Hello Huskers

[who?mikejones]

Hello Huskers.

Aggie fan here. I just wanted to tell you how much I am looking forward to this game. It is gonna be crazy. Not crazy in the ittech sleezy way either.

Nebraska happens to be my second favorite team in the nation ever since one of my family's best friends played for the Corn baseball team. You might know him. He played back when yall went to back to back CWS. He now coaches for the good guys.

After experiencing yall's friendly atmosphere how can anyone not like you guys?

I have no idea what to expect this weekend. I haven't watched your team play save a couple of snaps here and there. But I have watched all the Aggie games that I could. If you have any questions about our team I would be happy to give you my observations.

Looking forward to the ensuing beat down of the corn...

 

[junior4949]

I'd like your take as an Aggies fan about our two respective programs. In 2002, Nebraska had a 7-7 season followed up by a 10-3 season in 2003. We fired our coach and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2006, Texas A&M had a 9-4 season followed up by a 7-5 season in 2007. You guys showed your coach the door and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2004, Nebraska's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 5-6. In 2008, Texas A&M's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 4-8. Nebraska's ex-NFL coach put up an 8-4 record his second year while Texas A&M's ex-NFL coach put up a stellar 6-7 record. Do you yet see where I'm going with any of this? I could also point out another similarity of the two programs with regards to the Athletic Director $ Byrne. However, I have noticed one significantly huge difference between our two programs. Nebraska NEVER fired its winningest coach in history!

 

[dallas ag]

I'd like your take as an Aggies fan about our two respective programs. In 2002, Nebraska had a 7-7 season followed up by a 10-3 season in 2003. We fired our coach and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2006, Texas A&M had a 9-4 season followed up by a 7-5 season in 2007. You guys showed your coach the door and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2004, Nebraska's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 5-6. In 2008, Texas A&M's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 4-8. Nebraska's ex-NFL coach put up an 8-4 record his second year while Texas A&M's ex-NFL coach put up a stellar 6-7 record. Do you yet see where I'm going with any of this? I could also point out another similarity of the two programs with regards to the Athletic Director $ Byrne. However, I have noticed one significantly huge difference between our two programs. Nebraska NEVER fired its winningest coach in history!

Your winningest coach in history had a lot more skins on the wall than ours. You did fire Solich after he was pretty darned successful, though. Further, RC's record was declining each year and he was getting beaten in recruiting badly by Mack and Stoops. We had to make a change and, unfortunately, Fran wasn't the guy.

As far as comparing Callahan and Sherman - I see the similarities that you note, but I think there is one HUGE difference between the 2. Callahan basically came up there and spit on Husker traditions and Dr. Tom. Why anyone would do that at such a proud and historic program as NU is beyond me. Fran did that to some degree at A&M, too - not quite as bad as Callahan, but he was never fully embraced by our school and wasn't a cultural fit. Pelini and Sherman do share that trait, as both have embraced the history of the program and are seeing dividends.

The state of the program that Sherman inherited was simply embarrassing in terms of talent. Somehow, in 2008, we only had 9 scholarship OL left on the roster total! Further, we were lacking speed and talent across the board. No one could've won with the team that Sherm inherited. We believe we are witnessing the turnaround as we speak, as the difference in talent level and production between this team and the teams we have had over the last 10 years or so is night and day. So, I think you are a little early to be taking the base level comparisons you applied to Sherman and Callahan at face value.

 

[corncraze]

I'd like your take as an Aggies fan about our two respective programs. In 2002, Nebraska had a 7-7 season followed up by a 10-3 season in 2003. We fired our coach and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2006, Texas A&M had a 9-4 season followed up by a 7-5 season in 2007. You guys showed your coach the door and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2004, Nebraska's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 5-6. In 2008, Texas A&M's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 4-8. Nebraska's ex-NFL coach put up an 8-4 record his second year while Texas A&M's ex-NFL coach put up a stellar 6-7 record. Do you yet see where I'm going with any of this? I could also point out another similarity of the two programs with regards to the Athletic Director $ Byrne. However, I have noticed one significantly huge difference between our two programs. Nebraska NEVER fired its winningest coach in history!

Lets be nice now...

Thanks Aggies fans for the kind words. I really felt for yall when Texas was about to blame the Big 12 collapse on yall when you guys were trying to go to the SEC.

 

[who?mikejones]

I'd like your take as an Aggies fan about our two respective programs. In 2002, Nebraska had a 7-7 season followed up by a 10-3 season in 2003. We fired our coach and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2006, Texas A&M had a 9-4 season followed up by a 7-5 season in 2007. You guys showed your coach the door and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2004, Nebraska's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 5-6. In 2008, Texas A&M's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 4-8. Nebraska's ex-NFL coach put up an 8-4 record his second year while Texas A&M's ex-NFL coach put up a stellar 6-7 record. Do you yet see where I'm going with any of this? I could also point out another similarity of the two programs with regards to the Athletic Director $ Byrne. However, I have noticed one significantly huge difference between our two programs. Nebraska NEVER fired its winningest coach in history!

I can't say all that much about NU's program. To me, it just followed the natural ebbs and flows of sports.

As far as TAMU's recent history goes, I feel it is a little different. Yes, we fired our all time winningest coach. I was a fish that year and agreed with the decision. Looking back, it was probably the wrong decision. But, the team's slide under Slocum was quite obvious to us. Brown and Stoops had gotten the upper hand and we flat out could not recruit against them and that led to a bad product on the field.

Then comes Fran. Everyone, including me, was stoked to be getting Fran. Here is a guy that started TCU's run to powerhouse status and did well enough to have Alabama in the conference championship game if it would have been allowed to be. So we went from an old, aging coach to a younger hotter coach, which we thought we needed to compete with the sips and land thieves. Well, he turned out to be a huge bust. Whether it be game planning, recruiting, talent evaluation, motivating or keeping the donors informed, he sucked at all of it. I truly feel he took the program to an all time low. He took our program to a place that no one really wants to admit to this day. He was run out of town and rightfully so.

Now, we get to Sherman. A shady hire. No real coaching search that we fans know of. IMO, it looks to be just what the doctor ordered. I think he understands that a college program can not be run the same way a NFL team is run. He acts like the college game is much more a life event rather than a job. And I think the players really respond to this.

Also, he is a great talent evaluator. Look at some of the guys who are playing this weekend for our team. They were nobodies on the recruiting scene. Ex 1: Watch our DE # 94...Moore. The kid is a true fish and he is already a beast. There are many other guys on the team that fit this mold such as Ryan Swope etal.

Finally, I don't think the coming years will be a let down like after Cally's good year. Sherman's building the program from the ground up. He is recruiting from the inside out. Our O line is going to be a beast in the coming years because of the signatures he has gotten. He also weeded out all of the selfish players. I seriously do not think there is a player on this team who puts themselves before the team. Look a J. Johnson. He was the Big 12 Pre season offensive player of the year. He is now on the bench. A move like that divides most teams. This team took it in stride and moved on.

In the end, winning is the only thing that matters. That continues with this weekend for both teams.

 

[junior4949]

I'd like your take as an Aggies fan about our two respective programs. In 2002, Nebraska had a 7-7 season followed up by a 10-3 season in 2003. We fired our coach and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2006, Texas A&M had a 9-4 season followed up by a 7-5 season in 2007. You guys showed your coach the door and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2004, Nebraska's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 5-6. In 2008, Texas A&M's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 4-8. Nebraska's ex-NFL coach put up an 8-4 record his second year while Texas A&M's ex-NFL coach put up a stellar 6-7 record. Do you yet see where I'm going with any of this? I could also point out another similarity of the two programs with regards to the Athletic Director $ Byrne. However, I have noticed one significantly huge difference between our two programs. Nebraska NEVER fired its winningest coach in history!

Your winningest coach in history had a lot more skins on the wall than ours. You did fire Solich after he was pretty darned successful, though. Further, RC's record was declining each year and he was getting beaten in recruiting badly by Mack and Stoops. We had to make a change and, unfortunately, Fran wasn't the guy.

As far as comparing Callahan and Sherman - I see the similarities that you note, but I think there is one HUGE difference between the 2. Callahan basically came up there and spit on Husker traditions and Dr. Tom. Why anyone would do that at such a proud and historic program as NU is beyond me. Fran did that to some degree at A&M, too - not quite as bad as Callahan, but he was never fully embraced by our school and wasn't a cultural fit. Pelini and Sherman do share that trait, as both have embraced the history of the program and are seeing dividends.

The state of the program that Sherman inherited was simply embarrassing in terms of talent. Somehow, in 2008, we only had 9 scholarship OL left on the roster total! Further, we were lacking speed and talent across the board. No one could've won with the team that Sherm inherited. We believe we are witnessing the turnaround as we speak, as the difference in talent level and production between this team and the teams we have had over the last 10 years or so is night and day. So, I think you are a little early to be taking the base level comparisons you applied to Sherman and Callahan at face value.

In December 1988, R.C. Slocum was named head coach at Texas A&M. During his 14 years as head coach, Slocum led the Aggies to a record of 123–47–2, making him the winningest coach in Texas A&M history. During his career, Slocum never had a losing season and won four conference championships, including the Big 12 title in 1998. Additionally, he led the Aggies to become the first school in the Southwest Conference history to post three consecutive perfect conference seasons. Slocum reached 100 wins faster than any other active coach. He has the best winning percentage in SWC history, one spot ahead of the legendary coach Darrell Royal who is number 2. Slocum helped make A&M's Kyle Field become one of the hardest places for opponents to play, losing only 12 games at home in 14 years. For over a year, A&M held the longest home-winning streak in the nation, losing in 1989 and not again until late in 1995. In the 1990s, A&M lost only four times at Kyle Field. Slocum was named SWC Coach of the Year three times during his tenure as head coach. His "Wrecking Crew" defense led the SWC in four statistical categories from 1991 through 1993 and led the nation in total defense in 1991.

While you say you had to make a change, but maybe there was more to it. This might shed some light as to why Slocum was getting outrecruited: Slocum continually pressed Texas A&M to update the athletic facilities so that the university could compete with rivals Texas and Oklahoma in football recruiting. Officials finally listened to his pleas and began a large facility expansion project. This was too late to save Slocum. He was fired in 2002 after a 6–6 season, which included a win over number-one-ranked Oklahoma. He was succeeded by Dennis Franchione as head coach. Nebraska also seemed more willing to upgrade facilities after Solich was gone.

I did find one more nugget in terms of comparing Clownahan to Sherman. The loss in 2008 to the Texas Longhorns was their worst in the series since 1898. This compares to Clownahan's losses to Texas Tech in 04' and KU in 07'. I'm really not trying to bag on A&M at all, but you do have to admit there are a lot of similarities between Clownahan and Sherman. I believe Slocum got a raw deal. While Slocum did only have a 6-6 season the year he was fired, he had an identical season in 1996. He followed up the 6-6 season in 96' by winning the Big 12 South in 97'. Slocum won his conference nearly 30% of the time. Mack Brown at Texas has only won his conference around 15% of the time. I think it should also be noted that Slocum inherited a huge problem when he was hired as A&M was on probation his first two years as head coach.

 

[beanman]

I'd like your take as an Aggies fan about our two respective programs. In 2002, Nebraska had a 7-7 season followed up by a 10-3 season in 2003. We fired our coach and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2006, Texas A&M had a 9-4 season followed up by a 7-5 season in 2007. You guys showed your coach the door and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2004, Nebraska's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 5-6. In 2008, Texas A&M's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 4-8. Nebraska's ex-NFL coach put up an 8-4 record his second year while Texas A&M's ex-NFL coach put up a stellar 6-7 record. Do you yet see where I'm going with any of this? I could also point out another similarity of the two programs with regards to the Athletic Director $ Byrne. However, I have noticed one significantly huge difference between our two programs. Nebraska NEVER fired its winningest coach in history!

I can't say all that much about NU's program. To me, it just followed the natural ebbs and flows of sports.

As far as TAMU's recent history goes, I feel it is a little different. Yes, we fired our all time winningest coach. I was a fish that year and agreed with the decision. Looking back, it was probably the wrong decision. But, the team's slide under Slocum was quite obvious to us. Brown and Stoops had gotten the upper hand and we flat out could not recruit against them and that led to a bad product on the field.

Then comes Fran. Everyone, including me, was stoked to be getting Fran. Here is a guy that started TCU's run to powerhouse status and did well enough to have Alabama in the conference championship game if it would have been allowed to be. So we went from an old, aging coach to a younger hotter coach, which we thought we needed to compete with the sips and land thieves. Well, he turned out to be a huge bust. Whether it be game planning, recruiting, talent evaluation, motivating or keeping the donors informed, he sucked at all of it. I truly feel he took the program to an all time low. He took our program to a place that no one really wants to admit to this day. He was run out of town and rightfully so.

Now, we get to Sherman. A shady hire. No real coaching search that we fans know of. IMO, it looks to be just what the doctor ordered. I think he understands that a college program can not be run the same way a NFL team is run. He acts like the college game is much more a life event rather than a job. And I think the players really respond to this.

Also, he is a great talent evaluator. Look at some of the guys who are playing this weekend for our team. They were nobodies on the recruiting scene. Ex 1: Watch our DE # 94...Moore. The kid is a true fish and he is already a beast. There are many other guys on the team that fit this mold such as Ryan Swope etal.

Finally, I don't think the coming years will be a let down like after Cally's good year. Sherman's building the program from the ground up. He is recruiting from the inside out. Our O line is going to be a beast in the coming years because of the signatures he has gotten. He also weeded out all of the selfish players. I seriously do not think there is a player on this team who puts themselves before the team. Look a J. Johnson. He was the Big 12 Pre season offensive player of the year. He is now on the bench. A move like that divides most teams. This team took it in stride and moved on.

In the end, winning is the only thing that matters. That continues with this weekend for both teams.

I must admit that I thought Sherman was a terrible hire. But it's too early to tell at this point. He may end up turning things around and it looks like things are headed in the right direction. Now to the real issue at hand, what exactly is a "sip" and why do you refer to Texas as this?

 

[who?mikejones]

Urban Dictionary says: "One who attends or attended the University of Texas (t.u.) in Austin, Texas. The term tea-sip (also spelled teasip, t-sip, or t sip) was started by students of Texas A&M University (aka. Aggies) in the early 1900's to belittle the well-to-do students of t.u. The University of Texas was traditionally the "rich" school which pumped out doctors, lawyers and the like. A&M was the blue collar school which traditionally taught Agriculture and Mechanics (engineering)."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tea-sip

basically, we were off fighting the war while they were sitting around sipping tea.

and for a more historically accurate definition:

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/tea_sipper_or_teasipper_tea_sip_or_teasip_university_of_texas_at_austin_stu/

 

[AggieGirl2005]

Now to the real issue at hand, what exactly is a "sip" and why do you refer to Texas as this?

"T-sips" are Texas students but where it comes from, I don't know. I've heard several answers, but the one I've heard the most is that it came back during WW2. A&M was a military school at that time, and a lot of students at UT were perceived to be highfalutin (yes, never get to use that word!) rich sons of doctors and lawyers who stayed home from war, sipping tea.

 

[Javelina]

I must admit that I thought Sherman was a terrible hire. But it's too early to tell at this point. He may end up turning things around and it looks like things are headed in the right direction. Now to the real issue at hand, what exactly is a "sip" and why do you refer to Texas as this?

"Sip" is short for tea sip (or t-sip), one of the tamer derogatory terms we Ags have for our friends in Austin. I've heard several stories as to the origin of the term, but the one I like to think is true stems from WWII, where A&M produced a large number of service members during the war, oftentimes with entire graduating classes enlisting or joining the officer ranks. So while Aggie men where off fighting the Axis powers, young men from the other school where at home, sipping tea.

 

[p_bubel]

"sip" or "tea sipper" is a pretty old derogatory term in reference to UT. As I heard it, as the Aggies went to war, the Longhorns sat around and sipped tea. It could also be a reference to the blue-collar school versus the well to do one.

 

[Javelina]

Alright, I guess I was late to the game.

 

[p_bubel]

Heh. Get enough answers for that one?

 

[dallas ag]

I'd like your take as an Aggies fan about our two respective programs. In 2002, Nebraska had a 7-7 season followed up by a 10-3 season in 2003. We fired our coach and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2006, Texas A&M had a 9-4 season followed up by a 7-5 season in 2007. You guys showed your coach the door and replaced him with an ex-NFL fired head coach. In 2004, Nebraska's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 5-6. In 2008, Texas A&M's ex-NFL head coach put up a whopping record of 4-8. Nebraska's ex-NFL coach put up an 8-4 record his second year while Texas A&M's ex-NFL coach put up a stellar 6-7 record. Do you yet see where I'm going with any of this? I could also point out another similarity of the two programs with regards to the Athletic Director $ Byrne. However, I have noticed one significantly huge difference between our two programs. Nebraska NEVER fired its winningest coach in history!

Your winningest coach in history had a lot more skins on the wall than ours. You did fire Solich after he was pretty darned successful, though. Further, RC's record was declining each year and he was getting beaten in recruiting badly by Mack and Stoops. We had to make a change and, unfortunately, Fran wasn't the guy.

As far as comparing Callahan and Sherman - I see the similarities that you note, but I think there is one HUGE difference between the 2. Callahan basically came up there and spit on Husker traditions and Dr. Tom. Why anyone would do that at such a proud and historic program as NU is beyond me. Fran did that to some degree at A&M, too - not quite as bad as Callahan, but he was never fully embraced by our school and wasn't a cultural fit. Pelini and Sherman do share that trait, as both have embraced the history of the program and are seeing dividends.

The state of the program that Sherman inherited was simply embarrassing in terms of talent. Somehow, in 2008, we only had 9 scholarship OL left on the roster total! Further, we were lacking speed and talent across the board. No one could've won with the team that Sherm inherited. We believe we are witnessing the turnaround as we speak, as the difference in talent level and production between this team and the teams we have had over the last 10 years or so is night and day. So, I think you are a little early to be taking the base level comparisons you applied to Sherman and Callahan at face value.

In December 1988, R.C. Slocum was named head coach at Texas A&M. During his 14 years as head coach, Slocum led the Aggies to a record of 123–47–2, making him the winningest coach in Texas A&M history. During his career, Slocum never had a losing season and won four conference championships, including the Big 12 title in 1998. Additionally, he led the Aggies to become the first school in the Southwest Conference history to post three consecutive perfect conference seasons. Slocum reached 100 wins faster than any other active coach. He has the best winning percentage in SWC history, one spot ahead of the legendary coach Darrell Royal who is number 2. Slocum helped make A&M's Kyle Field become one of the hardest places for opponents to play, losing only 12 games at home in 14 years. For over a year, A&M held the longest home-winning streak in the nation, losing in 1989 and not again until late in 1995. In the 1990s, A&M lost only four times at Kyle Field. Slocum was named SWC Coach of the Year three times during his tenure as head coach. His "Wrecking Crew" defense led the SWC in four statistical categories from 1991 through 1993 and led the nation in total defense in 1991.

While you say you had to make a change, but maybe there was more to it. This might shed some light as to why Slocum was getting outrecruited: Slocum continually pressed Texas A&M to update the athletic facilities so that the university could compete with rivals Texas and Oklahoma in football recruiting. Officials finally listened to his pleas and began a large facility expansion project. This was too late to save Slocum. He was fired in 2002 after a 6–6 season, which included a win over number-one-ranked Oklahoma. He was succeeded by Dennis Franchione as head coach. Nebraska also seemed more willing to upgrade facilities after Solich was gone.

I did find one more nugget in terms of comparing Clownahan to Sherman. The loss in 2008 to the Texas Longhorns was their worst in the series since 1898. This compares to Clownahan's losses to Texas Tech in 04' and KU in 07'. I'm really not trying to bag on A&M at all, but you do have to admit there are a lot of similarities between Clownahan and Sherman. I believe Slocum got a raw deal. While Slocum did only have a 6-6 season the year he was fired, he had an identical season in 1996. He followed up the 6-6 season in 96' by winning the Big 12 South in 97'. Slocum won his conference nearly 30% of the time. Mack Brown at Texas has only won his conference around 15% of the time. I think it should also be noted that Slocum inherited a huge problem when he was hired as A&M was on probation his first two years as head coach.

Slocum's 6-6 season during 1996 was a sign of the beginning of the end, but it was coming on the heels of a successful 7 year run, including the best 4 year stretch we have had in the modern era (1991-1994). We were able to back up that 6-6 year with back-to-back south titles and the B12 Championship in 1998. However, by 2002, we had gone from being the premier program in the South (arguably) to clearly being only the third best in the south and there were no trends that suggested we were going to turn anything around. In 1999, we came into the year with a top 5 program and turned in a disappointing 9-3 year. In 2000 and 2001, we were stunningly mediocre with 7-5 and 8-r records and the 2002 team had no excuse for going 6-6. That was the last year we had legitimate NFL talent in our defense (5 players that were drafted in 2002, I believe) and, yet, we still gave up yards and points in bunches, including yielding and embarrassing come-from-ahead loss to NU (as well as 2 or 3 others at home that year).

It was entirely clear that Slocum had reached the end of his era and it was a very easy choice to fire him. Those that say they regret it now only say so b/c Fran didn't work out. Those were two separate decisions, however. Firing Slocum equaled the right thing to do. Hiring Fran, in retrospect, equaled the wrong hire (although I contend that we couldn't have known that at the time).

If we had kept RC any longer, we wouldn't be in any better position than we are now. In fact, much as I disavowed Sherman's responsibility for his 4-8 year, I would say that Fran also inherited a mess from RC in terms of talent on our roster that year. That 2003 defense was painfully bad and untalented - and that was the direct result of RC's late-career failures.

Further, as no one has even given RC a sniff as a potential coach since then (and he tried), I fail to see how firing him wasn't the right move at that time.

Now skipping back to Sherman - I was not a fan of his hiring, either. Many A&M fans were underwhelmed, at best, with his hire. However, he has definitely upgraded our talent and we are playing very well right now - about as well as we have played in 10 years. Fran had a 9-4 year in 2007, but the team that year didn't play as consistently as this one and this one appears to have more NFL talent than anything we have seen since a decade ago. Sherman has done a solid job to this point and recent history suggests that he will be a lot more successful here than 'Clownahan' was up there. For the first time in a long time, I (and most fans I know) feel good about the direction of our program.

 

[AggieGirl2005]

Now skipping back to Sherman - I was not a fan of his hiring, either. Many A&M fans were underwhelmed, at best, with his hire. However, he has definitely upgraded our talent and we are playing very well right now - about as well as we have played in 10 years. Fran had a 9-4 year in 2007, but the team that year didn't play as consistently as this one and this one appears to have more NFL talent than anything we have seen since a decade ago. Sherman has done a solid job to this point and recent history suggests that he will be a lot more successful here than 'Clownahan' was up there. For the first time in a long time, I (and most fans I know) feel good about the direction of our program.

I've been ambivalent at best about Sherman in the past, but I feel pretty good about him now. You're right, these wins are most consistent than they were under Fran; those games weren't won, it felt more like we were lucky or the other teams didn't show up. These W's this year were fought for!