What does Patterson's ouster mean for A&M?
In the immediate term, very little if anything. In the long term, and I mean several years, it could have some repercussions. First, Patterson is only part of the train wreck; he may have made things toxic in the athletic department offices, but he's not the guy who can't settle on a quarterback or is firing guys after a week. He's also not the guy who continues to have recruiting problems.
Don't get me wrong. Patterson was a sleazebag (I still think he's worse than Byrne, though the thread today has made it much closer in my mind) and deserved exactly what he got. While he didn't get along with Strong, his effect on the football program was minimal. He did, however, create the much larger picture -- which other programs are using against it -- that Texas athletics is a complete cluster.
I said Monday in a thread that Patterson was the target of the big money Texas donors and they wanted him drawn and quartered, not just fired. Those same donors, however, are just fine with Charlie Strong. In fact, they believe he hasn't had enough time to implement his culture into the program.
I would agree for that except for two things: one, the handling of the OC situation -- with reports he wanted Jerrod Heard from day one, but didn't step in and say anything -- and Dennis Franchione. The excuses coming out of Austin are eerily similar to the ones we were making in 2003 and, to a lesser extent, 2004 when things weren't turning around. "He needs to create his own culture." "He needs his own players." "He wasn't left with anything." "It's not his fault."
At some point, 38-3 becomes your fault. Nearly losing to Rice becomes your fault. But, if the donors are happy, Strong is secure (through this year, at least) and A&M, TCU and Baylor can continue to reap the benefits.
Now, back to the AD deal. If Texas is smart, Oliver Luck is the first and only call they make. He's got the personality for the job, he's brilliant and he has succeeded everywhere he's been. But, if it IS Luck, his first call will be to College Station. Count on it. He'll be looking to bring back the series ASAP. So what does A&M do? The logical approach will be to tell them to pound sand. The schedule is tough enough with the SEC West alone, and then there's UCLA, Clemson, Michigan State...basically, you're busy. But can the old Ags, and the more general fans, stand for that, or will they want their old love-hate game back?
That's when the ball comes into A&M's court. A new coach in Austin would also change the equation, but I'm pretty sure from what I'm hearing that's not in the plans this year no matter what and may not be next year. Texas doesn't want to spend that extra money because they're squeezed.
Thanks, Steve. Vaya con Dios.
The Chavis lawsuit
If you have some good luck in this business, you'll run into some people who are willing to tell you things and are well-connected. Taking a look at the info that has already come out in the dueling lawsuits between DC John Chavis and LSU, it's clear Rob and I lucked out with a couple of sources who helped us put together a timeline that ended up being very accurate.
You'll recall that all of this mess with Chavis and LSU began in late November, about the same time A&M fired Mark Snyder. At that point, Chavis as a prospect for A&M was considered a pipe dream -- I didn't even put him on the initial hotlist, because the idea seemed so out there. Chavis was looking for a raise an extension from LSU, and didn’t get what he anticipated. He got a contract offer with a $33,000 raise and the “Miles clause”, which said LSU could terminate his contract if anything happened to Les. Considering he had gotten screwed by Tennessee because of the same clause, he rejected it.
Ross Dellenger of The Advocate, who has done a great job keeping tabs on this, reported what happened next: “Miles, Chavis and Alleva were expected to meet in ‘early December’ to discuss the contract dispute, but the athletic director never showed, documents say.
“Alleva advised Miles that he was busy and that Chavis had a contract on his desk,” the filings say.”
At that point, Chavis was donezo. And, I believe that my source told me that Chavis had contacted Sumlin on Dec. 8, noting that first contact had come a couple of days before. We knew that something serious was going on by the middle of the following week, because other names that we knew had been in touch with A&M started falling by the wayside, with Bud Foster being the only one not eliminated – and we just couldn’t figure out what was going on there because nobody in Virginia was talking. By Dec. 17, we knew A&M was honing in on Chavis alone, but it was all hush-hush – hence, Sumlin wouldn’t tell Malik Jefferson anything the next day.
By the time A&M played in the Liberty Bowl Dec. 30, we knew they had their man and it was Chavis. We didn’t know he already had an offer letter. But we did know that, when LSU played Notre Dame the next day, that Miles had made a last-ditch offer to keep him and was rebuffed. We found out later than there was a second effort, after the bowl game, and that was also rejected out of hand. By that point, it didn’t matter what Les did; Alleva had screwed things up so badly that $1.9 million wasn’t going to fix things. $3 million probably wouldn’t, because Chavis wasn’t going to come back and make nice with someone he thought had stabbed him in the back.
Two days later, he was at A&M and we looked a whole lot less stupid than we did when we first said he was a candidate. I talked to Rob earlier and we agreed that it was pretty cool that we had been able to piece together a timeline that ended up being very close to what happened.
Whew. And thank goodness for having friends in the right places.
Now, as for the case itself: I think Chavis is going to lose. Not that he’s wrong or did anything dishonest, because I don’t think there’s any evidence to support that. But the trial’s in Baton Rouge. Enough said.
On redshirts and such
One of – heck, maybe THE – most interesting thing to come out of yesterday’s press conference were two words from Kevin Sumlin on Zaycoven Henderson: “We’ll see.”
Ok, what does that mean? Does that mean he’s not healthy? Or is he still in the doghouse? Or, for the sake of this discussion, does it mean they’re thinking about redshirting him?
Follow my train of thought here (the road will be bumpy). You have two seniors in Alonzo Williams and Julien Obioha. Obioha will be back soon, probably for Arkansas. Behind them, you have Hardreck Walker and Daylon Mack at one position and Kingsley Keke and DeShawn Washington at the other. Last night, Sumlin said Keke was THE surprise of the year to date for the freshman class on his radio show, so he’s not coming out of the rotation. Washington’s done a nice job too. So, you’re three deep at both spots, but lose two seniors. How about a senior (Walker) and four sophomores – two redshirts – up front next year, with the addition of one other player to enter the rotation? If Henderson isn’t going to crack the three deep because they like what they have, why waste a season? You can continue to develop him, hopefully keep him out of trouble and bring him back for a full year in 2016, adding to your depth for an additional year down the road. Just an idea.
If you’re wondering about Justin Manning, I didn’t forget him. He hasn’t been in uniform since the first week of fall camp and was in the stands Saturday night, looking quite healthy. It could well be that he’s just not playing football anymore. We’ll see, but don’t count on him for anything. It probably wouldn’t be a smart move.
Now, the other RS to come out from yesterday: Kendall Bussey. Bussey was supposed to play this year, but his recovery from an injury suffered last year has been slower than anticipated. Just a hunch, but I’d wager the decision to shirt him came after Kwame Etwi went for 116 yards Saturday night and became possibly the most important walk-on in the SEC. I think he’s now the third back, though well behind Tra Carson and a healthy James White. Redshirting Bussey makes a ton of sense if you can get away with it; no reason in burning a year if he won’t be ready until several games into the year or more, and he’ll eventually be the veteran back in the rotation since things will be more spread out. Hopefully, next year will look like this: James White (RS-Jr.), Keith Ford (RS-Jr.), Bussey (RS-Fr.), Jay Bradford (RS-Fr.), Etwi (Soph.), Rakeem Boyd (Fr.) and one other back from the ’16 class. That starts to establish you with depth for years to come. Of course, you have to get through this year first.
11 (realistic) guys I’d like to have (Sept. edition)
As we go through to February, I think I’m going to do this once a month as A&M continues to assemble its 2016 recruiting class. The names will change as some commit, or commit elsewhere or enter or leave the equation. In any case, here are the guys I’d like to see get this class to 25 that I think they can get RIGHT NOW:
WR N’Keal Harry
CB Byron Murphy
OL Jean Delance
LB Michael Divinity
LB Jeffery McCullough
CB Eric Cuffee
RB Devwah Whaley
DT Chris Daniels
DT Ross Blacklock
S Brandon Jones
S Deontay Anderson
(If I have a couple other spots, I’d like to add Tyrie Cleveland and Kristian Fulton)
In the immediate term, very little if anything. In the long term, and I mean several years, it could have some repercussions. First, Patterson is only part of the train wreck; he may have made things toxic in the athletic department offices, but he's not the guy who can't settle on a quarterback or is firing guys after a week. He's also not the guy who continues to have recruiting problems.
Don't get me wrong. Patterson was a sleazebag (I still think he's worse than Byrne, though the thread today has made it much closer in my mind) and deserved exactly what he got. While he didn't get along with Strong, his effect on the football program was minimal. He did, however, create the much larger picture -- which other programs are using against it -- that Texas athletics is a complete cluster.
I said Monday in a thread that Patterson was the target of the big money Texas donors and they wanted him drawn and quartered, not just fired. Those same donors, however, are just fine with Charlie Strong. In fact, they believe he hasn't had enough time to implement his culture into the program.
I would agree for that except for two things: one, the handling of the OC situation -- with reports he wanted Jerrod Heard from day one, but didn't step in and say anything -- and Dennis Franchione. The excuses coming out of Austin are eerily similar to the ones we were making in 2003 and, to a lesser extent, 2004 when things weren't turning around. "He needs to create his own culture." "He needs his own players." "He wasn't left with anything." "It's not his fault."
At some point, 38-3 becomes your fault. Nearly losing to Rice becomes your fault. But, if the donors are happy, Strong is secure (through this year, at least) and A&M, TCU and Baylor can continue to reap the benefits.
Now, back to the AD deal. If Texas is smart, Oliver Luck is the first and only call they make. He's got the personality for the job, he's brilliant and he has succeeded everywhere he's been. But, if it IS Luck, his first call will be to College Station. Count on it. He'll be looking to bring back the series ASAP. So what does A&M do? The logical approach will be to tell them to pound sand. The schedule is tough enough with the SEC West alone, and then there's UCLA, Clemson, Michigan State...basically, you're busy. But can the old Ags, and the more general fans, stand for that, or will they want their old love-hate game back?
That's when the ball comes into A&M's court. A new coach in Austin would also change the equation, but I'm pretty sure from what I'm hearing that's not in the plans this year no matter what and may not be next year. Texas doesn't want to spend that extra money because they're squeezed.
Thanks, Steve. Vaya con Dios.
The Chavis lawsuit
If you have some good luck in this business, you'll run into some people who are willing to tell you things and are well-connected. Taking a look at the info that has already come out in the dueling lawsuits between DC John Chavis and LSU, it's clear Rob and I lucked out with a couple of sources who helped us put together a timeline that ended up being very accurate.
You'll recall that all of this mess with Chavis and LSU began in late November, about the same time A&M fired Mark Snyder. At that point, Chavis as a prospect for A&M was considered a pipe dream -- I didn't even put him on the initial hotlist, because the idea seemed so out there. Chavis was looking for a raise an extension from LSU, and didn’t get what he anticipated. He got a contract offer with a $33,000 raise and the “Miles clause”, which said LSU could terminate his contract if anything happened to Les. Considering he had gotten screwed by Tennessee because of the same clause, he rejected it.
Ross Dellenger of The Advocate, who has done a great job keeping tabs on this, reported what happened next: “Miles, Chavis and Alleva were expected to meet in ‘early December’ to discuss the contract dispute, but the athletic director never showed, documents say.
“Alleva advised Miles that he was busy and that Chavis had a contract on his desk,” the filings say.”
At that point, Chavis was donezo. And, I believe that my source told me that Chavis had contacted Sumlin on Dec. 8, noting that first contact had come a couple of days before. We knew that something serious was going on by the middle of the following week, because other names that we knew had been in touch with A&M started falling by the wayside, with Bud Foster being the only one not eliminated – and we just couldn’t figure out what was going on there because nobody in Virginia was talking. By Dec. 17, we knew A&M was honing in on Chavis alone, but it was all hush-hush – hence, Sumlin wouldn’t tell Malik Jefferson anything the next day.
By the time A&M played in the Liberty Bowl Dec. 30, we knew they had their man and it was Chavis. We didn’t know he already had an offer letter. But we did know that, when LSU played Notre Dame the next day, that Miles had made a last-ditch offer to keep him and was rebuffed. We found out later than there was a second effort, after the bowl game, and that was also rejected out of hand. By that point, it didn’t matter what Les did; Alleva had screwed things up so badly that $1.9 million wasn’t going to fix things. $3 million probably wouldn’t, because Chavis wasn’t going to come back and make nice with someone he thought had stabbed him in the back.
Two days later, he was at A&M and we looked a whole lot less stupid than we did when we first said he was a candidate. I talked to Rob earlier and we agreed that it was pretty cool that we had been able to piece together a timeline that ended up being very close to what happened.
Whew. And thank goodness for having friends in the right places.
Now, as for the case itself: I think Chavis is going to lose. Not that he’s wrong or did anything dishonest, because I don’t think there’s any evidence to support that. But the trial’s in Baton Rouge. Enough said.
On redshirts and such
One of – heck, maybe THE – most interesting thing to come out of yesterday’s press conference were two words from Kevin Sumlin on Zaycoven Henderson: “We’ll see.”
Ok, what does that mean? Does that mean he’s not healthy? Or is he still in the doghouse? Or, for the sake of this discussion, does it mean they’re thinking about redshirting him?
Follow my train of thought here (the road will be bumpy). You have two seniors in Alonzo Williams and Julien Obioha. Obioha will be back soon, probably for Arkansas. Behind them, you have Hardreck Walker and Daylon Mack at one position and Kingsley Keke and DeShawn Washington at the other. Last night, Sumlin said Keke was THE surprise of the year to date for the freshman class on his radio show, so he’s not coming out of the rotation. Washington’s done a nice job too. So, you’re three deep at both spots, but lose two seniors. How about a senior (Walker) and four sophomores – two redshirts – up front next year, with the addition of one other player to enter the rotation? If Henderson isn’t going to crack the three deep because they like what they have, why waste a season? You can continue to develop him, hopefully keep him out of trouble and bring him back for a full year in 2016, adding to your depth for an additional year down the road. Just an idea.
If you’re wondering about Justin Manning, I didn’t forget him. He hasn’t been in uniform since the first week of fall camp and was in the stands Saturday night, looking quite healthy. It could well be that he’s just not playing football anymore. We’ll see, but don’t count on him for anything. It probably wouldn’t be a smart move.
Now, the other RS to come out from yesterday: Kendall Bussey. Bussey was supposed to play this year, but his recovery from an injury suffered last year has been slower than anticipated. Just a hunch, but I’d wager the decision to shirt him came after Kwame Etwi went for 116 yards Saturday night and became possibly the most important walk-on in the SEC. I think he’s now the third back, though well behind Tra Carson and a healthy James White. Redshirting Bussey makes a ton of sense if you can get away with it; no reason in burning a year if he won’t be ready until several games into the year or more, and he’ll eventually be the veteran back in the rotation since things will be more spread out. Hopefully, next year will look like this: James White (RS-Jr.), Keith Ford (RS-Jr.), Bussey (RS-Fr.), Jay Bradford (RS-Fr.), Etwi (Soph.), Rakeem Boyd (Fr.) and one other back from the ’16 class. That starts to establish you with depth for years to come. Of course, you have to get through this year first.
11 (realistic) guys I’d like to have (Sept. edition)
As we go through to February, I think I’m going to do this once a month as A&M continues to assemble its 2016 recruiting class. The names will change as some commit, or commit elsewhere or enter or leave the equation. In any case, here are the guys I’d like to see get this class to 25 that I think they can get RIGHT NOW:
WR N’Keal Harry
CB Byron Murphy
OL Jean Delance
LB Michael Divinity
LB Jeffery McCullough
CB Eric Cuffee
RB Devwah Whaley
DT Chris Daniels
DT Ross Blacklock
S Brandon Jones
S Deontay Anderson
(If I have a couple other spots, I’d like to add Tyrie Cleveland and Kristian Fulton)
