quote:
That is a bad plan.

In 2015 college coaches get less time with their players than in previous times in college football, or what players get with their high school coaches currently. In the Texas High School football environment, kids get developed early at levels equal to non-Power 5 conferences. By the time college coaches get the players the mold is set and hardened in the kiln that is the popularity of Friday Night Lights. On top of that a lot of the most talented players have an ego as big as Texas due to being a local celebrity, and often they don't want to buy into a brand new "smashmouth system" that is different than most Texas high schools use.

Put it all together and to have a smashmouth coach in Texas is like swimming against the current. You don't leverage high school training, and you don't leverage years of 7 on 7 summer camp stuff. Even worse, you have to deprogram all of that. It is a tall task for any coach. Our best bet is what we did- stick to Sumlin's system and give him a better defense. To do anything else would be very risky, as only the Nick Sabans of the world have the kind of reputation needed to put those Texas boys in line (and as we all know he ain't coming to Texas). Successfully surfing this wave is the key to Baylor's recent success.

Now if you want to argue that this dynamic and an emphasis on high school development is the reason a state with so much football talent has produced FAR fewer national titles in the modern era than say Florida, I would hear that argument. But to say we should stand alone against the tide is to be more delusional about our pull and place in the state than an Aggie would be. Hell even Texas's smashmouth coach is having trouble getting Texas boys to buy in, and he coached in a BCS bowl and has had many NFL picks. Charlie had to raid a group of second-tier Florida players last NSD for a reason, the raw materials he needs are not in Texas or if they are they would most often rather play for a Sumlin who will cater to them.

I get what you're saying, but that's insane. Imagine if any other field, athletic or academic, had that mentality - "Well that's how they did it in high school, so we better do it the same way to get them here and keep them happy."

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Posted by cardboardboxer

Member since Apr 2012

34346 posts

Posted on 5/21/15 at 1:58 pm to Jon Ham

quote:
Imagine if any other field, athletic or academic, had that mentality

That is a bad comparison as those fields don't have the same NCAA restrictions put on their time. When I worked for a prof in college the labor laws were the only limits. College coaches have all of their contact with players regulated and measured. It really put Michigan back a few years when the NCAA dropped the hammer on them for trying to get around those rules, I don't want A&M to go down that road.

And no academic student pulls in the revenue that a football player does. The top ones are worth more and they get catered to. That is reality.

This post was edited on 5/21/15 at 2:00 pm

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