Recruiting Night at Fox Sports Grill

Last night I attended a recruiting summary discussion by A&M football personnel at the Fox Sports Grill in the Galleria. I joined Dad, Erv Luedke and Darrell Pesek who was gracious enough to extend me an invitation (thanks again DP!).

On hand to run down the list of '06 signees was Recruiting Coordinator Johnny Barr, Director of Football Operations Charlie North, and new Defensive Coordinator Gary Darnell.

The discussion about our signees didn't really reveal anything new that I hadn't read about on the Internet, but it was interesting to hear from Coach Darnell. I'll be the first to admit I wasn't thrilled when I read about his hiring, but like Dad said last night- we need to give him a chance. He talked a lot about his philosophy on defense and it sounds like he is committed to restoring the pride our school once had on that side of the ball. He fielded several questions from the audience, of which one of the best was asked by the distinguished gentleman sitting to my right.

Coach Darnell: "Yes sir?"
Dad: "What are we going to do about our special teams?"

As soon as the words left Dad's mouth I caught several people in the audience nodding their heads in agreement. Everybody knows we were severely lacking in punt protection (cost us two games- see Clemson & t.u.), punt coverage and kickoff coverage.

Coach Darnell answered by citing the number of injuries and that some of it was just plain bad luck. He felt we would make improvement in that facet of the game by being healthy and also by using some of the new signees on STs.

Historically, I'd be inclined to take a huge gulp of the "maroon kool-aid" at these type of deals. This time, I'm a little more cautious in what I'll let myself believe- maybe it is still lingering effects from the ISU game last year. In any case, the proof will definitely be in the pudding this year in terms of how quickly things can turn around. Franchoine's leash has certainly been shortened, and positive results are not optional next year. The soft schedule will certainly help, but if we continue to get swept by the big three in our division (t.u., OU and t.t.u.), Fran's stay in his new home in Bryan might be a short one.

Let's hope that's not the case.

Gig 'em
MT