Texas A&M Football: What Changes Need to Be Made as the Aggies Enter the SEC

The Texas A&M football team is currently 5-5 on the season. Even if the Aggies finish out the year with two wins and a bowl win, the 8-5 record will be a major disappointment for a team expected to be a top 10 unit in 2011.

The Aggies enter the Southeastern Conference in 2012, and it is obvious that some changes need to be made.

The SEC is the toughest conference in college athletics. The SEC West Division is arguably the toughest division in any sport in any conference in the nation. The Aggies will need to step up their program in numerous areas in order to be able to succeed in 2012.

From coaching to nutrition, the Aggies need to make changes. This is a look at the changes that need to be made.

Hire an Offensive Coordinator

Although the play-calling got better in the Kansas State game, it is obvious that Mike Sherman has struggled to call the right plays at the right time in 2011.

Too often he has resorted to a conservative style of play reminiscent of the NFL. He plays the percentages too often, and that has proven to be ineffective. In college you need to call plays with your gut, and let the play go with the flow of the game. Sherman's play-calling too often resembles someone going off a list of plays made before the game and is not a reflection of what has happened in the game.

He tries to outsmart defenses too often instead of just sticking with what is working.

In an ideal world the Aggies would go out and pay Chad Morris as much as it would take to leave Clemson and home to call plays in Aggieland. It may be tough to pry Morris away from a very young and talented offense at Clemson, though.

The Aggies need to bring someone in to call plays on offense and allow Sherman to address other areas of the team. Mike Gundy had a highly ranked offense at Oklahoma State, but he gave up the reigns and brought in an offensive coordinator to call plays. The results have been double-digit wins in consecutive years.

Mike Sherman needs to swallow his pride and realize that the program will be better off with another set of eyes breaking down opponents defenses from the press box.

Build a Dining Hall for Athletes

They are going to break ground on the first pieces of the athletic village once this football season ends. The first thing that A&M needs to build is a dining hall that is easily accessible to all athletes.

Right now every football player is given a per diem every day to buy food. One would like to think that they are going to the grocery store and buying healthy food to prepare, but the reality is that a lot of them are eating fast food and using the left over money to take their girlfriends out on the weekend.

You need to fuel your body properly if you want to be an elite athlete. A&M can control its athletes intake if it has a dining hall for the athletes to eat at.

Every team in the SEC has a dining hall. A&M had a great one until Cain Dining Hall was torn down. This is an easy fix that needs to be made in order to make the football team better.

Replace the Wide Receivers Coach

The wide receivers and the defensive backs are fighting it out for the title of most disappointing unit on the football team.

The defensive backs can use injuries as an excuse. The wide receivers have no excuse. The bottom line is that the Aggies wide receivers have consistently dropped passes this year.

The most glaring example of this was Jeff Fuller dropping the two-point conversion against Kansas State that would have won the game in the third overtime. Fuller has inexplicably been dropping passes all year.

Unfortunately, Fuller is not the only Aggie afflicted with the drops. Uzoma Nwchukwu and Ryan Swope have both had a number of drops this year.

Troy Walters was an outstanding college wide receiver. He was a solid pro wide receiver. He has not proven to be an effective recruiter, and the performance of his unit on the field leaves a lot to be desired. The Aggies need to seriously look at replacing Walters.

Recruit More Defensive Linemen

A&M needs to change the way it recruits. The SEC is the best conference in the nation because it has the best defensive linemen in the country on a team by team basis.

They have the best defensive linemen because every team brings in four to five defensive linemen in every recruiting class.

The SEC is a run-dominated league, and the Aggies need to bring in the defensive linemen to control the line of scrimmage. They need to bring in two nose guards in every recruiting class until their DL is up to snuff.

The Aggie coaches need to understand that they need to bring in high school players like Tomme Mark from Lufkin, Texas, and supplement those recruits with junior college defensive linemen.

To win in the SEC you need to win at the point of attack. The Aggies need to boost their defensive line recruiting if they want to do that.

Assign a Coach to Special Teams

Right now the Aggies have a coaching by committee approach to special teams.

The results on the field have been anything but special. The Aggies have been average in the return game and have not had a decent punter in a couple of years.

They need to assign someone to focus on special teams. The Aggies need to be better in all phases if they want to be able to compete in the SEC. You cannot be weak in any one phase of the game in the SEC. Right now the Aggies are mediocre to weak on special teams, and that needs to change.

Play for Four Quarters

There is a lot of irony in the fact that A&M has struggled to hang onto leads this season. SEC football teams play hard for four quarters because they play with more passion than any other teams in the country.

A&M is going to have to adjust to this after coming from the Big 12 where teams tend to give up and accept a loss if they are down in the fourth quarter. Low and behold this season happened, and I think finishing is going to to a major focus in the offseason.

I actually think the nine-game conference schedule this year is a great primer for playing in the SEC next year. The Aggies have not had an easy game yet. They got the chance to play 10 tough games in a row this year, which will prepare them for the kind of effort they need to extend every week in 2012.