Fran to A$M

[Nacho]

Fran is all about Fran. He desperately wants to win a National Championship. His ego demands it. Can't do that under the current and future NCAA sanctions at Bama. When he feels it is time to leave A$M for greener pastures he will not hesitate. He is a greed is good kind of guy. Hope it makes him happy. I wish we had a coach besideds Schellas would had some offers he couldn't refuse. I'm no A$M fan but the Big 12 just got a lot tougher for everybody else.

[Jim Rome]

I almost feel bad for the aggies. Not really - I can't help but laugh at most of them. But Nacho nailed it - Fran is all about Fran. As soon as he realizes that his lucrative contract won't make up for the difference in talent between A&M and OU/UT, he'll pimp himself out to the next big bidder, maybe even in the pros. He'll turn his back on the aggies just like he did to the folks at New Mexico (New Mexico State?) and TCU and Bama.

Bama deserves a better man at the helm than Fran, anyway.

[Johnny Rock]

You both are wrong. Fran is one of the top coaches in the country. He will have A&M in the top 10 in no time. You cannot fault him for taking the best opportunities that come his way. TCU should be grateful that they got him as a coach for the short time that they had him. Alabama was not truthful with him about the extent of their NCAA violations. A&M is one of the top coaching jobs in the country. But I will tell you this...SMU has a special coach of their own in Bennett. Hopefully, in a few years, SMU will be a top ranked program and talked about like the other previously mentioned schools.

[Charleston Pony]

Alabama wasn't honest with Fran about their sanctions? He knew darn well what he was walking into and that's why he insisted on more than the standard 4-5 yr deal when he took the job. The truth is that he did a good job there under Bama'a circumstances and now has parlayed that into being one of the top paid guys in the business. You're right about his wanting to be somewhere that he feels he can compete for the national championship. That's why he left TCU. As for the Bama situation, he knew he was going to be competing 3 yrs down the road with only 65 scholarships in the SEC and undoubtedly has enough sense to know all those good ole boys who are praising him now...might be looking to tar and feather him by 2005! Bama is going to have a tough time getting a top notch guy to take that job.

[Nacho]

I hope you are right about Bennett. The truth is that we don't know about him yet. It will take a good 4-5 years to find out. Maybe longer. Recruiting is looking up but how could it go any lower. If nothing else the coaching change will improve the talent level of the team. Cavan wasn't going to recruit the way Bennett has. When a school hires an assistant without any sort of record as a d-1 head coach it is nothing more than an educated guess. It might work out, it might not. Hence we come to the haves and have-nots of college football. Case in point: A$M vs U of Houston. A$M goes out and hires one of the top 5 d-1 head coaches coaches in the country. UofH goes out and hires a running backs coach from TT, albeit a former hs head coach. Which do you think is more likely to be successful? There is a reason that he rich get richer. I'm very afraid that SMU will fire Dement. Not because I think he is a great coach. I'm afraid that the next guy, no doubt an assistant somewhere, will be even worse. Until SMU gets it and hires a proven d-1 head coach we are just rolling the dice.

[Charleston Pony]

Whether you like Franchione or not, it's tough to argue against his track record. So, looking at the bright side...if Bennett turns out to be the saviour of our program, maybe Fran will firmly entrench himself at A$M and at least the Aggies won't come courting Bennett in 2-3 yrs.

Let's face it, if Bennett is successful here, it will be impossible for SMU to compete against the big boys for a coach who is a "hot commodity". Right now, Fran is as hot as they come...but he needs to settle in because he now has serious credibility issues. They are bashing him and his integrity all over the southeast today.

[smudad]

I'm an AG fan as well as a Mustang fan. I think Fran has about as much integrity as any others in the game - they're true to themselves - period. But he also gets great PR. He coached well at some just barely over HS colleges. Then he went 33-36 with New Mexico - one winning season and a title. Then he rode LT (Pat's boy) and Gary's defense for three years at TCU. He walked into Alabama knowing they were both loaded with talent Dubose squandered and eligible for the DP. He parlayed that into a winning holding pattern waiting on his guys in BCS to ditch R.C. Now that's talent! But who can fault him. He's just taking what's there.