• E-mail

Another Texas A&M football season has come and gone, and judging by the tone of the fan e-mails, many of you are simply glad this 7-6 debacle is over.

No more Miami misery, VIP Connection, dumb yell leader comments and Dennis Franchione.

Being an optimistic sort, I’m curious what 2008 will bring for the Aggies. New coach Mike Sherman should be interesting. He’s already off to a good start, I think.

A&M should sign a recruiting class ranked in the top 15, maybe top 10, come February. He’s going to hire top-notch assistants, from all indications. And Sherman comes to Aggieland having just helped the Houston Texans finish 8-8 for the first time in franchise history. Many of you have keep asking what I think about the Sherman hire. And to be honest, the jury is still out. Let’s see how he handles the quarterback situation this spring and how he changes the defense before singing Sherman’s praises or jumping off the top of Kyle Field.

But no season wrap-up A&M newsletter would be complete without a retrospective look at the good, the bad and the ugly of 2007.

Best overall performance: A 38-30 win over rival Texas, no doubt. A&M simply drubbed UT and captured its second straight win in the series. Stephen McGee aired it out, the defense played lights out and even T.J. Sanders scored on a fake field goal.

Best individual performance: Stephen McGee vs. Nebraska. I’ve rarely seen a college athlete give as gutsy performance as McGee did in Lincoln. He carried a career-high 35 times for 167 yards in A&M’s first victory at Memorial Stadium since 1955. Too bad for A&M fans not in attendance. The game wasn’t televised.

Best coaching moment: Offensive coordinator Les Koenning got Mike Goodson involved in the offense with 15 carries and five receptions at Missouri after weeks of relative inactivity. Goodson finished the year with strong showings against Texas and Penn State.

Best fan moment: Watching the students run back and forth atop the third deck at Kyle Field during overtime against Fresno State. That was simply mind-boggling. They looked like ants scampering here and there.

Worst overall performance: Oklahoma, hands down. The Aggies had drawn closer to the Sooners over the last few years, but they were simply dominated in Norman. OU led 35-0 going into the fourth quarter and won, 42-14.

Uncomfortable player moment I: Watching frustrated Jorvorskie Lane beat up a water bottle during the first half against Miami. You’d be mad, too, if the coaches didn’t give you a single carry for 30 minutes at the Orange Bowl.

Uncomfortable player moment II: Watching Lane cry on national TV at the Valero Alamo Bowl wasn’t pretty. You’d be upset, too, if coaches didn’t even have you on the field on fourth-and-1 from the Penn State 2 in crunch time.

Awkward press conference I: When Dennis Franchione walked into Hagner Auditorum and saw almost the entire team assembled, he nearly cried. Then, he stepped to the podium and said, “I have no intention of resigning this position.” He would do just that on Nov. 23.

Awkward press conference II: Prior to the Missouri game, Franchione refused to answer questions about his future and said he would only talk about the Missouri game. At that point, he knew that we knew it was over.

Biggest off-field mistake: VIP Connection. Franchione’s assistant, Mike McKenzie, sent hundreds of e-mails to a small group of boosters willing to pay $1,200 for information that Franchione would not share with the public. Most of the information was harmless, but the university still faced a PR nightmare and a black eye.

Biggest off-field mistake (non-athletic department related): An Aggie yell leader got a little carried away at a joint pep rally for A&M and Penn State fans at the Alamo Bowl. “Joe Paterno’s on his deathbed! And someone needs to find him a casket!” the yell leader screamed on stage.

A&M fans simply hope there are more good moments than bad ones in 2008.

On to your questions, some of which show little mercy.

Q: You have written about the fourth-and-1 call late in the Alamo Bowl and not using Lane. He was stopped for two short yardage situations earlier in the game, so he isn’t always a sure thing. Now even if you aren’t using him, why not have him in the game as a decoy? I didn’t understand that.

David

DAVIS: That’s my point exactly. Lane should have at least been on the field when A&M faced fourth-and-1 at the Penn State 2. The Aggies trailed, 24-17, at the time and needed to pound it up the middle. You don’t need a touchdown in that situation. All you need is one yard. On fourth down this season, Lane had four carries for 18 yards and a touchdown. You’re telling me you wouldn’t at least have him on the field in that situation? Whatever. That’s just like in the 2005 Rose Bowl when Pete Carroll didn’t have Reggie Bush on the field on fourth-and-2. Bad decision by the offensive coaching staff. Bad play call by offensive coordinator Les Koenning to run the option. Bad all the way around.

Q: Darnell didn’t learn a thing from Fran’s mistakes. I’m so glad they’re gone.

Justin

DAVIS: This was one of the nicer e-mails I got about Franchione’s coaching staff in the wake of the Alamo Bowl.

Q: Well, I guess it was NOT Fran who was calling all the unbelievably unimaginative offensive plays this season (and the last few seasons for that matter). After watching the Alamo Bowl, I think I could have put up a defensive game plan to stop that lame-duck Aggie offense, and I grew up playing the other football (soccer). Good riddance to this coaching staff.

Roman, Austin

DAVIS: Koenning never would take credit for calling the plays against Texas. That’s what you call being a good solider. He follows the chain of command. Franchione was the head coach against UT, so Koenning did what he was supposed to do. But Koenning was squarely on the hook against Penn State. I’ll be very curious to see where Koenning and Fran’s other assistants land. You can always tell how a coach or player is regarded by where they end up next. Same is true for NFL players. If they get scooped up quickly, that’s a good sign of their talent. If it takes awhile …

Q: I’d wager that there is no one on the Aggie team more excited about Sherman that Jorvorskie Lane. As badly misused as he was this season, and in the Alamo Bowl, I’m sure he’s ready to move on to a new coaching staff ASAP. And now we know it wasn’t just Fran that made the stupid coaching moves.

Ron

DAVIS: I’m sure Lane is just like everybody else. He wants to see what kind of new and creative things Sherman has in store for them. Mike Goodson, who rushed for 65 yards and scored two touchdowns against Penn State, summed up the entire team’s feelings after the Alamo Bowl: “I think everybody’s looking forward to Coach Sherman coming in and some new things. We’ve just got to work hard and get ready for next season.”

Q: I have enjoyed your coverage of A&M football. I can’t comprehend why Lane wasn’t in the game when the game was on the line. Darnell goes on to point out that they had a 2-point play in mind if they were to score. How many current assistants land with Sherman?

Craig

DAVIS: That’s the odd thing. Darnell, who was serving as A&M’s interim head coach, said he’d “do it again” by running the option on fourth-and-1. Um, OK. I wouldn’t. My problem with the play call is its design. The ball is at the 2. When McGee takes the snap, he turns to run to his right, which puts him about 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Penn State defenders will pin their ears back to come and get you. So now you’re at least 3 yards from getting the first down. I don’t blame McGee for freezing and falling down. That’s just a bad play call. Line up and run straight ahead. Get the first down and worry about the touchdown on the next play.

As it relates to Sherman’s staff, cornerbacks coach Van Malone is probably going to be the only holdover. At Alamo Bowl practice, Malone wouldn’t confirm that he’s staying, but he wouldn’t deny it, either. I expect Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring to accept the same role at A&M. San Diego Chargers tight ends coach Clancy Barone will probably coach the offensive linemen and may either be the offensive coordinator or share the title with someone else. Sherman should officially announce his coaching staff any day now.

Q: I don’t buy your logic on Major (Applewhite) leaving Alabama. It would be a step down and a cut in pay, like you said. Do you really think this could happen? I don’t.

Bill

DAVIS: I didn’t think it was realistic. I only said that’s who A&M was talking to. Despite what some diehard A&M fans think, getting Major Applewhite in Aggieland would be a boon to the coaching staff and recruiting fortunes. The guy knows what he’s doing, even if he is what Aggies call a “teasip.” Applewhite is going to be a head coach someday soon. But it doesn’t appear that he’s coming to A&M.

Q: As always, I enjoy your articles about Texas A&M football, win or lose. The Aggies blew a 14-point lead and lost to Penn State, but that wasn’t their biggest blown bowl lead in a losing effort. When A&M lost to UCLA, 29-23, in the Jan. 1, 1998, Cotton Bowl, they blew a 16-0 lead in the process.

Other 14-point leads blown on the way to bowl losses include the 1977 Bluebonnet Bowl (47-28 loss after leading USC, 14-0) and the 2000 Independence Bowl (43-41 in overtime in a loss to Mississippi twice, the last leading 35-21).

I just thought you would like to know this. As always, you could either look it up in your paper’s files, or look in the A&M football media guide. I can also tell you that NONE of the facts amuse me in any way!

Tim

DAVIS: Duly noted. By the way, it should be pointed out that A&M’s success in bowl games is awful in recent years. The Aggies have won only one bowl game since 1995. That was the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl against TCU, 28-9. Texas Tech was terrible in bowl games until Mike Leach came aboard. Maybe Sherman will get A&M’s bowl trend fixed, too.

Q: In your article about the embarrassment to Texas A&M from the mouth of the Aggie Yell Leader, you had some incorrect information. Your article is 100 percent correct in that is was completely inappropriate and embarrassing to all Aggies and the school itself. You should, however, look into your research before calling it a “pep rally” and calling the young man a male cheerleader. It is called Yell Practice and he is a Yell Leader that leads yells not cheers. Next time do your research.

Jason, Class of ’01

DAVIS: Jason, you weren’t the only one to send me some helpful information about yell practice. Here’s the thing. That event was billed as a joint pep rally by the Valero Alamo Bowl, A&M and Penn State. I know full well that any event of that sort is a “yell practice” when it’s strictly an A&M event. However, when describing what a yell leader is to a mass audience, our editors prefer I use the term male cheerleader. If you can think of a more generic way to describe what a yell leader is to non-A&M people, let me know and I’ll pass it up the food chain.

Q: I grew up in Alabama and, even though I graduated from A&M, I’m still a huge Bama fan. I never totally accepted how Coach Fran left Tuscaloosa but I certainly don’t wish him any ill-will. Do you see him coaching in ’08 (SMU) or do you think he’ll wait until ’09 or later?

Michael

DAVIS: SMU appears to be focused on Hawaii’s June Jones. That’d be a good get for SMU; I’m not sure that’s a good move for Jones, though. Right now, it doesn’t appear that Fran will take a job for the 2008 season. He doesn’t really have to. A&M must pay Franchione $1.7 million in 2008 as part of the contract settlement. I know I wouldn’t work. Fran is a grinder, though. I bet he wants to get back to work as soon as possible. He doesn’t strike me as the type to sit out and do nothing. He loves the game, loves the players and everything about college football. He simply didn’t win enough at A&M and made a bad choice by approving those VIP e-mails.

Q: Several A&M fans had some good suggestions for the A&M-Arkansas series that starts in Arlington in 2009. So let’s end the 2007 Inside A&M newsletters on a high note. Hopefully this will make some of you laugh and not cringe too much.

How about getting Farmer’s Insurance and Outback Steakhouse as the title sponsors. It could be the Farmer’s Outback Ag-Back Blowout.

Jeff, Denver

How about the “Classic SWC Showdown” or something that would recall the Southwest Conference.

Lloyd, Bryan, Texas

“Hog N Dog Bowl”

G. Crolley

How about “Farmers versus Hogs”? If the Hogs win, they’re burying the farmer in the slop. If the Aggies win, they’re putting the hams in the smoker. Works for me.

Marc, Class of ’78, Shiloh, Ill.

Arkansas is in the Ozark Mountains, A&M is in the Brazos valley … How about “Mountain/Valley Showdown?” At least it sounds better than “Pigs vs. Farmers!”

J. Fisher, Class of ’75

P.S.: Thanks to everybody who sent in e-mails this season. This newsletter is only as good as your questions. I hope to keep filling up your inbox next season. Have a Happy New Year.

BD