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Charleston Pony wrote:with what it would cost to buy him out, he'll be well positioned to finish his career in the TV booth and will probably be content to never coach again

VarsityShop wrote:Totally agree with you Stallion.
It is way too soon to "pull the plug" on Fran.
I think "big picture" people in Aggieland will prevail.
Coach Fran will be given more time.

Sam I Am wrote:aTm will get better after Reggie McNeal graduates. The paradox is that he is talented but just couldn't make the Aggies win - sort like Bill Bradley at UT until he was moved to defense. Coach Fran will get the right QB someday soon and then we will how well he can coach in the Big 12.

On to the premise of the debate: I am sick and tired of people kicking R.C. Slocum harder and harder each time Dennis Franchione loses a game. I am tired of how a coach who was fired 3 years ago is still blamed for losses in 2005. I am equally tired and somewhat amazed how many apologists remain for Coach Fran. I certainly recognize the need to be patient for his program, but not at the expense of further cheapening his predecessor.

I am not speaking to every Aggie fan. I am only speaking to those who continue to tell me and anyone who will listen how bad things were when Coach Fran arrived. In fact, their revisionist history is almost comical, because the recruiting classes from 2001 and 2002 have become worse and worse with each week that goes by.

So, I did some research. In case you missed the show, I decided to look at the NFL rosters, and as an objective judge of talent each program has produced, I wanted to find out how the Aggies compared to their Big 12 South brethren. I did not need to look to hard, since the Texas A&M game notes boast this very point: No team in the Big 12 South has produced more players into the NFL currently than the Aggies. 29 Aggies are currently on NFL rosters. 24 Sooners, 22 Longhorns, 13 Cowboys, 12 Red Raiders and 10 Bears round out the list (according to sportsline.com). I recognize that perhaps this is damning R.C. with faint praise due to the fact that if he had all of this talent, why didn’t he win more? But, that is a different discussion. The discussion I am having is “did R.C. leave Coach Fran with nothing?”

It is impossible to definitively answer this because who knows how the development of “player A” was impacted by the coaching influence of Coach Fran versus R.C.? For instance, take Reggie McNeal. Was he better suited for the offense and philosophy of Slocum or Franchione? Would he be a Heisman front runner were it not for the coaching change or would he still be floundering in the way that he currently is? We shall never know. But, that day in 2002 when he beat #1 Oklahoma, it appeared the sky was his limit.

But, what those statistics do show is that no program in the conference could find talent, cultivate it, grow it, and prepare it for the National Football League like this program under R.C. Slocum. 28 of the 29 (Mike Montgomery is the exception) were his players, and this is not a subjective statement. This is factual from scanning NFL rosters.

So, to suggest to me that R.C. suddenly stopped trying and left Coach Fran with nothing, and then this explains how 3 years later they can’t stay within 5 Touchdowns of Texas Tech is far fetched at best and absurd at worst.

Look, in no way can I suggest that Slocum was Paterno or Bowden or Stoopes; he was what he was and it was likely time to make an adjustment. He may be the all-time leader in wins, but he also presided over some underachieving teams. And for that, he was fired. But, for some reason, his successor is blameless when his teams underachieve – 2003 and likely 2005 are the first two losing seasons since 1982.

I cannot promise that Franchione will never be successful here. I do think that Aggieland was way too quick to pay him what they did and lock him up until 2012, but they targeted a guy and once they did they made sure they would not lose him to the NFL or to another competitor. I also don’t have a better idea for you, so don’t think I am demanding a firing or offering you a candidate that would push the Aggies up to the Sooners and Longhorns levels.

But, I do implore you to stop this revising of history. Slocum may not have left this program stacked, but he sure didn’t leave it bare. The 2003, 2004, and 2005 NFL drafts found 10 more Aggies “NFL worthy”. And since when can’t a first year coach take the previous coach’s crap and turn it into something darn competitive? Stoopes, Mack Brown, and Charlie Weis are three quick examples of turning things around quickly. In no way do I buy that a coach should be allowed 3-5 years to offer some level of competitive football.

Coach Fran is either going to take a few years to arrive or he is going to turn into one of the great busts in this state’s history (joining Chan Ho Park). But, to continue to blame Slocum in 2005 for things that are happening on the field with players that he mostly did not recruit and certainly hasn’t coached in 36 months is inexcusable. How about some accountability?

To most of you, it appears that you have decided Fran has had enough time to show signs of life. The heat is on him far more than it has been. But, there is still that group that so badly wanted Fran to be Mack or Stoopes that they continue to blame anyone but him for the garbage that we are seeing in many key games in the Aggie’s season. I am speaking to that group, and telling them to stop the silliness and if you are going to praise this guy for everything he does right, don’t be afraid to call him out, too.