re: Which athletic depts. are a slam dunk to have future success?

No one's writing it off. It just wasn't the moving force behind the decision. I know suggesting it was assuages the feeling of rejection, so it's natural to claim "but for family ties..." I understand that takes it away from USCe v. TAMU.

But that's not the case. It was USCe v. TAMU. And we did benefit from the pulling eyes of those precious grand babies.

Wow. aTm used to be my team in the Big 12. Never knew the fans were so obnoxious-I thought my friend thats from Austin and pulls for Texas was exaggerating. If anything he undersold the amount of douchbaggery that your fanbase is capable of.

Comparing athletics departments is somewhat subjective. And obviously you're gonna think that your program is so awesome that family in the area was an insignificant factor in Hyman's decision (dumb as frick to think this)

What wont be subjective is the results on the field when our annual game kicks off in 2014.



Hopefully 4 losses this year and losing Manziel to the draft will bring your fanbase back to Earth before I have to deal with them in person.

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Or maybe you'll grow thicker skin.

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ehh i didn't enjoy the time change this morning. But i would like to watch aTm crash and burn

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And we did benefit from the pulling eyes of those precious grand babies.

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Glad you edited your post to agree with me

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But your arbitrary measure of AD success has nothing to do with the OP--which discussed schools with built-in tailwinds.

A&M indisputably has inherent advantages not shared by all (some, yes). That's a major--indeed primary--reason why Eric Hyman left your school to be our AD.

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I agree with the first part of your premise - A&M certainly has a lot going for it, tailwinds, tide, current, all included.

As to the second part, ummmmm, no. Hyman was shown the door in not so many words. He was not well liked among the powers-that-be here. He is a well known two-faced back stabber - that's his biggest fault, meaning he is far too political.

To set the record straight, yes, he oversaw the finishing of several building improvements, all of which were put into motion and/or were underway when he arrived ... Mike McGee was the guy that set us on the right path to success, not Hyman.

With regard to why Hyman left, his kids and grandkids are there. He saw the writing on the wall and bolted while he could because neither Spurrier or Tanner could stand him. He hired neither of them. He overstepped his boundaries when dealing with Spurrier and some of his players, even allowing that bitch wife of his to get involved in the decision making process, and Tanner, a legend here, was threatening to leave here for Texas if Hyman was kept-on, (after Hyman turned-down his alma mater UNC to stay at SC and got a raise in the process, which he complained was not enough yet he was always preaching austerity even to the point of not allowing the band to travel and/or investing in property adjacent to Williams-Brice which cost us much more later in the process).

So don't flatter yourself with regard to Hyman leaving here and coming there. You too shall tire of him in short order, trust me .... but never, not ever, should you trust him. He is not trustworthy. Nothing worse than a back-stabbing political AD, those types never work-out in the long run unless your Board of Trustees are equally lacking in morals and ethics.

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I don't think any AD is a "slam dunk".

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As long as Jeremy Foley is here, UF is a "slam dunk".

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Well, you refuse to accept the truth that I've provided.

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This shite right here is why we can't have nice things.

JF has only made one mistake in my opinion, requiring Spurrier to interview.

A&M has always had the pieces, but never performed. Honestly, I have to agree that FLA and LSU should be first. A&M basketball sucks, and will continue to do so. The school has always been about football and baseball.

And the baseball program needs a change. Childress just doesn't recruit hitters, and sucks at teaching small ball. A&M squanders almost S much talent as Texas does, and that is saying something.

However, Sumlin is A&M's savior in football, more than JFF. Need to keep him for awhile

The SC boards I went to after Hyman was hired were certainly singing his praises, about the only thing mentioned in pages and pages of posts was that he made things expensive and was kind of aloof. Otherwise it was clear he was thought of as your best AD by the rank and file. Obviously you and others have a different opinion.

Hyman won't have unlimited power at A&M, that's for sure. A&M has a multi headed power structure and Loftin is a guy that cares a ton about athletics. I honestly think he goes to more athletic events than Hyman does as well. That's fine. A&M needs Hyman to continue to ease the transition into the SEC (which looking at our schedule for next year he is doing an excellent job at) and getting the new facilities built to be the best around. At some point we will have some coaching hires but for the most part we are in very good shape across the AD outside of Men's Bball and we will keep an eye on Baseball. We also have a very vocal VP of Marketing that does a lot of the communications for the AD so Hyman can sit in an ivory tower if he chooses.

As for A&M and where we are going you can choose to think what you will. The objective facts are there in terms of alumni base and growth of that alumni base, the fact we are the largest school in the SEC and looking at growing to 70k in the next 15 years, and the State of Texas is a multiple of sizes of every other state in the SEC outside of Florida. The recruiting base within 250 miles of College Station is as good as anyone's in the country, there are also well over 20 million people in that radius and about 500k added to the number EVERY year right now. Truthfully our current athletic budget is only good and not great but the impact of the SEC move hasn't taken place yet. For instance we effectively got no TV money last year because of our Big 12 buyout and we don't get our SEC check until June. Once the new Kyle is built though the cash is going to be a river.

The endowment numbers have more of an indirect effect but they are astounding. A&M is at nearly an $8 billion endowment essentially tied with Michigan for #2 amongst Public University Systems. Vandy has a little over $3 Billion. The next closest is UF at about $1.2 Billion. All that land we own in West Texas filled with oil, gas, and rare minerals is better than a goldmine. To put it in further perspective just taking the 1 year growth in our endowment from last year was enough that A&M could spin that money off and create a new Public University that would have the 11th largest endowment in the country.

None of that is a guarantee of success of course but to simply act as though A&M is "just gonna suck like they always have" just shows ignorance both of history and of understanding our current position. I'm fine with seeing how it all plays out though.

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he is far too political.

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I hope so. Our internal politics are really tough, and we need someone who can talk out of two sides of his mouth and dodge landmines to move forward.

That is why Gates did so well at A&M- it takes a guy who can fight the bureaucracy at the CIA to make a dent here. Our president after him wasn't willing to play politics and we ran her out of town.

I have wanted a SOB leader for A&M athletics for a while. It is gonna take a guy like that to finally run off the bats and get some vag on the field without pissing off every blue-blood that loves maroon.


And as far as the A&M v USC thing- I don't get it. Eventually maybe we will hate each other but for now I am just happy to play yall and yall should be happy we didn't take our SEC invite when Arky did or yall would have never been in the SEC to begin with.