Mike Elko Is Changing Texas A&M's Travel Routine For Away Games

I don't follow the team that closely and even I knew about this issue when Jimbo was let go. It was brought up and mentioned in the media multiple times.

It cost the players time in class, and it gave the players more time to get into trouble at away games. And several did get into trouble.

Jimbo lost the story when his OL and DC left him. And my alma mater has lost the story on sports glory by having piss poor administrators that wallow in mediocrity and then throw big money at coaches in the hopes of winning.

Schloss was wanting to change the culture at A&M, and did make many changes to the game day atmosphere and so forth; that likely did not do him any favors. I'm willing to give the new regime time to see if they can win but I'm almost certain Schloss will win in Asstin, though I hate to admit it here; but the reason is because he is a culture fixer upper-- sort of like Saban was. And so A&M ran him off.

Is Elko the guy to build a culture of excellence in everything related to football? We shall see. So far, I'm not sure his plan on O is going to help.

We have some good to great pieces, but there is too much to figure out. Any team that can air it out or run on the edges should be able to score on this Aggie team, and then on the flip side, this Aggie O loves to double down on being one dimensional, with the run game-- in the hopes of run opening the pass; so far, we don't have what it takes against better Ds to play that game.

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Mike Elko Is Changing Texas A&M's Travel Routine For Away Games

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Making them walk until they play better

You live in PHL?

If so, do you like it?

I have an SIL that lives there. Every time I visit, I’m stuck by just how much I don’t like the place.

I’m not anti-city. I’ve lived in big cities (including overseas) and I like a long weekend in Manhattan. I just find Philly to be incredibly rude, run down, and loud. Amazing history in spots, but otherwise a place to avoid.

Sorry if this insults a place you love (as my SIL does), but curious what you like about it.

What was your away record under Jimbo? From what I remember it wasn't that good. So maybe that's the reason for the change.

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I had no idea Jimbo was flying out two days before.

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I’m surprised you never heard about it, the media made a pretty big deal about it several times, even before he was fired. It naturally got brought up more and more as we started the losing streak of road games.

How much difference is there in flying out on a Thursday vs a Friday? Who knows, maybe not much. But when almost every other team in college football flies out on a Friday and you haven’t won a road game in 2 years, maybe it’s time to try something different? Jimbo was too stubborn to change though.

Since you asked:

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He made the school song, "The Spirit of Aggieland," a new staple in the bottom of the third at Olsen Field this season, saying it was his favorite at football games.

"It's electric, man," he said.

But Schlossnagle isn't afraid to try to jolt the Aggies into a new era, either. Take, for instance, his decision to invite the championship-caliber Aggie Dance Team to perform at baseball games since the all-male Yell Leaders roam the sidelines at Kyle Field.

"They don't get to dance at football games, which I think is idiotic," Schlossnagle said. "That's just old Aggie thinking. ... The first year, with some people you would have thought I changed the school colors to burnt orange. The repercussions were the craziest thing I've ever experienced."

If it improves the game-day experience, Schlossnagle isn't afraid to take the heat. And he'd prefer it if the music was loud. And current.

"Traditions are awesome, but traditional thinking is not awesome," he said. "We've worked hard to try and find that blend of honoring A&M and everything that it is and its core traditions. But at the same time, we're making our game and our program attractive to a 15-year-old because that's who we're recruiting."

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LINK

I'd second Schloss on the "Spirit of Agigeland"; I honestly prefer that over the Aggie War Hymn, especially for the 99% of the games where our opponent isn't Texas.

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The ingredients that make someone a head coach are the same machismo ingredients that cause them to cut off their nose to spite their face.

They ain't change nothing unless they thought of it. That ain't just Jimbo.

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That's true of many coaches and other high charging professions, but not for all of them.

I once again think of Saban here. He saw the game change right in front of his eyes, so he didn't sit back and cut his nose to spite his face. He instead went and got high octane O, and he complained about no huddle O but soon joined in, and was master at scoring just before the half, often via sly clock management.

The ones who see the change, see the writing on the wall, and change with it, do okay. The ones who are knuckle draggers tend to change too, eventually. When they are forced into it.

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You live in PHL?

If so, do you like it?

I have an SIL that lives there. Every time I visit, I’m stuck by just how much I don’t like the place.

I’m not anti-city. I’ve lived in big cities (including overseas) and I like a long weekend in Manhattan. I just find Philly to be incredibly rude, run down, and loud. Amazing history in spots, but otherwise a place to avoid.

Sorry if this insults a place you love (as my SIL does), but curious what you like about it.

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I didn't take offense; thanks for asking.
I do live in the city, but in a leafy neighborhood close to the universities, but also close to the Center City downtown area. Every place has its pluses and minuses, and certainly Philly is an east coast big city that often lives down its reputation as a rude place. But it is still America, and in fact a cradle of American nationhood. It is poor, and grimy, and is run by one-party politics just like crackpots run poor countries. But there are good people and good places, good food, and everything is walkable, and we get to enjoy 4 seasons and no, they're not warm, hot, hotter, and hotter still. I lived and worked around Texas for 15 years, and might return one day-- if for nothing else than the lower cost of living...though all the Californians moving there are ruining that advantage right now!