Turgeon
Childress
Henry (m/w track and field)
Sherman
McCombs (w. golf)
Denton (m. tennis)

who else?

gillispie

Fran

Jay Holmes - men's swimming

Byrne didn't hire Fran.

You don't think Byrne had a hand in hiring Fran????

quote:

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas- Texas A&M University President Dr. Robert M. Gates and newly-appointed Director of Athletics Bill Byrne introduced Dennis Franchione as the Aggies' 26th head football coach Friday morning in front of a packed Burkhart Auditorium at Kyle Field.

Franchione assumes leadership of the Texas A&M football program from former head coach R.C. Slocum, who coached the Aggies for 14 seasons before stepping down on Monday.

"It's been an intense week for all of us," Gates said. "There have been elements of sadness, mixed with joy and expectation. I think at the end of the week the term T.G.I.F. has new meaning for me. At Texas A&M, we strive for excellence and integrity in all that we do in both academics and athletics. These two gentlemen in front of you exemplify those qualities and we are proud to have them as a part of the Aggie family now."

Added Byrne, "This is really going to be an exciting era for Texas A&M University. When you talk about hiring coaches, one of the things you always look for is someone who has the same philosophy. Someone who wants to teach students the right way. Someone who wants to stretch students, not only athletically but spiritually. You want to make sure students have a great experience when they are undergraduates competing for a great university."

---

For the full release go to:
http://www.aggieathletics.com/pressRelease.php?PRID=5719

washburn321...

technically byrnes hired fran since he was the ad at the time fran was hired.

but in reality Texas A&M had made the decisionto hire fran before byrne was ever hired.

wonder how many times someone has asked byrne about his hiring of fran and his immediate response was "now wait a minute...."

Whether he hired Fran is up for debate, but what is not debatable was Byrne's decision to extend his contract with a raise. That would be hard to put on someone else.

I can ptomise you that bb had absolutely nothing to do with the hiring of Coach Fran. They were absolutely working in a parallel universe. We were after Coach Fran long before we had any idea that bb might be interested in our job.

Agreed that they were working on Fran at the end of football season, but... Fran was hired under Byrne's watch. I highly doubt Byrne would have agreed to take the job had he not been ok with Fran's hiring.

bqce makes a great point also in that Fran's contract was extended by Byrne which shows that he backed Fran. Just my opinion, sorry that this thread has turned into a Byrne/Fran debate.

Fran was hired under Byrne's watch, Byrne gave him the contract extension, but he's made it very clear within the athletic department that Fran was not "his" hire, and he had the support of Gates to back that up.

Blair

How bout coaches hired by Wally? or JD Crow?

Wally
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Jo Evans
Steve Bultman
Tim Cass
JT Higgins
Equestrian coach

and then
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Melvin Watkins
Peggy Gillom

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 6/7/2008 12:57p).]

Bill Byrne hired Fran. At least according to Bill Byrne.

Who fired Fran? That is a better question...

quote:

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I highly doubt Byrne would have agreed to take the job had he not been ok with Fran's hiring.

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Yeah, right, He would have turned down the AD job, saying "gee, I just don't think the guy you picked for football is the best pick..."

Everyone knew at the time that Fran was Dr. Gates and company's target (and the rest of Aggieland for that matter- Except for Panhandle). BB was in a great position- if Fran didn't work out, it was not on him. If he did, then great, you are head of an athletic program whose flagship sport is kicking butt.


By the way, I thought at the time in 04 that BB was screwing up royally when he extended Fran's contract. Talk about premature jubilation...


[This message has been edited by AnalogyAg (edited 6/13/2008 2:31p).]

who hired Coach G?

John David Crow hired Coach G.

There is a huge diference between being ok with a hire and doing the hire.

Just about EVERYONE was ok with the hire, many were not happy with the departure from bama. Read some of the USC blogs and they were mad they didn't get Fran and got a washed up pro coach in Pete Carrol!

BB did give the extension and I would say he probably regreted that big time. He did however correct his mistake by getting rid of him.

BB is not perfect however anyone has to admit he has done a pretty good job at improving ALL of ATM's athletic programs.

he hasn't improved football or volleyball

Byrne did not hire Fran. Fran was hired well before Byrne got here and well before that season was over. Fran was hired by large money donors and had little to do with whoever the athletic director was at the time.

By the way Fran was, at the time, an absolute slam dunk hire and quite possibly the biggest splash hire this university had ever made with the possible exception of Jackie Sherrill.

Fran wasn't given enough facilities, support or time to turn things around...

5 years is not enough time? sorry, but in todays world that's alot of time. Fran just didn't fit for A&M. it's over.
$Bill overall has done an excellant job w/ hires of us.

>>Read some of the USC blogs and they were mad they didn't get Fran and got a washed up pro coach in Pete Carrol! <<

While I agree with your point that others wanted Fran (t.u. is one; there was message board talk that Fran would turn down A&M so he could come to t.u. a year later and other idiotic ramblings), Pete Carroll was hired at the end of the 2000 season and was firmly entrenched as USC's coach by the end of '02 when Fran was hired here. His '02 team won a conference championship and the Orange Bowl.

It was a joke Jess

More Fran talk? Does TexAgs ever turn loose of
anything?

What do you think of the hire of Jay Holmes? I think that it is time for something new, and a better approach for the men's swimming program.
Don't get me wrong he is a great guy, and has been able to secure our spot in the top 25, but I am unimpressed and I see that the program is not moving forward at all in my opinion. I watch their practices and they seem to be doing the same practices with no innovative or creative training. It even seems they are a "Dry-land" workout oriented team that just does swimming as a side exercise. I am pretty sure the sprinters lift weights and strech more than they swim. I think he is a great guy and coach, I just believe that it is time for change if we want our program to get any better.

Holmes has been around for a while...but isnt this only like his 2nd or 3rd year with the head job????

New Army lives at Reed Arena

He is in his third season as head coach, or just finished it I believe. Even though he has been here for a short amount of time, he has not instituted anything new or really changed the program since Mel left, and I think this was probably expectected when they decided to promote him from assistant to head coach. I think he is a great coach and would excel at another program, I just think that every now and then it is time for a change and new direction.

[This message has been edited by agswim15 (edited 6/16/2008 11:25a).]

just finished his 4th season as Head Coach. Mel Nash was head coach for 25years before he was fired, and you want Holmes out after year 4? Give the guy a freakin chance. How can you expect him to make that much of an immediate impact on a program that quickly?

Look at the women. When Bultman was hired in 99, the women were 25th at NCs in his first year, 26th his 2nd, 26th his 3rd, and DIDNT SCORE A SINGLE POINT in his 4th year. so after that no placing at NCs after Bultmans 4th season as head coach (where Jay Holmes currently sits), lets say the Athletic Director at the time uses your philosophy, and decides that the Bultman move was a bust since the program clearly is not improving after only his 4th season, and its time for a change. what a great idea that would've been...

except...wait...oh ya thats right, i forgot that after that season the women continued to climb in the rankings, placing 16th, 14th, 11th, 8th, and 4th this year. Good thing they didnt sack Bultman after year 4 huh?

You want to replace Holmes so soon, when hes had more success in his first 4 years as head coach than Bultman did. His first 4 years have had the Ags placed 15th, 17th, 19th, and 13th this year. You can argue the impact of Eric Sehn & diving points all you want, but the highest finish in Holmes' tenure here (13th this year) was done with ZERO divers. It was Holmes' swimmers who stepped up this year and got the job done, and you wanna discredit him for what hes done for the program in such a relatively short time frame?

The guy has been an assistant coach for all of his career, and in his first 4 years of head coaching you criticize him because

quote:

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he has not instituted anything new or really changed the program

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? If youve ever done any sort of coaching at all, you would know how difficult it can be to transition from an assistant to a head coach. going from basically following someone elses lead, to having to develop your own style and do things almost completely on your own. Give the guy more time, 4 years is not enough time to expect any miraculous changes.

As for the training complaint, have you ever seen any of the schools who consistently place in the top 10 every year and what they do for training? because I can guarantee you their sprinters dont crank out the yardage in the water and blow off the other stuff, they focus alot on drylands, weights, and flexibility (aka STRETCHING). So if you think the Aggie Men sprinters

quote:

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are a "Dry-land" workout oriented team that just does swimming as a side exercise. I am pretty sure the sprinters lift weights and strech more than they swim

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you might wanna check out floswimming.com and see what kinda stuff the other top (sprint) programs are doing as far as weights/drylands/stretching vs. swimming, cuz its very similar to the Ags. As for the distance guys (the few of them the ags have) dont do anywhere near the same stuff the sprinters do, because their needs are completely different.

And the creativity part is what Doug Boyd is there for. I honestly dont know how anyone who has watched first hand one of the sprinter workouts can think that

quote:

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they seem to be doing the same practices with no innovative or creative training

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Sorry to all the non swim fans who will read this and hate me for going into so much detail, but I felt the need to defend a fantastic coach when he is taking heat and criticism from outsiders, especially such as unwarranted as this. In all my years of swimming and coaching, Jay Holmes is one of the best coaches I have ever encountered, and that combined with his passion for this University, makes him a perfect fit for head coach, as long as he is given the time he needs to get things done.

I think Jay's biggest barrier to success is recruiting.

I think he has shown that he can develop swimmers. Last year's 13th place NCAA finish is largely the result of his coaching. Ozzie was here before Jay became HC, but he became the fastest A&M sprinter ever under Jay and Doug's program.

I don't know how Jay can attract more USA talent. It was sooo disappointing that College Station's Jonathan Jackson chose Texas. JJ's sprint speed would have been ideal at A&M and he has shown tremendous improvement at Texas. Jay has been forced to go international for talent - which isn't an awful thing to do - but there are so many fine swimmers that are choosing stupid schools instead of A&M. Foreign swimmers use up more scholarship too. I don't know how Holmes can convince some top talent to come to A&M.

I hope the women's program success helps the men. But I now worry that Bultman won't be able to replace this fall's senior class when Texas has Hersey, Gingrich, and Bispo (and Mary Beck in 2009) coming next fall.

Wow agswim15. If I didn't know any better I'd almost assume you were a disgruntled distance swimmer. Hhow about you forget what everyone else is up to at your practices and do what you need to do to get better. You are quick to blame the "failure" or lack of progression of the men's swim team on the coaches when in fact it is usually the attitudes of the swimmers that are responsibl. Jay Holmes is not a miracle worker. He can only make practices, but he can't influence your attitude about them. Jay and Doug seem to be moving in a progressive direction. If you aren't seeing the results you want, maybe its you and not them. The speed of the change may not be what is desired by all, but it is easy as an outsider to criticize. Obviously something is changing in the program because if it were not, the results would not be changing. When you do the same thing over and over again expecting different results it is called insanity. The results are coming up different, so the methods used to obtain said results must also be different. Maybe instead of pouting about your workouts as compared to the sprinters on your team who according to the results scored the points at NCAA's, you should focus on what you are going to do to be a point scorer. Worry about yourself and your swimming. That is a lesson I teach my swimmers everyday.

wow this is a hard core discussion here...

i agree with just about everything Goober, Spice, and Smoke said.

I agree that Jay needs more time. I agree that the Jay/Doug combo has been very successful at developing swimmers (Ozzie Gardner). I agree that a large portion of the teams success is due to the swimmers attitudes. And I agree that there is only so much a coach can do to change the program in any drastic way.

Spice I do agree with your point about recruiting, however I disagree about JJ. I dont think Jay can shoulder the blame for losing him to t.u. The kid spent his whole life growing up in College Station, can you blame him for wanting a change of scenery for the next 4+ yrs of his life? Sometimes kids just want to get away from home and their parents and try something new. I think that is the main reason we lost JJ, nothing to do with Holmes.

I know it has been discussed alot, but the international aspect of recruiting seems to be something the Ags are stuck with for now, at least until they build the kind of name here in the US that will attract local talent. Hopefully this years 13th place finish will help with that.

Give him more time. The Holmes/Boyd era should not end yet, they will get the job done soon.