You had to be there I guess. Jackie always said he did A&M a great favor by leaving. He was right. I don't know all the inside details-- I was just a kid-- but I do remember that "DEATH PENALTY" was a very real concern and then he left and we were still alive. It's noteworthy that he laid out for a year or two (bought a car dealership iirc) before going to Mississippi State.

He deserves a lot of credit, a lot of praise. Ags may not admit, or even realize, how much we owe him. Maybe ultimately we will. He inherited a hell of a mess (Emory Bellard -> Tom Wilson -> Dumpster Fire) and then did what he had to do to right the ship. Not at all unlike what Bear Bryant had done 30 years earlier.

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Posted by finestfirst79

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Member since Nov 2012

11646 posts

Posted on 1/25/15 at 12:59 am to derSturm37

quote:
You had to be there I guess.

He was after my time, and you may have a point here.

quote:
Jackie always said he did A&M a great favor by leaving. He was right.

He did both A&M and himself a big favor by resigning. Nobody would have touched him if A&M had received the death penalty, which in my opinion may have been deserved.

quote:
Ags may not admit, or even realize, how much we owe him.

We owe him a two year bowl ban and probation. Yeah, I enjoyed the hell out of the Cotton Bowls and particularly the Tim Brown thing, but his reign was just another nail in the coffin of the SWC and the rest of the country being convinced (rightfully) that the SWC was a collection of cheaters.

You're off only on calling Emory Bellard's teams a "hell of a mess". Great coach, great gentleman, good teams (#2 in '75 before the Ark. fiasco), no hint of NCAA infractions, stopped me on the way to class more than once to ask me how I was doing and meant it. He and RC were coaches I really looked up to. (Preemptive "I like the hell out of KDS, too")

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