My personal opinions:
Bundy, isn't it a bit silly to be counting "targets", especially with Sherman, given his proven disasterous recruiting A&M record with the Feb 08 class and now this class ? Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
If we count "targets" , shouldn't we count all those "targets" that we offered, and TU, lsu and ou then committed this year? Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
Coaches in their first college year recruiting out of the NFL :
Saban's first year at 'Bama signed 3 five stars and 19 four stars! Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
Weis' first year at Notre Dame signed 2 five stars and 10 four stars! Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
Sherman doesn't have crap signed in both the Feb 08 class, and so far committed for the Feb 09 class. Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
There is no need to keep Sherman around after this year, if he can't do as well as Weis and Saban; the AD that hired this mistake must go as well. Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
It's simple! Sign 12-21 four and five star players, like Weis and Saban did under very similar circumstances, and Sherman stays another year: anything less and Sherman and Byrne are on Highway 6. All Aggies are sick of incompentency, and can't stand another decade of losing like the last decade.
The only measure of a good recruiting coach is "did he average signing FIFTEEN TO SEVENTEEN FOUR AND FIVE STAR FOOTBALL PLAYERS EACH YEAR FOR THE LAST FIVE+ YEARS"?
This is where it starts and every coach that won a MNC in this decade averaged 15-17. As it so happens, these same coaches also win in the Big 12, SEC, Pac 10, etc. consistantly. A&M doesn't recruit 15-17 four and five star players and hence, looses consistantly.
A&M has averaged signing only 6 of these four and five star athletes every year this whole decade. Until the 80+% figure this out, Aggies will always lose!
For the 80+%, Aggies, "averaging signing six 4*/5* athletes each year, "BAD": Aggies, averaging signing fifteen+ 4*/5* athletes each year, "GOOD"!
Recruiting has by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
We've now lost two straight classes. UT, lsu and ou have won the battles where we also offered. Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
Saban's and Weis' schools both had no better W/L record the last five years, and no bigger budget than A&M.
You dont have to win first to recruit well, damn it; to say you have to win first is simply a lie and a very poor excuse for Sherman!
Saban and Weis both didn't set the world on fire on the field their first season, while they recruited big!
They both were just smarter, and with a similar budget, hired 9 assistants that could recruit, and relate to four and five star football players! Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
A&M actually committed 13 four stars last year for Feb 08 and had several more ready to commit, but when Sherman and Cassidy were hired in November 07, they ended up signing only seven four stars! Recruiting by-passed Sherman in the last decade.
Everyone knows recruiting by-passed RC, Cassidy, and Sherman in the last decade, and the only people not saying this in public, are the same few A&M athletic department/blog surrogats and some few former football players posting daily "sweet nothings" on various blogs about Sherman
Yet, the last recent Sherman commit has no stars beside his name, Clemson and Michigan just recently started committing four and five star Texas athletes that could help A&M.
Is Sherman using that proven recruiting formula he learned from RC and Tim? "UT, lsu, and ou get the first 45 ranked star players; Michigan, usc, osu, florida, etc. get the next 40 star players; Nebraska had more ranked players signed for the last 4 years, okie state more for the last 3 years, and cu more the last year! Then its easy for the A&M coaching staff to find a half dozen ranked leftovers; they may not fit our needs, but so what?
Everyone also recognizes that it was RC that recruited and coached for up to four years, the seniors, juniors and sophs that led to 77-0 the next year; the last of RC's recruits finally finished this past season in 07.
The seniors and juniors this year, that as sophs and fish, led A&M to 9 wins, and within one field goal in the ou game of playing in the Big 12 championship game for a BCS bowl, will win the Big 12 this year! They did this with almost no help from any RC recruits in 2006.
This proven senior, junior, Heisman led talent is all back, plus additionally now have talented RS soph's and RS fish backing them up. and only the possibility of coaching, as bad as their last two recruiting class results, will stop them!
This winning ends in 08, because in 09, Shermans two lost classes will delute the squad beyond repair in the forseeable future.
The schedule is favorable, every other Big 12 team lost an average of 17 seniors with many of them being starters, the experienced talent is all proven under fire, and it's A&M's year to be champs in 2008!
Miller58
A&M, a rebuilding and a winning season in 2006, and champs in 2008!
