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What kind of coach can win a national championship at Texas A&M?
Posted on 5/21/21 at 10:16 am
Posted on 5/21/21 at 10:16 am
A truly spectacular one, that's for sure.
Homer Hill Norton was born in 1896, just two years after the birth of Texas A&M football. His college career at Birmingham-Southern featured him playing 4 different sports.
After college, he played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons.
Following his stint as a minor leaguer, Norton took over as head football coach at Centenary from 1919 to 1921. He then became an assistant football coach at Centenary while simultaneously becoming Centenary's head basketball coach from 1921-1926.
He took over the Centenary football program again from 1926-1933 but also was the school's head baseball coach from 1924-1928.
He became the head football coach at Texas A&M from 1934-1947 and also coached the Aggies' baseball team for one season.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
His records:
143–75–18 (football)
49–43 (basketball)
62–37–1 (baseball)
Posted on 5/21/21 at 10:21 am to SidewalkTiger
All A&M all the time.
Posted on 5/21/21 at 10:24 am to SidewalkTiger
Born in Pickens County, Alabama where their first courthouse was burned by Brigadier General Croxton.
Croxton is the same Union general who burned most of The University of Alabama's buildings.
Croxton is the same Union general who burned most of The University of Alabama's buildings.
This post was edited on 5/21/21 at 10:25 am
Posted on 5/21/21 at 10:34 am to SidewalkTiger
If Bear couldn’t do it I don’t know if anyone can
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:28 am to SidewalkTiger
LSU won their first natty what 50 years after A&M had already won 3?
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:29 am to texag7
quote:
LSU won their first natty what 50 years after A&M had already won 3?
And your last one has taken an awful lot of dusting over the past 81 years.
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:30 am to SidewalkTiger
Also, that last pic seems like a good one for Aggie history. Looks a little suggestive.
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:31 am to texag7
quote:
LSU won their first natty what 50 years after A&M had already won 3?
1908, Daniel. Way before 1939
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:35 am to texag7
quote:
LSU won their first natty what 50 years after A&M had already won 3?
1908
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:36 am to Murph4HOF
quote:
Croxton is the same Union general who burned most of The University of Alabama's buildings.
I like the cut of his jib, if you are into cutting jibs
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:37 am to Old Money
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1908
I’ve seen no article ever with this date and LSU does not claim it. Sorry.
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:38 am to Draconian Sanctions
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If Bear couldn’t do it I don’t know if anyone can
Not sure you know the story; but Bryant was hardly here long enough to pass that kind of judgment.
Bryant was at A&M from 1954-1957, during which time he worked miracles.
The Bear had been hired to bring respectability back to A&M. It was a tough place to recruit players, since the Aggies were the cellar team in the Southwest Conference, there were no girls and it was a military school with compulsory ROTC, including the athletes. It was often referred to as a “poor boys school” and a “cow college” and was the brunt of a lot of Aggie jokes. Also, the campus looked a little bit like a penitentiary.
When he arrived for spring training in ’54 he didn’t like what he saw. In those days there were actually two teams; freshman and varsity, each with their own scheduled games. While he could recruit new players they would not be eligible to play on the varsity squad until their sophomore year, so he was stuck with all the players from his predecessor. The Bear was not impressed and was determined to weed out the losers.
That August, to remove the team from the anxious eyes of “mamas and papas” and the news media, he loaded the team into three buses and took them to an isolated and terribly rugged training camp in Junction, Texas, for what has become legendary as the toughest football camp in football history. Only one bus with 38 players returned to campus “after ten days of hell”. Among the “Junction Boys” were Gene Stallings ’57 and Jack Pardee ‘57. At game time for the first game, they were literally worn out.
His first season went 1 – 9, the only losing season in Bryant’s career and he never again suffered another 30 point loss. Except for the first game they were all fairly close scores and the Aggies showed a lot of grit and determination.
The next year, 1955, the Aggies were the surprise team of the conference with a winning season. In the Rice game they scored three touchdowns in the last 3:28 minutes for one of the most thrilling comebacks in school history. It was the first time many had ever heard of an “on-side” kick...and it worked.
In 1956 A&M reversed the score of Bryant’s first game against Texas Tech, beat Texas for the first time in Memorial Stadium in Austin, went undefeated and won the Southwest Conference Championship for the first time since WWII.
In 1957 A&M beat out Oklahoma for the #1 ranking after remaining undefeated for 18 games. John David Crow won the Heisman Trophy.
That same year Bear announced he was “going home to Mama” to be the head coach at his alma mater, Alabama. The rest is history.
This post was edited on 5/21/21 at 12:22 pm
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:40 am to texag7
quote:
I’ve seen no article ever with this date
Not surprisingly, you didn't look very hard:
quote:
The Tigers were coached by Edgar Wingard and posted a perfect 10–0 record, outscoring opponents 442 to 11. Triple threat quarterback Doc Fenton led the nation in points scored. The Tigers were retro-picked as co-national champion by the National Championship Foundation, and the NCAA recognizes LSU as national champion for that season along with Penn
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:45 am to SidewalkTiger
Dude, Eddie Orgeron, Larry Coker, and Gene Chizik have done it. How hard can it be?
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:50 am to texag7
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I’ve seen no article ever with this date and LSU does not claim it. Sorry.
No problem, Daniel. I'm not here to change your mind, just here to state the facts.
Posted on 5/21/21 at 11:53 am to bamameister
quote:
Dude, Eddie Orgeron, Larry Coker, and Gene Chizik have done it. How hard can it be?
Notice none of them did it at Texas A&M though.
Posted on 5/21/21 at 12:05 pm to SidewalkTiger
quote:
Notice none of them did it at Texas A&M though.
Do you use the same logic to describe why LSU still doesn't have a NC in basketball?
Posted on 5/21/21 at 12:06 pm to SidewalkTiger
quote:
Not surprisingly, you didn't look very hard:
People tend to overlook the fact that schools like LSU, Arkansas, A&M and others had great seasons that were ignored back in the day. There was a tremendous bias against Southern teams and that lasted well into the 70s.
The main reason the Ivy League, which had been the gold standard of college football, opted to switch to the FCS (and doesn't even play in the FCS tourney) is that they realized they simply could not compete with the growing powers in the South.
Posted on 5/21/21 at 12:06 pm to bamameister
quote:
Do you use the same logic to describe why LSU still doesn't have a NC in basketball?
Sure
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