Big 12 Football Notes

[g$$]

BIG 12 FOOTBALL

Notebook: Leach calls out coach
A&M still basking in victory over Texas.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

SAN ANTONIO — Texas Tech's Mike Leach wouldn't name the coach specifically, but he was adamant Tuesday about the poor job that his staff did on kick returns last year.

"I'm here to tell you that we were worse than the four teams we statistically finished in front of," Leach said of last year's kick returns. "Quite honestly, I think the guys who coached that team last year did an awful job. I don't think there's any way else to slice it. I think they did the 119th-best job in America."


Leach refused to say whom he was calling out, though many guessed he was talking about himself.

"As a result of that, Ruffin McNeill will be taking control of the special teams," Leach said.


McGee downplays win at Texas

The Aggie faithful continue to bask in the glory of their 12-7 victory over the Longhorns last fall. Stephen McGee says he understands the maroon-tinged euphoria but says it shouldn't be overemphasized.

"It was just one of 12 (regular-season) games," the A&M quarterback said. "The last time I checked, you only get one win for beating Texas, just like you got one win for beating Louisiana Tech. They all count for one, and they're all important."


Heard's hit still illegal

Aggie and Longhorn fans have debated throughout the winter about Kellen Heard's hit on Colt McCoy after the Texas quarterback threw an interception during the Aggies' victory in Austin. Heard was ejected from the game.

Big 12 officials, in a seminar for the media on officiating, used that play as an example of a flagrant hit. "These three plays were plays that were flagrant in nature and the players were correctly ejected from the game," the officiating video said.

(Note from g$$: Not Michael Bennett's hit on Colt McCoy as some media outlets are erroneously reporting; it was a legal form tackle leading with the facemask not crown of the helmet. Heard's was declared illegal for obvious reasons & he was ejected.)

Chizik haunted by K-State

Gene Chizik hasn't forgotten Texas' 45-42 loss to Kansas State and the Longhorns' defensive collapse. And he doesn't plan to.

"Absolutely," the former Texas defensive coordinator said when asked if the loss that knocked the Longhorns from BCS contention still bothers him. "That was a gut-wrencher. Games like that will haunt you the rest of your life. That one will haunt me when I get done 10 years from now."


Tech-A&M game in Dallas?

Leach remains noncommital when asked whether he would prefer playing the Texas Tech-Texas A&M football game with a home-and-home arrangement or at a neutral site, such as the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium going up in Arlington.

He called it "kind of a wash," but does love the atmosphere at A&M's Kyle Field.

"One thing about A&M, there's all this screaming and yelling, and people standing," the Red Raiders coach said. "It's a cool place to play, but a hard place. I've always said there are 200,000 people at that school. There are about 125 in the military, and they keep marching 'em through and marching 'em through."

[g$$]

July 25, 2007 (Houston Chronicle's Jerome Solomon)

Aggie pride; Funnyman Mike Leach

• • •

SAN ANTONIO - While talking to Bob Stoops at the Big 12 Footbal Media Days about how he does what he does - and yes, he's still among the best - it occurred to me that while he is paid quite well for his services (some $3.5 million), his compensation doesn't look as ridiculous as some.

OK, all of the top NCAA football coaches' salaries look ridiculous when compared to other school employees, but you can't get 80,000 people to show up in Norman on weekends to watch English professors profess, school presidents president or chancellors chance.

Oklahoma athletics probably has never been in a better situation financially, and that is due in large part to what Stoops' boys have done on the football field with a league-high four Big 12 championships. Oh, and he won a national title.

Almost all the other coaches around the country who make $2 million a season or more have on-the-field accomplishments at BCS schools about which to brag. Well, all but one.

Some (Stoops, USC's Pete Carroll, Ohio State's Jim Tressel, Texas' Mack Brown, Tennessee's Phil Fulmer) have held up national championship trophies. (That list could include Alabama's Nick Saban, who won a title at LSU.) Others like Kirk Ferentz (two-time Big Ten coach of the year with two league crowns), Frank Beamer (national championship game appearance and multiple conference championships), Tommy Tuberville (an undefeated season and conference championship) have assorted success to brag about at their current schools. Even Charlie Weis, who probably makes $2 million, but the Irish do a good job fighting to keep his salary secret, has consecutive BCS bowl appearances in his first two years in South Bend.

Then there is Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione, who can brag that he has beaten Baylor a couple years in a row. Whoop! (His squad did spank Texas last year - in Austin, no less. Heck, that's worth a million bucks or so by itself to some Aggies.) And with last year's impressive 9-4 record, Franchione's record at A&M is now above .500 at 25-23.

We say all this to say, isn't it about time A&M got a better return on its investment? Is it too much to ask that Franchione continue his run against the Bears and extend his one-game streak with a home win over Texas?

For the kind of money he makes, Oklahoma State and Kansas at home should be victories, and don't even waste time discussing Montana State, Fresno State and Louisiana-Monroe. (Wow, with that home schedule, don't think I'll be heading to my favorite football stadium for a game this season.)

For a few dollars more, beating Texas Tech in Lubbock would be a nice thing, but Tech has been the better team on the field for so long that it might take Tim Donaghy as an official for A&M to get back into that series.

At this point in our deciphering, we have A&M with a 7-1 or 6-2 record, with games at Miami, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Missouri, and a certain bowl loss yet to be factored in.

Looks like this might be another impressive 9-4 run for the highest paid coach in the country with the least to show for it. No, seriously, with that brutal road schedule, 9-4 isn't too bad. Considering Franchione's record in his first four years, 9-4 is money in the bank.

But hey, it ain't my money.


• • •
That said, this should be Franchione's best team at A&M. Coaches always talk about their team's potential this time of year, but when a coach goes on about how much he likes his players - "as football players, as students, as young men," Franchione says - he has a good group.

The Aggies will need a lot of good play and some luck to still be in the hunt for the South Division when they host Texas to end the regular season, because Oklahoma and Texas are simply better on paper.

But if they gave out paper championships, Mack Brown would have several.


• • •
As if Aggie pride isn't on display often enough, the other day on my radio show The Bottom Line I had OU coach Bob Stoops as a guest. Well, Stoops sat down and had to listen for a minute as somebody rambled on about the Astros - as if anybody still cares. When I broke up the chatter to run that guy, I mentioned that he was being dumped for Stoops.

The comedian, who shall remain nameless and didn't know Stoops was listening in, spouted, "Tell Stoops to quit cheating!"

Aggies.


• • •
Who doesn't love Texas Tech's Mike Leach? He was rolling once again, with off-the-wall thoughts on a host of subjects. A few of his better lines:

"I really don't know what all the rule changes are for this year, but I'll figure 'em out by halftime of the first game."

"What's up with all the computer stuff on cars these days? I like my cars to be simple. If you can't put a toggle switch on it, I really don't need it. The always try to give me a big fancy rental car .. just give me a Taurus. ... They don't make those anymore."

"I don't get motion sickness. I love reading in cars. Well, not while I'm driving so much. I try not to drive. I let others drive ... I read."

"It's very savage to play in Lubbock. I would recommend everybody that can, try to avoid it. There has been scalpings and there have been some people that quite simply just haven't returned. There are some people, unfortunately, based on the way the conference goes, that are going to have to come to our place. Sadly, I can't guarantee their safety or that things will necessarily go the way that they like."


• • •
Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee played with a torn muscle in his shouler that hindered him throughout last season. But he says he's not using it as an excuse and it certainly won't keep him from playing with reckless abandon and toughness that he showed his first two years.

"Sometimes people say it's stupid or whatever, but that's just me," McGee said. "So I guess I'm stupid. You can get hurt going to HEB. You can drop a milk carton on your toe and break a toe. I have broken some bones ... not from a milk carton though."


• • •
If Craig Biggio was in shouting range of a monumental hit or announced his retirement about 12 other times this season, the Astros would be in the division race. ... Just a thought.

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by g$$
Heard's hit still illegal

Aggie and Longhorn fans have debated throughout the winter about Kellen Heard's hit on Colt McCoy after the Texas quarterback threw an interception during the Aggies' victory in Austin. Heard was ejected from the game.

Big 12 officials, in a seminar for the media on officiating, used that play as an example of a flagrant hit. "These three plays were plays that were flagrant in nature and the players were correctly ejected from the game," the officiating video said.

Shhhhh...don't tell BBDE this. He thinks the hit was a good hit.