Texas A&M Football: Why Mike Sherman Is the Right Coach for the Future

The Texas A&M Football Team is has lost three of their first eight games in a season that began with great expectations. As is the case with most college football fans much of the blame has been laid at the feet of the head coach, Mike Sherman.

The Aggies are 24-22 since Sherman has taken over. Many of Sherman's skeptics point out that his record at this point mirrors that of former Aggie coach Dennis Franchione.

There are many calling for Sherman's head. They believe that he simply cannot get the job done and is not the man to lead the Aggies into the shark infested waters of the Southeastern Conference.

Losses magnify fans discontent and the loss to a 3-4 Missouri team on Saturday ignited a lot of frustration in Aggieland.

The Aggies need to show some restraint and some patience. Mike Sherman is the right man to lead the Aggies this season and into the future.

Mike Sherman Rebuilt the A&M Program

Few people realize how bad off the program was when Sherman took over after Dennis Franchione left.

In Fran's last two recruiting classes he signed a grand total of three offensive linemen. One of whom was Lucas Patterson, who ended up playing defensive end for the Aggies. Your team is only as good as its offensive line and Fran simply did not recruit offensive linemen well. I often wonder what Fran would have done for an OL had he stuck around.

Those two recruiting classes produced one starter on the OL in Evan Eike, who is currently running third team at offensive guard.

Mike Sherman stepped in and completely rebuilt to the OL to where it is now—one of the strongest units in the nation. There were similar issues at other positions. The bottom line is that Sherman has completely restocked the roster with capable talent.

Mike Sherman "Gets A&M"

I am not talking about getting A&M in the mocking way that some fans speak of Sherman.

Mike Sherman is not the right man for the job because he understands and respects Aggies' traditions.

He is the right man because he understands the inherent advantages that A&M possesses as a program and expects excellence from the program. He is not going to sit there and make excuses for why he cannot get the job done. You will not see Sherman complaining that another school has a bigger budget.

Sherman understands that A&M can recruit for itself. He knows that there is no excuse not to have a top 10 program in Aggieland and that is his expectation.

Mike Sherman knows that a program can be built in Aggieland that can rival any other college football program in the nation. He has set about building such a program and is well on his way.

While Dennis Franchione was busy explaining to Aggies why losing to Tech by 30 every year was acceptable, Sherman has set about building an athletic village and improving the facilities to where they are the best in the nation. He is trying to build the type of program that will remain elite even after he leaves.

Mike Sherman Is the Best Talent Evaluator in the Business

Mike Sherman has an unequaled eye for talent. He finds and signs future NFL football players with regularity.

Sherman found an unranked quarterback at little Livingston, TX High School and offered him a scholarship. Sherman saw a future NFL cornerback when he watched that QB running around. That quarterback was Dustin Harris. He started at CB as a true freshman and has been a key member of A&M's secondary for three years.

In his first recruiting class Sherman brought in Trent Hunter and Terrence Frederick from Katy High School. Both Hunter and Frederick have been four-year starters. Frederick will get a chance to play on Sundays. Both were unranked recruits coming out of high school.

Sherman saw a couple of snaps of a defensive end from Rowlett who lined up at linebacker and rushed the passer on some 3rd-and-long plays. He immediately offered and received a commit from the former basketball player who had never started a high school game. Damontre Moore played immediately at A&M and was named a Freshman All-American.

Despite a late start on recruiting, Sherman was able to sign Cyrus Gray and Jeff Fuller in his first recruiting class.

Sherman recruited every starter on the current offensive line. All five members of the OL will play on Sundays.

He took a three-star running back recruit from Austin Westlake named Ryan Swope who will play slot WR in the NFL in two years.

Sherman knows how to identify and develop talent. It cannot be overstated how important it is to have a talent evaluator like Sherman on the staff. He can ensure that A&M has enough talent to play with anyone for years to come.

Sherman Has Shown the Ability to Adjust

The last coach at A&M had such a huge ego that he thought the system mattered above all else. He was unable to admit when he was wrong and never adjusted his program. He actually hired an old friend of his away from the insurance business to become the defensive coordinator.

Sherman has no such issues with ego. When it became obvious that Joe Kines was simply not getting the job done as a defensive coordinator, he went out and methodically looked for the best candidate in the business. He chose Tim Deruyter and the defense jumped over 50 spots in the rankings in a year.

If this season continues to veer off course, I am sure Sherman will make some more moves in the offseason.

Sherman has no ego when it comes to winning. He will make the adjustments to mold A&M into an elite program.

Sherman Rebuilt the Strength and Conditioning Program

Nothing was more frustrating to Aggies than watching the football players under Fran digress the longer they were in the program. Franchione wanted a strength and conditioning program that focused on strength above all else.

For some off reason he thought that bench press was the key to a great football team.

During Fran's tenure A&M featured teams that were slow and lacked explosiveness on both sides of the ball. The fastest a player would be at A&M was as a freshman—before they spent time in the strength program.

Sherman brought in Dave Kennedy as the S&C coach and completely changed this around. Now A&M has one of the best S&C programs in the country.

They add good weight to players and increase their speed while on campus. The S&C program helped transform Von Miller from a 210-pound defensive end when he arrived on campus into a 240-pound Butkus Award winning linebacker as a senior.

This is just another prime example of how Sherman has helped completely turn this program around. 

Sherman Has the Right Mentality for the SEC

While Sherman has rightfully received criticism for his NFL-like play-calling, his ability to remain on an even keel throughout the season will be a great asset in the SEC.

Every weekend in the Southeastern Conference is a war. The Aggies need a coach who will not get too high or too low and will prepare the team to take the season one game at a time.

They do not need a coach who freaks out over a loss, because in the SEC losses are going to happen. Sherman will be a steadying influence on the team as they enter the toughest conference in the country.