be, I think if you can fix the offense, that 80%, 90% of the issues will go away. Worried about guys transferring, not scoring enough points, not winning games, which makes for the offense being on par with its talent and this program's right back, it's right back almost immediately. And probably better because you still have that great young talent that will be going into year two.
My bigger concern is just kind of the atmosphere around it right now. It feels like a dark cloud, not like storm clouds, but just a dreary, dark cloud. And I want to see A&M come out of it because that can settle in, and that can become a problem moving forward. And it's tough to break that cycle. There's just a malaise right now the only thing that'll fix it is winning. But I think moving forward, the winning can come by really rectifying and making this offense more dynamic and more explosive. But for the rest of this season, my concern is that these guys get used to losing. They've lost nine games since they hold up the... Since Jimbo said we aren't done yet, they've lost nine games. That's a lot of games to lose, and we’ve got four left this year, three of which will be tough.
So yeah, I think just they've got to break out of this losing culture. And it's frustrating because if you think about it, since they lost to Arkansas, they lost to Mississippi State, had the ball with a chance to win it at Kyle Field last year. They lost to Ole Miss with the ball with a chance to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter in Oxford. Couldn't do it. Had first in goal, mind you. LSU, gets a third and two, get a fourth and eight stop, and get a good call to go your way that should have. It came down to that, the final 30 seconds.
And then this year, not that it should ever come to that, but one pass or one missed field goal, App State, Mississippi State pounded you, Bama, final play from two yards out. South Carolina, you had the ball twice with a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter or once? But you had the ball with a chance to go up in the fourth after battling back. And again, that shouldn't come to that either, but it just is what it is. And then this week, you had the ball with a chance to get in field goal range for a tie or score and win.
The point right now that I'm making is of these games they've lost, all but one of them has literally hinged on a second half of the fourth quarter, late fourth quarter or final minute possession or the pivotal moment there. They've been in every game. So that doesn't really mean anything other than we could sit here for a week and talk about all the Aggies issues, and they're still that close, which tells you if you push the right buttons and make the right fix, this thing can turn around in a hurry.
But right now, I look at a team, and it just almost feels like it's a group that has gotten to that point where it's like you kind of got a little bit of a sitting around waiting for the other shoe to drop or worried about, "Man, what's going to happen this time?" Whereas the A&M opponents are not feeling that way
***UPDATE 10/25***
in his most recent Podcast, Looch says "not a pretty scene" in the locker room after the SC loss.
"This is a fractured locker room. There is no leadership. It looks like a totally rudderless ship out there"
in reference to the pressure, Jimbo is under: "He can't yell his way out of it" "Unbelievable to watch Conor Weigman out there for 4 or 5 plays and he's getting his ass chewed coming off the field after the first possession of his college career"
"everything looks like a train wreck out there"
"real fear with the way things are going, Jimbo is going to look up at end of the season and all the talented Freshmen are going to portal out"
"It is like the Titanic and people looking for life rafts The program is to the point where it is every man for himself"
on TexasAgs:
lots of discussions about players being on double-secret suspension and not playing ( smoke that it was Denver Harris and a couple of others)
up to 4 players were rumored to be out partying in Columbia Friday night - might be related to above
word is getting around that numerous players are looking to possibly opt-out for 2022 and then portal out
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