While this is certainly a disappointing loss for the Aggies, it is nowhere near the devastating loss it would be for other teams. Sherman is an offensive-minded coach and does virtually all play-calling during the actual games. I don't know how integral he was to game planning, player development, and the like, but I believe that the worst part of this is simply the timing. At this point, nearly all coaching vacancies have been filled, greatly reducing the pool of candidates available to replace him. From what I've heard and what I believe, I can foresee four possibilities to fill this position (as of now):
- Me. What more can you ask for? I can relate to the players, I have a decent knowledge of football (and an insatiable desire for more), I am deeply committed to the university, and it would be a great publicity stunt. Needless to say, I expect a phone call from Mike Sherman any minute now...
- The name in the papers is Steve Kragthorpe, former Louisville head coach and A&M assistant. Kragthorpe was quarterbacks coach here in '97 then moved up to OC from '98-'00 before leaving for the quarterbacks coach for the Bills, then head coaching jobs at Tulsa and Louisville. He was fired from the Louisville job in November after another disappointing season. Some say that if he joined the staff, it would be to fill the wide receiver coaching spot.
- The name that I came up looking at possible internal hires was Tom Rossley, currently senior assistant and quarterbacks coach. He was offensive coordinator under Sherman in Green Bay from '00-'06, so he is very familiar with Sherman and how he runs his offense. And for those of you arguing against another "NFL guy", Rossley has spent many years on the collegiate level, even as head coach for SMU from '91-'96. I haven't heard his name come up in the news anywhere yet, but my guess is that any hire we make at this point would have to be either within or close to the program already.
- The other possibility is that Sherman completely takes over the coordinator job. From the sounds of it, it wouldn't be that far of a jump from what's already happening
Still waiting on that call...
UPDATE: Sherman has hired Kragthorpe (wide receivers), Nguyen (inside linebackers), and Nick Toth (outside linebackers) to round out his staff. Toth is a young coach who played for and worked with DeRuyter at Miami (OH), so he is familiar with the scheme that is coming into Aggieland. Plus, his last job was at the Citadel, so the tradition of A&M will be fairly familiar to him. It appears that there isn't an offensive coordinator title, but will consist of Sherman and probably Rossley and Kragthorpe collaborating for gameplans and Sherman retaining play-calling duties. Or he can call me up. Whichever.
I will comment on your blog as often as possible, though always as a different name. The word is that Dat will take over the job at LB, but nothing is official yet... What's your prediction for next year? I think 8-4 going to a bowl, but then again, we haven't even seen the new class yet...
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at at hopefully an 8-10 win season. It will be crucial to defend Kyle Field, as that's where our toughest games are going to come. Even years have been good to us, as we get a more favorable conference schedule. But that doesn't mean it will be easy.
ReplyDeleteI could see that, but our OLine is going to be super-young. Thankfully, Von (Vaughn) Miller will be coming back, cause we need to maintain/improve upon the slow defensive speed we had last year...
ReplyDeleteWell next to you Benjamin, i would think that Rossley is the favorite. Somebody who is already very familiar with the system and obviously has good chemistry with Sherman would help lead to a smoother transition. Next year might be a good year for A&M to make a move. I think the Big 12 South might be down. If yall can control the turnovers and play better defense, i could see an 8-10 win season. JJ is primed to have a big season.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I like best about DeRuyter is that he brings a Dick LeBeau-style attacking defense. Our defense was really young last year, but that means that they're going to be really experienced in the future, I think we should take a pretty big step forward in that regard. It'll be hard to get much worse. The O-Line will be young, but they will be extremely talented. The guys we got in the last two classes are very good, the coaching staff is really high on them. Once we get to spring ball we'll be able to get a better sense of where this team will actually be.
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