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๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป2022 Texas A&M Aggies Thread๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป


Stoney

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On 12/30/2021 at 4:18 PM, WETSU said:

There was an investigation on this. If there was ANYTHING they could have hung Durkin for they would have. As it stands it just appears that he was pushing his guys like every coach does and an accident happened. It could have happened anywhere to anyone.ย 
ย 

the terrible take is blaming a coach for a freak death. Durkin doesnโ€™t even have to be an Aggie coach and Iโ€™ll have this stance.ย 

Did he sue Maryland for wrongful termination?

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9 hours ago, DB2point0 said:

Did he sue Maryland for wrongful termination?

I donโ€™t know what happened after he was out. ย All I know is that they dug into the Maryland program for the better part of a year and nobody was charged with even a hint of negligence. I truly think this was just a freak accident.ย 
ย 

The thing is what they were doing was not a hard workout. 10 100m sprints on a 80 degree day. There are some JV kids in Texas doing that on a 100 degree dayโ€ฆ The point Iโ€™m making is that there are tons of coaches who push their players harder than this and just havenโ€™t had a freak death yet. Durkin should not be labeled a murderer or have his career basically over because of an accident.ย 

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1 hour ago, WETSU said:

The highest rated class of all time as of right now. Guys like Chris Marshall could see a little movement and they still likely end up with Shemar Stewart in Feb as well.ย 

Chris Marshall has been balling out at whatever bowl game that heโ€™s at. Under Armor, ESPN, Army. Kid looks like another steal out of Fort Bend Marshall.

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Just now, Stoney said:

Chris Marshall has been balling out at whatever bowl game that heโ€™s at. Under Armor, ESPN, Army. Kid looks like another steal out of Fort Bend Marshall.

Heโ€™s close to being a 5 star with all the services but ESPN has him low. This game will likely effect that as they are known for giving big jumps for performances in this game.ย 

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Tarp- I titled this thread โ€œJust a heads upโ€ because people complain about the fact that it means bad news so hereโ€™s some things on Ole Miss coordinator D.J. Durkin that youโ€™re going to like (at least I think you will).

1. Thereโ€™s been a lot of apprehension about Durkin being a candidateย for the Aggiesโ€™ defensive coordinator position because of what happened at Maryland. Iโ€™m not going to go into detail about it except to say this: A&M boss Jimbo Fisher has a ten year contract thatโ€™s fully guaranteed and he doesnโ€™t have to pay the university anything if he leaves.

Thus, A&M is vested in his success to the point that whatever he wants, he gets.

So, if he believes Durkin is the best man for the gig, no one is going to tell them that A&M shouldnโ€™t hire him.ย 

The only opinion that matters in this deal is Fisherโ€™s.

2. Durkin worked for current Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschampย at Florida from 2013-2014 as his defensive coordinator. Muschamp and Fisher are people who talk since they got to know each other as coordinators at LSU under Nick Saban.ย 

Durkin took over from a guy named Dan Quinn (the current defensive coordinator for the Cowboys) so he had to be highly thought of to be elevated from linebackersโ€™ coach.

Thus, while Durkin doesnโ€™t come directly from the trunk of the Nick Saban tree, heโ€™s on the Muschamp branch and ex-Saban assistants tend to stay within Saban Forest.

Durkin was at Florida for two years before Muschamp was let go and then he went to Michigan for a year. His defenses at both placed ranked in top 15 nationally in total defense and in the top 20 in scoring defense even though his units at Florida werenโ€™t backed by the best offenses.

At Ole Miss, he had one player named all Southeastern Conference on defense in 2021 and yet they held 10 of 13 opponents to 26 points or less. The only teams that scored more than that are Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn. They also ranked eighth in scoring defense in the SEC this year after ranking dead last in the conference in three out of five seasons.

The Ole Miss people think he can coach and think as highly of him as they do of Lane Kiffin's offensive acumen.

3. As a defensive coordinator, Muschamp started out as a cover two guy in a 4-3ย but with Quinn and Durkin morphed into more of a one high look. They got safeties in the box and pressed you on the corners (defenses donโ€™t cover as much like that these days).ย 

This is a similar outlook to what Mike Elko had.

Durkin installed a 3-2-6 defense for Ole Miss' bowl game in 2020 that took advantage of the fact that he lacked size throughout all levels of the unit. In particular, he played two hybrid nickel/backers/safety players on the edge or gray areas that moved in and out of the box depending on the defensive call and offensive set. He used a one gap set up and slanted his front so that every gap was covered.ย 

Thus, he can be flexible but given the numbers that A&M has brought in on the defensive I would not look for a repeat of him using the same setup for 60 minutes (and Fisher noted in a press conference that the defensive coordinator will run A&M's system).

4. I canโ€™t speak to everything he did as a coordinator this past seasonย but having studied what he did versus A&M this past season and in a few other games I observed the following:

The hybrid defenders moved in and out of the box via the gray areasโ€ฆnot quite in it, not quite out of itโ€ฆwhich tended to be problem when A&M (or other offenses) tried to count numbers in the box and run plays based on what the count. As a result, the slants and numbers tended to confuse A&Mโ€™s blocking as people were unaccounted for or couldnโ€™t be reached blocked.ย 

Prior to that game, A&M had rushed for 200+ yards in three straight games: Ole Miss held them to 141 on the ground.

Ole Miss also played its corners off and hybrid guys in the box which induced A&M to run RPOs at them and throw underneath them. Thus, A&Mโ€™s offenses defaulted to Zach Calzada passing to Demond Demas and Caleb Chapman which wasnโ€™t exactly what A&M needed to be doing on that side of the ball.

The Rebels also didnโ€™t run a bend but donโ€™t break defense. They may have ranked lower in the league in points allowed than scoring defense but Durkin didnโ€™t just play his back eight off to keep everything underneath them (in fact, they ranked last in plays allowed over 10 yards). He sent different people at different angles regardless of whether he was on his own 20 yard line or the opponentโ€™s 20 yard line.ย 

However, what his schemes did was free someone up to generate a negative play (loss of yardage or turnover) that enabled his defense to get off of the field at some point.

They went from 4.70 to 6.08 tackles for loss per game from 2020 to 2021, they ranked third in the league in sacks, and they led the SEC in turnover margin.

By the way, the only teams to hold A&M to fewer points were Colorado and Arkansas.ย 

By the way part deux, when Fisher (at Florida State) and Durkin (at Florida) faced off in 2013 and 2014, Durkin held Fisher to his second lowest scoring output in 2013 (the national title season for FSU) and to just 24 points in 2014.

Remember that Fisher was impressed with what Elko did versus FSU a few years ago to hire him.

5. Finallyโ€ฆlook for something to happen very quickly with the coordinator's job at A&Mย since everyone is done with their bowl games and players will be back on most college campuses in a matter of days. Most on campus personnel at A&M and most places will be back and refocused on the 2022 season starting tomorrow.ย 

Ole Miss will want to keep Durkin given everything that he has done there and will throw a sizable package at him to induce him to stay.

Nonetheless, Durkin wants to be a head coach again and moving to A&M would help him out in two ways.

Oneโ€ฆif Durkin coaches at two schools, that means that two different programs signed off on him as a person and coach after what happened at Maryland. It would go a long way towards rehabilitating his reputation personally and professionally.

Twoโ€ฆmost coaches would find it hard to land a head coaching gig as the leader of the countryโ€™s 97th rated defense. However, youโ€™re going to be much more attractive and have a lot more options if youโ€™re coordinating a top ten unit and sending multiple people to the NFL.ย 

Also keep in mind that no matter how much Ole Miss could counter a A&M offer, Fisher always has the resources to go higher because he is literally his own boss.ย 

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8 minutes ago, Stoney said:

If they vet him and he appears to have learned/be clean, Durkin could be a fit defensively for this team. The credentials are there. The scheme seems to be there.ย 

I think heโ€™s a great DC from an Xโ€™s and Oโ€™s standpoint. Heโ€™s capable of doing whatever fits the strengths of his players. I think he could be a monster hire for A&M. A&M will catch hell for it from other fanbases, but if Jimbo picks him Iโ€™ll trust he is the right guy.ย 

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10 hours ago, WETSU said:

I donโ€™t know what happened after he was out. ย All I know is that they dug into the Maryland program for the better part of a year and nobody was charged with even a hint of negligence. I truly think this was just a freak accident.ย 
ย 

The thing is what they were doing was not a hard workout. 10 100m sprints on a 80 degree day. There are some JV kids in Texas doing that on a 100 degree dayโ€ฆ The point Iโ€™m making is that there are tons of coaches who push their players harder than this and just havenโ€™t had a freak death yet. Durkin should not be labeled a murderer or have his career basically over because of an accident.ย 

That may be what they found, but other players stated the staff pushed the kid when he was visibly struggling.

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23 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

That may be what they found, but other players stated the staff pushed the kid when he was visibly struggling.

Have you ever played a sport? What coach hasnโ€™t pushed a kid thatโ€™s visibly struggling?ย 
ย 

Football is not played or coached by soft men. Itโ€™s a violent game. What Iโ€™m saying is that if we stopped letting coaches push players who show up out of shape, youโ€™ll never have a decent football team again.
From my understanding NOTHING out of the ordinary was done in this. It was coaches being coaches and a freak accident occurred. ย 

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3 hours ago, WETSU said:

Have you ever played a sport? What coach hasnโ€™t pushed a kid thatโ€™s visibly struggling?ย 
ย 

Football is not played or coached by soft men. Itโ€™s a violent game. What Iโ€™m saying is that if we stopped letting coaches push players who show up out of shape, youโ€™ll never have a decent football team again.
From my understanding NOTHING out of the ordinary was done in this. It was coaches being coaches and a freak accident occurred. ย 

I played more sports than you I bet. ย The strength coach under durkin was fired as well. ย Durkin signed his contract that stated the guy would answer directly to him, but threw him under the bus during the criminal investigations stating he didnโ€™t know the contract stated as such. ย If the staff did no wrong, why did U of Maryland settle with the kidโ€™s family and pay $3.5million if there was no wrongdoing? ย 
ย 

you should do a quick search on the matter. ย Being a tough coach doesnโ€™t have to entail berated kids as human beings, throwing weights at them and pushing them past the point of having full body cramps. ย Another thing that came out of the Maryland situationโ€ฆโ€ฆ the training staff answers directly to the university Health team and not the athletic dept/ head coaches anymore. ย Thatโ€™s pretty telling as well. ย Iโ€™d hope my team wouldnโ€™t touch a guy like Durkin with a 10 foot pole

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8 hours ago, DB2point0 said:

I played more sports than you I bet. ย The strength coach under durkin was fired as well. ย Durkin signed his contract that stated the guy would answer directly to him, but threw him under the bus during the criminal investigations stating he didnโ€™t know the contract stated as such. ย If the staff did no wrong, why did U of Maryland settle with the kidโ€™s family and pay $3.5million if there was no wrongdoing? ย 
ย 

you should do a quick search on the matter. ย Being a tough coach doesnโ€™t have to entail berated kids as human beings, throwing weights at them and pushing them past the point of having full body cramps. ย Another thing that came out of the Maryland situationโ€ฆโ€ฆ the training staff answers directly to the university Health team and not the athletic dept/ head coaches anymore. ย Thatโ€™s pretty telling as well. ย Iโ€™d hope my team wouldnโ€™t touch a guy like Durkin with a 10 foot pole

Which is why your team wonโ€™t touch 10 wins with a 10 foot pole. If youโ€™re gonna choose to be woke and adapt the snowflake culture then by all means go for it.ย 
ย 

Maryland settled because thatโ€™s what you do in a civil matter. It wasnโ€™t criminal. That investigation came up empty. But in civil court the rules arenโ€™t the same. Itโ€™s not innocent until proven guilty. ย 3.5 mil to the kids family is a drop in the bucket compared to what a shady lawyer could have gotten then whether it was justified or not. Settling is very common amongst corporations or higher income individuals regardless of the outcome.ย 
ย 

Maryland is not a football school. They were already underpaying Durkin and they donโ€™t care enough about football to stick to their guns about this situation. They fired anyone they could just to make it go away. Maybe YOU should research into this more. Half the players already exonerated Durkin during the investigation. They backed him. Yes there were a few players that felt he was at fault, but thatโ€™s part of it.ย 

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4 minutes ago, WETSU said:

Which is why your team wonโ€™t touch 10 wins with a 10 foot pole. If youโ€™re gonna choose to be woke and adapt the snowflake culture then by all means go for it.ย 
ย 

Maryland settled because thatโ€™s what you do in a civil matter. It wasnโ€™t criminal. That investigation came up empty. But in civil court the rules arenโ€™t the same. Itโ€™s not innocent until proven guilty. ย 3.5 mil to the kids family is a drop in the bucket compared to what a shady lawyer could have gotten then whether it was justified or not. Settling is very common amongst corporations or higher income individuals regardless of the outcome.ย 
ย 

Maryland is not a football school. They were already underpaying Durkin and they donโ€™t care enough about football to stick to their guns about this situation. They fired anyone they could just to make it go away. Maybe YOU should research into this more. Half the players already exonerated Durkin during the investigation. They backed him. Yes there were a few players that felt he was at fault, but thatโ€™s part of it.ย 

My statements were not โ€œwokeโ€. ย You can be a tough coach without berating your players. ย 
ย 

settlements also say, โ€œletโ€™s make this go awayโ€. ย Why? ย If thereโ€™s nothing to ge away?โ€ฆ.

ย 

half the players backed him? ย What about the other half? ย Did they throw him under the bus? If there was nothing to the matter more than half wouldโ€™ve backed him. ย 
ย 

ย 

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18 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

My statements were not โ€œwokeโ€. ย You can be a tough coach without berating your players. ย 
ย 

settlements also say, โ€œletโ€™s make this go awayโ€. ย Why? ย If thereโ€™s nothing to ge away?โ€ฆ.

ย 

half the players backed him? ย What about the other half? ย Did they throw him under the bus? If there was nothing to the matter more than half wouldโ€™ve backed him. ย 
ย 

ย 

Like I said you clearly do not understand civil court. Thatโ€™s okay though. Not everyone does. Iโ€™m not going to explain it to you again because youโ€™ll ignore it. You want to make A&M look bad for flirting with this hire and youโ€™ll be the village idiot to do it. Itโ€™s okay.ย 
ย 

And Iโ€™m convinced now youโ€™ve never played a sport. If you think you can go into any locker room and not find a handful of disgruntled players because they arenโ€™t playing enough or they are getting pushed harder than they are use to then idk what to tell you. At every single level under nearly every single HC you see kids and nfl guys quit or leave every year because they didnโ€™t like the way so and so talked to them that one time. Itโ€™s an accountability issue. Mommy and daddy let me do what what I want so coach is going to as well. Or Iโ€™m better than him I donโ€™t care what my coaches think. Itโ€™s been a problem in sports under even the most highly thought of coaches in the sport.ย 

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20 minutes ago, WETSU said:

Like I said you clearly do not understand civil court. Thatโ€™s okay though. Not everyone does. Iโ€™m not going to explain it to you again because youโ€™ll ignore it. You want to make A&M look bad for flirting with this hire and youโ€™ll be the village idiot to do it. Itโ€™s okay.ย 
ย 

And Iโ€™m convinced now youโ€™ve never played a sport. If you think you can go into any locker room and not find a handful of disgruntled players because they arenโ€™t playing enough or they are getting pushed harder than they are use to then idk what to tell you. At every single level under nearly every single HC you see kids and nfl guys quit or leave every year because they didnโ€™t like the way so and so talked to them that one time. Itโ€™s an accountability issue. Mommy and daddy let me do what what I want so coach is going to as well. Or Iโ€™m better than him I donโ€™t care what my coaches think. Itโ€™s been a problem in sports under even the most highly thought of coaches in the sport.ย 

Iโ€™m just talking about Durkin, not aTm. ย In fact, Iโ€™ve yet to mention them.

Football,ย Basketball,ย Baseballย 

Track and tennis at different times.

if we had a golf team Iโ€™d have been on that too. ย 
ย 

youโ€™re not sure of very much. ย You thought I was trying to make the Aggies look bad, but thatโ€™s just your Aggy insecurity showing. ย You always think people are out to get your Aggies. I just think any program that would hire Durkin is desperate to win at all costs. ย Iโ€™d hate if Texas hired him, and I actually think heโ€™s a good DC. ย He would be used against you in recruiting for the very reasons I listed. The Maryland settlement will be pointed to for all Mommas to see.

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11 minutes ago, DB2point0 said:

Iโ€™m just talking about Durkin, not aTm. ย In fact, Iโ€™ve yet to mention them.

Football,ย Basketball,ย Baseballย 

Track and tennis at different times.

if we had a golf team Iโ€™d have been on that too. ย 
ย 

youโ€™re not sure of very much. ย You thought I was trying to make the Aggies look bad, but thatโ€™s just your Aggy insecurity showing. ย You always think people are out to get your Aggies. I just think any program that would hire Durkin is desperate to win at all costs. ย Iโ€™d hate if Texas hired him, and I actually think heโ€™s a good DC. ย He would be used against you in recruiting for the very reasons I listed. The Maryland settlement will be pointed to for all Mommas to see.

A&M just signed the number 1 class of all time not even knowing who the DC will be when this class signedโ€ฆ Iโ€™m pretty sure it wonโ€™t have near the impact you think it will. Durkin was national recruiter of the year at Florida. That type of talent doesnโ€™t just disappear because of this incident.ย 
ย 

Like I said Iโ€™ll defend Durkin regardless of whether he was at A&M or not. Heโ€™s not in the wrong here. You may be part of the left crowd that wants to be guilty until proven innocent, but Iโ€™m not. They investigated this thoroughly and found nothing wrong or even negligent in Durkin or any member of his staff. It IS possible to not be in the wrong but still settle with the family because you feel their pain. That doesnโ€™t make any actions taken by Durkin or his staff wrong, it just means Maryland either didnโ€™t want a civil suit which is entirely different, or they just felt bad for the loss of a young man and paid the kids family. Either way itโ€™s time Durkin was off the hook for this. His career was literally ruined by a freak accident. That kid could have died doing workouts for any staffโ€ฆย 

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12 hours ago, WETSU said:

Wondering what the bottom line was to pull in such a class. This NIL is going to kill college sports. Most of us know money has played a part for a long time, but it was under the table with repercussions if caught. What is going to motivate these players when there's already ridiculous amounts of money in their college bank account? How will it impact academics? Also wondering since these players are on scholarship, does that make their earnings open record? Years ago it was a huge eye opener when the one of the DFW papers researched and put out the salary of all Texas high school head football/AD coaches. It won't be long before someone does the same with player salaries. Schools that paid big money like Texas and A&M will be the immediate bad guys of college sports.

There will be an unbelievable 30/30 on ESPN years down the road that will blow all others away uncovering the amounts of money boosters are now paying players to flock to their schools so those boosters can brag in the back room of the country club.

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30 minutes ago, Lhornfan said:

Wondering what the bottom line was to pull in such a class. This NIL is going to kill college sports. Most of us know money has played a part for a long time, but it was under the table with repercussions if caught. What is going to motivate these players when there's already ridiculous amounts of money in their college bank account? How will it impact academics? Also wondering since these players are on scholarship, does that make their earnings open record? Years ago it was a huge eye opener when the one of the DFW papers researched and put out the salary of all Texas high school head football/AD coaches. It won't be long before someone does the same with player salaries. Schools that paid big money like Texas and A&M will be the immediate bad guys of college sports.

There will be an unbelievable 30/30 on ESPN years down the road that will blow all others away uncovering the amounts of money boosters are now paying players to flock to their schools so those boosters can brag in the back room of the country club.

I think NIl plays a role, but I donโ€™t for a second believe A&M is outdoing the other major players on this (Texas Bama LSU Georgia etc.)ย 

I think this class is combination of timing and Jimbo and his staff just being good recruiters. You donโ€™t outbid Bama and Georgia for as many guys as A&M hasโ€ฆ

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1 hour ago, Lhornfan said:

Wondering what the bottom line was to pull in such a class. This NIL is going to kill college sports. Most of us know money has played a part for a long time, but it was under the table with repercussions if caught. What is going to motivate these players when there's already ridiculous amounts of money in their college bank account? How will it impact academics? Also wondering since these players are on scholarship, does that make their earnings open record? Years ago it was a huge eye opener when the one of the DFW papers researched and put out the salary of all Texas high school head football/AD coaches. It won't be long before someone does the same with player salaries. Schools that paid big money like Texas and A&M will be the immediate bad guys of college sports.

There will be an unbelievable 30/30 on ESPN years down the road that will blow all others away uncovering the amounts of money boosters are now paying players to flock to their schools so those boosters can brag in the back room of the country club.

I don't mind that kids are making some money off their names, especially since the schools are making so much. But that money should be tied to graduation from college and they should NOT get any of it until they have a college diploma. It can sit in a bank account and grow interest until they have that piece of paper. Otherwise, the NCAA is nothing more than the minor leagues for the NFL. At least with an education--most of these players will have a chance at being successful after their college careers end, because what--1.6% of college football players make the NFL each year?ย https://www.casino.org/blog/the-odds-of-making-it-to-the-nfl/

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Is the NCAA even relevant anymore? As far as laying down the law? I think the schools have finally figured out that they are bigger and have the power. Thatโ€™s going to lead to the eventual college football minor league. Thereโ€™s too much money to be made to have somebody like Mark Emmert telling these folks they canโ€™t pay $50k for a player.

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4 hours ago, DannyZuco said:

I don't mind that kids are making some money off their names, especially since the schools are making so much. But that money should be tied to graduation from college and they should NOT get any of it until they have a college diploma. It can sit in a bank account and grow interest until they have that piece of paper. Otherwise, the NCAA is nothing more than the minor leagues for the NFL. At least with an education--most of these players will have a chance at being successful after their college careers end, because what--1.6% of college football players make the NFL each year?ย https://www.casino.org/blog/the-odds-of-making-it-to-the-nfl/

Is it NIL deals or bag drops for LOIโ€™s? ย I think the universities that are doing it out in the open for all scholarship players (like Texas) are being smart. ย Giving a kid $300k for signing a LOI will not be considered NIL. ย 

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