Part of his Forde Yard Dash column each Monday. There's some really mediocre numbers put up by these laughably underachieving programs.
Preach.
The two richest athletic departments in America are Texas (1) and Texas A&M (2), both of them raking in more than $212 million in 2018-19 with their massive stadiums and huge fan followings. They also sit on some of the most fertile recruiting soil in America. Yet in a sport that rewards the wealthy and the geographically blessed, the Longhorns and Aggies continue to produce middle-class results year after year.
The latest underwhelming return on investment came Saturday. Texas lost for the sixth time in the last seven meetings with TCU, a program that once was its punching bag for decades. Meanwhile, Texas A&M was routed by Alabama—and while there is no shame in losing to the Crimson Tide, the school aspires to be more than just be another bug splattered on the SEC West windshield. (Alabama, Auburn and LSU all have won the West since A&M arrived in 2012; the Aggies have not.)
Both teams have four-year starting quarterbacks, and both coaches have had enough time to recruit the players they should need to compete at a Top Ten level. Yet thus far this season, Texas is 2-1 with an extremely fortunate victory over Texas Tech, and A&M is 1-1 with a grim slog of a win over Vanderbilt.
The irony here is that two programs that do not like each other and very much want to be better than the other are almost identically mediocre. Since Texas played in the BCS Championship Game after the 2009 season, the Horns are 49-43 in Big 12 play. Since Johnny Manziel’s Heisman Trophy season in ’12, the Aggies are 29-29 in the SEC.
Both programs win more games overall than they lose, but not a lot more; they rarely win big games; they do not win their conference; they do not perform up to their perennially inflated preseason rankings; they do not perform up to their recruiting rankings; they recently spent big to land head coaches and coordinators who have not yet delivered.
Excluding bowl games, which are largely cosmetic crapshoots, Tom Herman (3) is 1-9 at Texas against teams who finished the season ranked. He’s being paid $6 million this year, and after hiring seven new assistants in the offseason the total staff salary pool is significantly higher than 2019. Jimbo Fisher (4) is 2-8 at A&M against teams that finish the season ranked. He’s being paid $7.5 million a year and has a $2 million defensive coordinator in Mike Elko. (Alabama’s $2.5 million offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, got the best of Elko Saturday.)
Herman is 27-16 in his first 43 games in Austin, a .628 winning percentage. Mack Brown was 26-17 in his final 43 games at Texas, a .605 winning percentage that got him fired despite nine straight 10-win seasons that preceded the downturn. Under Herman, Texas is 18-11 the Big 12; Iowa State has the same league record in that span.
Fisher is 18-10 in his first 28 games in College Station, a .643 winning percentage. Kevin Sumlin was fired at A&M with a .662 winning percentage. The Aggies (10-8) are two games better than Mississippi State (8-10) in SEC play since Fisher arrived.
Should either Herman or Fisher be fired? Not unless the bottom completely falls out, and even then it would be financially irresponsible. The buyouts for them and their staffs would be exorbitant. This is the path Texas and Texas A&M have chosen, and they’ll just have to keep walking down it for a while longer.
But other than bank account, fan backing and tradition, there isn’t anything special going on at the two biggest football programs in Texas.
Preach.
The two richest athletic departments in America are Texas (1) and Texas A&M (2), both of them raking in more than $212 million in 2018-19 with their massive stadiums and huge fan followings. They also sit on some of the most fertile recruiting soil in America. Yet in a sport that rewards the wealthy and the geographically blessed, the Longhorns and Aggies continue to produce middle-class results year after year.
The latest underwhelming return on investment came Saturday. Texas lost for the sixth time in the last seven meetings with TCU, a program that once was its punching bag for decades. Meanwhile, Texas A&M was routed by Alabama—and while there is no shame in losing to the Crimson Tide, the school aspires to be more than just be another bug splattered on the SEC West windshield. (Alabama, Auburn and LSU all have won the West since A&M arrived in 2012; the Aggies have not.)
Both teams have four-year starting quarterbacks, and both coaches have had enough time to recruit the players they should need to compete at a Top Ten level. Yet thus far this season, Texas is 2-1 with an extremely fortunate victory over Texas Tech, and A&M is 1-1 with a grim slog of a win over Vanderbilt.
The irony here is that two programs that do not like each other and very much want to be better than the other are almost identically mediocre. Since Texas played in the BCS Championship Game after the 2009 season, the Horns are 49-43 in Big 12 play. Since Johnny Manziel’s Heisman Trophy season in ’12, the Aggies are 29-29 in the SEC.
Both programs win more games overall than they lose, but not a lot more; they rarely win big games; they do not win their conference; they do not perform up to their perennially inflated preseason rankings; they do not perform up to their recruiting rankings; they recently spent big to land head coaches and coordinators who have not yet delivered.
Excluding bowl games, which are largely cosmetic crapshoots, Tom Herman (3) is 1-9 at Texas against teams who finished the season ranked. He’s being paid $6 million this year, and after hiring seven new assistants in the offseason the total staff salary pool is significantly higher than 2019. Jimbo Fisher (4) is 2-8 at A&M against teams that finish the season ranked. He’s being paid $7.5 million a year and has a $2 million defensive coordinator in Mike Elko. (Alabama’s $2.5 million offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, got the best of Elko Saturday.)
Herman is 27-16 in his first 43 games in Austin, a .628 winning percentage. Mack Brown was 26-17 in his final 43 games at Texas, a .605 winning percentage that got him fired despite nine straight 10-win seasons that preceded the downturn. Under Herman, Texas is 18-11 the Big 12; Iowa State has the same league record in that span.
Fisher is 18-10 in his first 28 games in College Station, a .643 winning percentage. Kevin Sumlin was fired at A&M with a .662 winning percentage. The Aggies (10-8) are two games better than Mississippi State (8-10) in SEC play since Fisher arrived.
Should either Herman or Fisher be fired? Not unless the bottom completely falls out, and even then it would be financially irresponsible. The buyouts for them and their staffs would be exorbitant. This is the path Texas and Texas A&M have chosen, and they’ll just have to keep walking down it for a while longer.
But other than bank account, fan backing and tradition, there isn’t anything special going on at the two biggest football programs in Texas.
