Texas A&M fired football coach Mike Sherman on Thursday following a disappointing season that saw the Aggies finish with a 6-6 record.
Sherman likely paid the price for failing to meet this season’s high expectations that began with the Aggies ranked in the top 10 in all the preseason polls.
Texas A&M lost four games this season despite having halftime leads. The Aggies led Oklahoma State 20-3 but lost to the Cowboys 30-29 on September 24.
The following week against Arkansas, Texas A&M led the Hogs 35-17 but fell to the Razorbacks 42-38.
The Aggies blew a 28-17 lead against Missouri and they gave up a 16-7 lead over in-state rival Texas.
Losing those four games prevented Texas A&M from being squarely among the teams vying for a berth in the BCS national championship.
Ultimately, everything that goes wrong falls on the shoulder of the head coach. Whether Sherman can be blamed for the Aggies multiple second half meltdowns is debatable, but in the end he’s responsible for the team’s performance.
Firing Sherman after four seasons is a curious move though. If the university’s administration thinks this season’s 6-6 record was unacceptable, that same record will seem glittering once the Aggies begin play in the SEC next year.
Contrary to what anyone at the school may think, bringing in a new coach isn’t going to change the Aggies short term fortunes.
Sherman would have provided the football program with stability after the jump to the SEC. And even if the school had retained him, Sherman and his staff would have to deal with learning a new conference.
Now the new coach will not only have to learn the team roster, but he’ll have to hire a new staff and then begin playing in college football’s most unforgiving conference.
And another point to consider is the Aggies’ 2012 recruiting class.
According to all the major recruiting services, Sherman had received a bevy of commitments from some of the nation’s best prep prospects.
ESPN, Scout and Rivals all had Texas A&M’s 2012 recruiting class among the nation’s top 10. Now the question is whether those recruits will honor their commitments and eventually sign letters of intent with the Aggies.
It wouldn’t come as a shock if some of those recruits decided to sign with another school now that Sherman has been fired.
The recruiting process builds a relationship between a prospect and coach, and sometimes that player chooses a school based solely on that relationship.
Texas A&M didn’t do itself any favors by firing Sherman and they certainly didn’t make the new coach’s life easier.
In fact, whoever takes the job as the Aggies coach will be operating at an immense disadvantage.
Perhaps some in Texas A&M’s administration felt that firing Sherman would help the football program move forward, but in reality they took a major step backwards.
Once the Aggies line up against Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida next season, they’ll find out the hard way just how far back they’ve stepped.
