Texas A&M Football: 5 Necessary Changes for SEC Success

Texas A&M so far has gotten huge amounts of criticism on and off the field for their move to the SEC. Personally, I believe that it's one of the best moves the university has made in my lifetime, but no matter what your opinion is, this is happening. 

As the A&M faithful look upon one of the most disappointing seasons ever for the Aggies in recent memory, they all realize one thing. If things don't start to pick up soon for Texas A&M football, their conference record will be much nastier than 3-4.

Whether that comes as a coaching change, scheming, game plans or just overall players, many things need to be different moving into the inaugural SEC season. With the Aggies entering the toughest division in the nation, it's actually frightening to think they remain at the same level of competitiveness next year.

Check out five things A&M must change if they want to be known as any kind of threat in the SEC. 

Take Advantage of the Home Field

This season, A&M has lost two big games at home to two teams that they had beat. Kyle Field is known as one of the best venues in college football, and the Aggies need to take advantage of that. 

Oklahoma State was down by 17 points going into the half, having been outplayed on both sides of the ball easily by A&M. One of the best offensive duos in the nation looked dormant, while the OSU defense seemed to be having trouble holding up Tannehill and the offense. 

The entire Aggie sideline fed off the energy from the crowd the entire first half, using that against the Cowboys. When the second half came, however, it seemed they were content with their lead and didn't need the 12th man any longer. 

Despite the constant yelling of the Kyle Field faithful, A&M was sunk by not only their complacency, but also their inability to use the crowd to their advantage once the lead was taken. That has to change. 

Missouri is another great example. Texas A&M had the Tigers beaten in the first half, going up big before the second quarter ended. In the fourth quarter, though, they allowed so many points that they had to come back just to put the game into overtime. 

Not to say that other fans are less loyal, but A&M fans are known to stay till the final whistle. Aggies are some of the most faithful in the business, and not taking advantage of that would be a mistake when explosive SEC teams come to visit. 

Avoid Road Intimidation

Texas A&M's toughest road game this year was against Oklahoma in Norman. Aggie fans, including myself, were confident that if A&M could get OU on the ropes early, they would have trouble making a comeback.

The football team instead became intimidated by the seemingly powerful Sooners, allowing four touchdowns in the third quarter alone. I can guarantee you that Norman is nothing compared to most SEC venues A&M will be visiting. 

Road intimidation is extremely difficult to avoid, especially against teams that are known to be tough to beat. However, dropping that feeling will be something A&M must learn quick if they want to have any wins that aren't in Texas next year. 

Whether it be the sheer size of Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium or the cowbells at Mississippi State, the Aggies have to focus on the team they play rather than where it will be at. Every SEC university except maybe Vanderbilt and Kentucky will have some of the rowdiest crowds the Aggies will ever see.

To just name a few more in addition to Alabama and MSU that I'm personally worried about, Texas A&M will have to play in the Swamp, Between the Hedges, at Neyland, in Jordan-Hare and finally, every other year at Death Valley.  

I just got chills. 

Defense

As pretty much all Aggie football fans know, A&M has one of the worst pass defenses in the nation. It's actually despicable how bad they are considering how much promise they had coming into the season. 

Tim DeRuyter is one of the best defensive minds in college football, improving the defense dramatically last year from the season before. His run defense has been one of the strongest nation-wide, holding most Big 12 teams to minimalistic rushing yards.

However, as far as pass defense goes, A&M is horrible. Only their sack totals are impressive, but that doesn't make up for the poor secondary play they've had all season. 

The SEC won't tolerate a poor pass defense. They will rip the Aggies limb from limb in the air, tearing apart some of the best talent on the field. SEC defenses are some of the best in the country, and if A&M wants to have any kind of success, they will have to match their new conference's defensive intensity. 

Coaching

Changes in coaching can come in many ways. A&M can either acquire all new coaches, have Sherman pick up new assistants or just have Sherman and his underlings change their coaching style. 

One of Sherman's best aspects is his ability to recruit. He is one of the best in the country at spotting NFL level talent and has demonstrated that his players will go on to be NFL draftees in the future. However, this doesn't help his conservative coaching style much.

He started out well enough, playing some of his earlier games extremely aggressively, but now has settled back into an unacceptable amount of conservatism. This style has been criticized as too NFL-like, which hurts A&M a great deal on the gridiron.

If he wants to hold onto his job, Sherman will have to play his next two games aggressively and with a lot of passion. He needs one win to make sure A&M makes a bowl game, but beating just Kansas won't be good enough for the A&M faithful to continue to believe in keeping him at Aggieland.

A win over Texas in what may be one of the final meetings of these two rivals would put him in for at least another year.

Otherwise, AD Byrne should start to look for a new head coach to head up A&M's inaugural SEC season.  

Finish Games

Perhaps it's just me, but this is certainly the biggest aspect of A&M football that has to change. Not finishing out games strong is one of the most frustrating things to any football fan, and it sure has Aggies on the brink of insanity. 

Multiple times this season, Texas A&M has been leading late only to allow their opponent to not only outscore them, but flat-out out play them. The third quarter has been especially dangerous, killing our chances time after time. For example, OU scored 28 points in the third quarter alone with no response. 

More frustrating, however, is watching A&M fall apart. It starts out as small mistakes such as missed blocks, but eventually evolves into much more consequential mishaps such as dropped balls or missed tackles. 

If A&M had been able to finish out games this season, the Aggies would be sitting with only a single loss to OU at Norman. One of the most despairing feelings to have going into a second half with a lead is knowing that by the final whistle, that seemingly clinched victory will have become a loss. 

In the SEC, teams are much more explosive than in the Big 12. Finishing games will be of the upmost importance, especially on the road. 

Texas A&M has the potential to be one of the most powerful universities in their new conference, but it will require discipline, attention to detail and most of all, a strong will. 

I say bring it on.