The Aggies have no choice about it now. They must fire Mike Sherman. By allowing the debate about his future to become public, they’ve undermined his ability to do his job at the worst possible time. His recruiting class will be gutted, and rightfully so.
To keep him now would mean that he’s on a one-year trial while the rich guys attempt to raise the money to fire him. Very few recruits are going to buy into that situation. Why can’t these bozos do anything right? They threatened to leave for the SEC, then they didn’t go. Then a year later they all but announced they were leaving, seemingly without fully understanding the legal issues.
It’s tough to say Sherman shouldn’t be fired. He’s 25-25 after four seasons and at the end of an incredibly disappointing 6-6 season. The Aggies had a lead in every game. They had double-digit leads in five of them. Their defense was undisciplined, their quarterback unreliable. They appear to have had a problem with conditioning, getting outscored 76-7 in the third quarter of their losses. His recruiting has been good, but not great.
So if you’re going to tell me Sherman, who is owed $2.2 million a year for the next four years, isn’t the right guy for the job, I’d have a hard time arguing. I love the guy personally and know he’s a terrific coach. I don’t fully understand why he hasn’t succeeded. I never expected him to pass Oklahoma and Texas, but he should be better than 25-25.
Still, if a school is going to fire a coach at this time of the year, it must have a plan. It must be decisive in its decision-making, and then it must have a plan for replacing him.
Who is the hot name out there that A&M could get? Nick Saban? Don’t laugh. Aggies may be thinking he’s dying to live in College Station. Bob Stoops? Yeah, sure, he’d take that job.
A&M could have made a run at Mike Leach a week ago, but now he’s off the market. Kevin Sumlin? If he ever leaves UH, he’ll have far better choices than A&M. He might want to look at the last decade and see that A&M has gone through three different head coaches.
R.C. Slocum did a terrific job, but it wasn’t good enough for some Aggies. Dennis Franchione was a hot commodity when the Aggies lured him from Tuscaloosa. He failed. Sherman was an unusual hire, but a solid one. He too hasn’t yet gotten it done.
Is there something in A&M we’re not seeing? Is there a reason all these good coaches haven’t put the Aggies on the national map? A&M has facilities, money and fan support, but for some reason, A&M remains a second-tier program.
One of the names being passed around is Larry Fedora of Southern Miss. He might be terrific, and he might be willing to move to College Station. If he’s the man, he needs to be sitting in his new office by next Monday.
Otherwise, the Aggies will look terrible. They’ll look even worse if they decide to keep Sherman after undermining him in such a public way.
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