[This message has been edited by agswim15 (edited 12/26/2008 8:20a).]

[This message has been edited by agswim15 (edited 1/26/2009 8:20a).]

The men have always treated their fall invite this way under the current coaching staff. This team has a very different coaching philosophy than almost any other but it has always paid off in the spring. The kids put their head down and work hard for six months and when they rest, they do things that no one, and I mean no one, thought they could do. It takes a lot of diligence and a lot patience, especially during early dual meets and this invite, but that patience always pays off. The character of these kids to have that kind of faith and trust in their coaches is admirable, and based on past results, it pays off for them in a big way.

Even though there were a couple of key losses, this team has the potential to be as good or better than last year's, particularly with the big diving boost. It wouldn't surprise me to see A&M's second-ever top 10 finish this year.

LOB - Great post. You said it perfectly

Agswim15 - if I remember correctly, several months ago you suggested the Coach Holmes be fired after only 4 years as head coach, the last of which saw the Ags finish 13th at NCAAs, without the help of diving. Following your ridiculous suggestion post, I seem to also remember that you were torn apart on this very board for such a statement. I wouldve thought you would have learned your lesson, but apparently not.

First:

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Heck half of the A&M men wore drag suits

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Actually ALL of the A&M men wore drag suits to race in. In the past 4 years the A&M men have NEVER worn ANY type of racing suit AT ALL at ANY meet before BIG XIIs. They've either worn a training brief, or a drag suit. What on earth would make you think this year would be any different?

Second: going back to the history of the program (as has been said previously, several times) when have the men ever rested, or prepared at all for any meet other than Big XIIs and NCs? They never break training to do even a short rest for dual meets, or even the invite. As LOB said, they ALWAYS swim straight through the fall season, and swim their fastest, and get their cuts when it matters most. I don't know why it is still surprising to some of you people every year when the men train through the fall, and kick @$$ when it really counts in spring.

Third: you want to put the blame on bad coaching? LOB said it perfectly. ALL of those men trust that coaching staff completely. They raced their hearts out all weekend, despite the fact that they were wearing drag suits and not blue seventys, despite the fact that they were going up against one of the top teams in the country (stanford), despite the fact that they were destroyed in training the 3 weeks prior, and lifted between sessions saturday. While their times may not have been all that impressive, those men laid it all on the line, and put all their faith in the coaching staff that they will have the team where they need to be to swim their fastest in february and march. It speaks volumes when the whole team is willing to put that much trust into the program, I just wish the so-called "supporters" and "fans" would have as much faith in it as the athletes do, and they're the ones who do ALL of the work

question: did jay and doug train makany this summer when he went 49.2?

AAI - yes they did

awesome! that shows you the payoff at the end. go ags!

Thanks Big Papa ...great information

I met Gary Hall Sr. last spring and he had nothing but good things to say about Coach Boyd (Indiana connection).

Are there any fall signees for the Aggie men?

Texas' roster is bulging at the seams and they somehow convinced Dax Hill and Cole Cragin to sign this fall.

I think texas is graduating a decent class this year, so to maintain they're 40+ man squad, it makes sense they would bring in some more, fast, guys.

And the men won't release they're signees to the public till probably end of spring. That's how it usually works. Pretty much the only way we'll find out is if someone on the inside decides to post it on here

Why does A&M's men's team insist on doing it this way?

To me it looks like we have no one signed. If we signed someone, let's say so. It makes us look active and that things are happening. It generates a bit of publicity and keeps us in the news.

Instead we just read more about other teams.

No idea...Not a priority to them I guess.

[This message has been edited by Look Out Below (edited 12/3/2008 2:48p).]

well as a former swimmer at aTm .....the entire athletic dept. needs to really show support for the mens team..... as a fact BB was really dead set on droping the men's program like he did at Nebraska and Oregon.....

it's great the men's team works so hard to have one maybe two great swims for an entire year at both the big 12 and ncaa meets....

but swimmers need to feel that they can go fast a few times even during the season....

lets face it....the womens team has gained so much momentum the last 4 years by swimming fast early and qualifying with ncaa cons. and auto times before the xmas break and expecting beter results and getting them at the big 12 and ncaa meets.... let me tell you ...it is no fun to work your tail off 24 7 for entire year with no experience to swim fast until the one.....one....one meet of year.

besides.... the men's team never ever gets any publicity all year because they finish dead last at art invite or last at big 12 relays or beat in dual meets because mr. BB man has nothing to write about because all the swimmer men are dead tired to produce any results for the fans to notice.....

top ten finish at ncaa would be wonderful....but the swimming world is so small ...recruits see how slow or lack of publicity the aggies men team gets rest of year
they are not interested in going there

go coaches....go aggies...go swimmers...still behind you all the way....

It all starts with mr. BB and trickles down from there

Good Luck Jay (former swimmer buddy)

Kordell Reid (yes actual name)

Kordell -- at the end of the day, most people -- I'm betting the kids included -- care a lot more about NCAA finish than anything else...That's the best recruiting tool out there and the ultimate measure of a successful program, not dual meets

I'm sure Coach Holmes and Coach Boyd are doing what they think is best for the program...we'd all like every guy and girl to be super fast every meet all year long but it just doesn't work that way for them in order to meet end of the year aspirations...comparing the girls team to the guys team isn't necessarily fair to the guys for multiple reasons...bottom line is both teams work hard and make us proud to be Aggies..have a little patience and see what their hard work now will reap in a couple months

[This message has been edited by agswim15 (edited 1/26/2009 8:21a).]

Sounds like a very disgruntled member of the men's team if you ask me...

I agree with you lookout below that ncaa's are the main goal all year long not dual meets....been there done that (way back)...it is just that the women's team gets all the press because they won this and broke records for that and when people read and hear about all the success the entire year and press releases people get excited about the womens team because they hear it they read it. You hear nothing about the men's team or hardly any "tip of the aggie cap" from Mr. BB. The whole thing starts with Him. I Still don't think the men's team has 100% unconditional backing from the athletic dept. because of BB 's past record at other major schools of droping men's swimming....and other school's continue to use this info to out recruit aTm.

I think Kordell's comments have great merit. I understand, as the parent of two swimmers (both are multi-time A&M swim campers) - the mental benefit of swimming fast mid-season. Grinding in training from September to February can take a toll. I can't believe the guys had fun swimming in drag suits at the invite swimming against Stanford guys going 42-43+ in the 100.

I think the biggest problem with the men's program is our recruiting philosophy. It isn't the quality of the coaching.

Our approach to recruiting seems like what RC Slocum used to do - bring in all the recruits in January and count on A&M getting their last or next to last visit. It worked well until Mack Brown changed it all. Mack convinced kids to decide early and he locked them in.

I know not all kids decide early. But many do. We recruit so many foreign kids - and have to wait on English proficiency tests. We don't tell the world who is on our roster until late summer. By that time the next year's prospects are already talking to coaches and scheduling their visits for the fall.

So I don't know if the lack of buzz or PERCEIVED energy in the program is Byrne's fault or someone else. But I believe it does us no good to have a quiet, sleepy program.

It seems that there is A LOT of high school talent in the state of Texas.

Perhaps it is a given that the sips will get most of the 4 and 5 star recruits.

However it is obvious that Holmes and Boyd are exceptional coaches and can develop swimmers to swim incredibly fast.

With this in mind why not just stay in state? Of course still go hard after the 4 and 5 star recruits but build the program with 2 and 3 star recruits. Why go outside the country? Aren't there enough in state? How about just the major urban areas?

bogus - you do make a very good point about the talent in the state of Texas, however, the problem is this: The Men's program (along with all of the other sports teams at A&M) is under extreme pressure to succeed at the national level, and to do it soon. They have been expected to be in the Top 10 for a few years now, and time is running out. I do agree that it is a good idea to recruit the 2-3 star talent within the state, but these guys are not going to have the immediate impact that the Ags need right now. Yes, they will be developed, but Holmes/Boyd are going overseas to bring in the higher talent that will hopefully score at NCs right away, so that they can meet the expectations placed on them. It kinda sucks, I know, but its just what they hafta do I think.

Kordell and Spice - do you really, honestly believe that if Bill Byrne posted in his "Wednesday Weekly", or held a press conference, and said "I fully support Men's Swimming and Diving" that recruiting for the men would change THAT significantly? I understand that recruiting was affected when Byrne was hired, given his reputation for dropping mens programs (Oregon, Nebraska), but that was how many years ago? What people dont realize, is that, as long as t.u has a men's swim team (which they will have for a very very long time), no athletic director in their right mind would drop the men's swimming program here at A&M. The alumni/association of former students would have his head on a silver platter for dropping a team that competes against t.u, given the history and tradition of A&M v. t.u. The only sport that t.u has that we do not is Women's Rowing, but we have Equestrian to counter that.

Kordell - Like LOB said, its extremely difficult to compare men and women in season. As a former swimmer, im sure you know the huge difference in muscle mass between men and women, and how much more broken down men get in season than women. It is much easier for women to rest even just a little, and swim very very fast, most of the time going lifetime bests, during the middle of the season, whereas the men can rest a little, but they wont swim best times. Because of their muscle mass, it takes much more rest for the men to swim that fast (best times), and most of the time, breaking training to rest that much can have a great affect on how fast they swim at the end of the year. Yes, there are plenty of mens teams in the country that rest for an invite in the fall, and still swim fast again at conference/NCs, but to be able to plan the training and accomplish this is a crapshoot. if they dont rest enough in the fall, they dont swim their fastest, if they rest too much, they arent able to build back up and arent as fast again in the spring. So yes it CAN be done, but it is difficult. Instead of trying to split their eggs in two baskets (invite and NCs), the Aggie Men take the much safer approach, and put all their eggs in one basket (conference/NCs). They know that by training all the way through the fall, and resting big time for one meet in the spring, they WILL swim their fastest. You say that swimmers get discouraged when they dont swim fast in season, but I think that this shows a weakness on the mental side of the swimmer. I think BigPapaB touched on this a bit earlier, but it shows the mental toughness of the athlete to be able to train hard all fall, knowing what is coming in the end. Kordell I'm sorry you found it so difficult to work hard all year without swimming fast, and didnt think it was any fun, but as a former swimmer, I personally loved getting pounded at practices all year, without rest. It feels great, knowing that I dont need to rest in order to feel good about myself or what I was doing. Those few amazing races were more than enough to justify all the hard work I put in during the course of the year. I would gladly sacrifice a million crummy, tired, unrested, slow, unsuited dual meet every day of the year for dropping huge amounts in a few races at the end of the year.

Looking back at how them men have swam in season as compared to the spring, it would seem as though the men on that team now share (at least somewhat) my feelings about training and resting only once at the end of the year, because the success theyve had doing it shows that, as BigPapa said, they believe in the program, and their coaches, and what they are doing.

Bogus - I agree with you.

There are a LOT of fast swimmers in Texas. Texas can only take maybe 5 a year. They recruit nationally for the 5 and 6 star kids and will probably fill their roster with in state kids that can afford the in state tuition as walkons or near walkons.

Eddie refuses to recruit foreign swimmers. So his 9.9 scholarships go farther.

I have a feeling (I can't prove it) that Byrne is pushing Jay so hard to be top 10 that Jay feels he can't attain that with in-state or regional talent.

A better strategy might be to take a short term hit in NCAA standings - but go for the fast kids in Texas. Give them more money - and convince them not to go to LSU or Auburn. Build a reputation and relationship with the top Texas club teams and coaches.

3 star kids can be very fast. Example: Dax Hill is a 3 star according to SwimmingWorld magazine. But Dax swims a 1:39 200. He has already gone a 1:40 this year (unrested) and will surely be 4 stars by next spring.

Texag09 - I don't actually believe Byrne's Wednesday column will do jack s**t. But Byrne could do way more.

As per my prior post - he could back off the pressure for short term results. He could let Jay grow his roster. I see no good reason to have just 20 swimmers on a Div 1 team. Attrition happens.

As for taking the safe route by resting just once - I get it. But I think that approach may have negative effects on recruting.

I happen to believe that many teams have proven over and over they can swim fast twice a year. But probably not 3. Stanford has often swum badly at NCAAs because of their conference meet (to beat Cal). But they don't swim slow in March because they swam fast in November.

I don't claim any once of expertise, but I have some thoughts. With all the swimming talent in Texas, I don't think that is the answer. I believe that the women's team and many other top team's approach such as Auburn and USC is how to move up the food chain. These teams score points at NC's through top foreign (or at least out of state) talent, not developing 3 star domestic recruits to hopefully swim a relay or make the bonus heat at NC's. Keep in mind that unless a swimmer is top 3 at Texas HS state meet, it is very unlikely that they will even score a single point at NC's in their college career, even with the best coaching

I would be willing to bet that there are half a dozen 2-3 star swimmers walking arround the A&M campus right now that chose to be an Aggie over swimming at another college. Jay could get these recruits with just more roster spots. Maybe the answer is to open up more roster spots and, in turn, score more points at Big XII to build more press for the team, and eventually land those 5 star guys in a few years. I would argue, that if there is more money in the budget it should go to more recruiting budget; either in travel, scholarships, or an assistant coach in charge of recruiting.

H2O - good points. But there are no more scholarships than 9.9 (the NCAA Div 1 men's limit for swimming). Unless Jay doesn't get to use them - we have all we're going to have. Jay only gets 7.9 - since the divers get 2. That means in any give year he has just 2 scholarships to give (spread around). I bet almost all of that goes to foreign swimmers - who need more money to actually pay for their college.

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Eddie refuses to recruit foreign swimmers. So his 9.9 scholarships go farther

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How exactly do 9.9 scholarships "go farther" just because he doesnt recruit internationally? The opposite is true. Using scholarships on international athletes gets way "more bang for your buck" because it costs so much more for the foreign students to come to school here. It doesnt matter whether its a kid from Texas, a kid from Georgia, or a kid from Brazil, ONE scholarship is still ONE scholarsip, no matter what the actual monetary amount given is.

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As for taking the safe route by resting just once - I get it.

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Obviously you dont get it, or we wouldnt still be having this discussion after 22 posts about the same topic.

Kordell - Let's shoot for publicity during the season, that way everyone will have enormous expectations for the Ags come spring, which we may or may not meet. We win dual meets, place high at invites, and dont drop at the end of the season. Who have we become? Missouri, who sent TWO athletes to NCs (both divers) and did not score a single point.

Polo - excellent points. Im glad somebody sees the reasoning behind the coaches recruiting tactics. Unfortunately, Spice is right, no more scholarships are coming.

The main issue is time. It takes TIME to build a solid program. Bill Byrne knows this, despite the pressure I'm sure he is putting on Holmes. A top 10 finish for the Ags this year will be the biggest step in the right direction anyone could ever ask for.

09 hit the nail on the head in many respects...he gave you all some great insight from inside the program

Spicewood -- It's not like Eddie 'refuses' to recruit foreign swimmers, it's that he doesn't have to...The guy is like the Hugh Hefner of swimming coaches...most coaches want to be him and most swimmers want to swim for him...he can swoop in and pick off many of the kids he wants at any time, and when I mean swoop in I include kids that would rather swim for free for him than earn scholarship money at A&M -- kids that might never even be on the texas scoring team at conference or even sniff NCAA's whereas they might easily do both in College Station...the sad thing about this is A&M performed more to their potential at NCAA's than Texas did...the men's coaches get very little credit for what they've done with some of their kids -- Tyler Welch, Luke Chambless, Jason Bergstrom...the list goes on and on...kids doing things that most other coaches never would have believed possible when they got here...

and again, at the end of the day, I don't think anything is gained by swimming decent at dual meets only to fall short of expectations at NCAA's...Dual meets can be sacrificed when at the end of the year the thing that matters most to most people says:

2008 NCAA's
13. A&M (no diving)
14. SMU
29. LSU
38. Missouri (all diving)

Those three all beat A&M in dual meets last year but, with the exception of SMU, weren't even close to being in A&M's class when it mattered most

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kids that would rather swim for free for him than earn scholarship money at A&M -- kids that might never even be on the texas scoring team at conference or even sniff NCAA's whereas they might easily do both in College Station

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Wow. Truer words have NEVER been spoken. That is the bottom line when it comes to recruiting within the state of Texas. Well done LOB. All great points.

LOB - I really agree with most of what you said. Eddie is Eddie. He recruits to Austin Texas - which appeals to lots of kids. So he has some huge advantages including coaching the US Olympic team twice.

I've seen it said before and I too don't understand why some kids will be the 10th fastest 200 free guy at Texas instead being 3rd fastest somewhere else. But I suppose A&M should understand that - and find a way to defeat that mindset.

BigPapa - scholarship allocation does gets skewed with foreign athletes, doesn't it?

If Jay has 7.9 scholarships to give - and foreign guys have 4 of them - he only has 3.9 to give the remaining 20 guys on the team. I think chances are good that we can recruit an out of state kid for less than a full scholarship. What if those 4 scholarships were given to 8 out of state guys instead?

SOME of our foreign guys are very good. But not all of them. Obviously Duran the last two years was very good. Balasz should be very good. And Denisyako finished last year strong. I know Matt Rose and other Canadians have been very important to our team in the past. So I'm not saying NO foreigners. But instead why not de-emphasize it and create a 3-4 year plan to focus in Texas and USA talent instead?

We had an excellent NCAA finish last year with no divers as pointed out. But did that get us any GREAT swimmers this fall? There are only THREE freshmen swimmers on the roster. And apparently we lost one. So our 13th place finish got us TWO swimmers this fall. How can anyone look at that and not scratch your head?

Sorry for the rant....

[This message has been edited by Aggie-matic (edited 12/4/2008 3:11p).]

They did add Atkinson (a senior transfer who has some serious sprint talent) and a third diver coming the spring that may be in Eric's league (along with McLean who has beaten Eric twice this year already)...with three big-time divers in the fold, one might think 3 full rides might have been used in diving this year and Atkinson would eat up a big chunk of a fourth...that's 3+ of the 9.9 rides right there

Wow, I need to start checking the board more often...this is getting some great discussion

agswim15 - Who all do you know personally that was made unsure about coming to A&M, strictly because of the "training tactics"? And do you think Ryan Schneider quit because the Ags dont rest in season? Last I checked, Schneider has/had never competed collegiately this year, so he never experienced the "hardest part" of the "training tactic". He didnt even swim an exhibition race at the invite, so even if they were planning on redshirting him (which is entirely possible given his previous speed/height/assumed potential), why would he not swim a single race? I would be willing to bet there was more than just the style of coaching/training that factored into schneider's quitting.

Spice - What exactly would you suggest Byrne do to "support" the program? He has always been very impressed with the way the Ags have continued to improve, and other than not signing Holmes to a long term contract when he was first hired, he has done NOTHING to show a lack of support for the program. He has never threatened in any way, he has always complimented the success of the team, and has been seen at MANY swim meets throughout his tenure as AD. I dont really understand what all he could really do to help with recruiting. As for the roster size, I highly doubt that Byrne is the reason that Coach Holmes keeps his roster so small. It makes absolutely no sense for an AD to put limits like that on any of his coaches, especially if he has such high expectations of them. The small roster is not necessarily a bad thing. Just because t.u is a standout program, and has 40+ guys on their roster, does not mean that we have to do the same. Sometimes a smaller, closely knit group of guys can function together better than a larger group of individual studs. I'm not saying that we shouldnt try and recruit the studs, but I think those studs, and the less talented, can exceed all expectations when place in a true TEAM environment. I would be willing to bet that this has at least a little bit to do with the great development of swimmers that come through A&M. Having some of the closest teammates there supporting before, during, and after each race can do amazing things for a racer.

Polo - I agree with you wholeheartedly about the recruiting tactics

LOB - As usual, I agree with everything you said, and BigPapa is right, that statement was one of brilliance.

BigPapa - good call about time. I'm with you on that one. Less criticism, more support (from fans), and just a little time, and those two coaches will have the program where it needs/should/can be.

Aggie-Matic - nice rant. I agree mostly.

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So our 13th place finish got us TWO swimmers this fall?

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I got nothing for that. kudos to you. As for recruiting, I dont think that we are ONLY trying to recruit foreigners. I'm sure Holmes/Boyd are going after the 4-5 star US guys and offering them good amounts of money, both in Texas and otherwise, but when they lose those guys to other Top 10 teams (Stanford, Michigan, Cal, Auburn, Texas, etc) who have that reputation to go along with the money, they are forced to look elsewhere (internationally). What I'm trying to say is that I doubt their goal is to be an entirely international team, but it is just kinda happening that way.

smarterthanyou - if youre reading any of this, do you have any thoughts on the subject? (or subjects since there are definitely several of them being discussed.

no, i just like to make fun of spicewood.

this is cool....

everyone on here makes valid points.

Keep it up!

TexAgg09 - I see no obvious signs of Byrne NOT supporting the men's program. But do you not think he could do more?

Above it was suggested Byrne could do more to help with recruiting. Mostly - that means allocate athletic department funds and resources. I don't want Byrne to personally get involved. That would probably hurt things since he still has a Darth Vader rep in some circles because of Nebraska. He could back off on the pressure to perform a bit - and publicly support a new strategy to focus on in-state and USA based talent. I am honestly a bit surprised he hasn't done something like that already - he talks constantly about his preference for hiring coaches in all sports with a connection to Texas and its athletes. There is probably no more Texas-centric men's coach than Jay. I know Jay doesn’t recruit foreigners exclusively. I first met Jay four years ago when he was recruiting Tony Collela – a 2-time 5A state champion in the 200IM. Tony swam on the same team as my sons. I’m pretty sure Jay doesn’t travel to Eastern Europe looking for swimmers. These swimmers typically reach out to us.

How about hosting a Texas swimming conference at A&M chaired by Jay and Bultman? Invite all club coaches and TISCA members. Show them advanced NCAA-level training techniques. Dryland routines that a small club or high school team can use. Etc. Let them all know we want their kids to consider swimming for A&M. I’ll volunteer to serve coffee or wash the dishes. How about pushing the Rec center to host more USA-S meets? Finally they are hosting TAGS next year. Every fast kid in Texas has raced at tu’s pool 25 times by the time they are a senior in high school.

And finishing 13th at NCAAs doesn’t mean much if no one except us knows.

As for recruiting 4-5 stars with offers of big scholarship money - get serious. How much can Jay offer? Do the math yourself. How many scholarships are tied up in the guys below? If Denisyako and Makany each have a full, and the rest one half – that’s 6 scholarships. (I do not of course know what exactly these guys have). The rest of the roster is all Texans – who can stomach in-state tuition. We know that most, maybe all of them, started as walk-ons.

Atkinson – Sr - Jamaica
Clarke – Sr – Barbados
Denisyako – Jr. – Russia
Fonua – Fr – New Zealand
Lavery – Jr – South Africa
Makany – So – Hungary
Van Dam – So – Venezuela
Loncaric – So – Croatia

I mean no disrespect to the guys above. They are Aggies, they are athletes, and I'm glad they chose to swim for us.

If we have 7.9 (or less?) to give, what could Jay offer for next fall? Two of the guys above are seniors. We have 4 other seniors – so whatever these six guys have for scholarships can be allocated for new guys. So maybe Jay has 2-3 to give next fall.

As for roster size – Jay told me that BB sets his roster size at 24-28. I don’t think that includes divers. I think that is an upper limit. And scholarships or not – it is a budget issue for BB. It costs money to have an athlete on the team. I don’t suggest 40 is a good number. But 20 is small enough that it can’t be too easy to field competitive relays. You need enough freestylers for three relays. Not likely to be the same four guys swimming 20sec 50s and sub 1:40 200s. Some swimmers may be forced to swim relays they normally wouldn’t – which limits their rest.

Please – even though it sounds like I’m bashing – I just want to suggest that staying the current course isn’t gonna get us anywhere much better than where we are. I don’t think we’ll ever catch tu while Eddie is there.



[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 12/5/2008 1:32p).]

I also suppose (have some knowlege on this)
that recruiting circles at t.u. and auburn and standford....and more use this fine line recruiting method to always have extra scholarships available. lets say they offer a stud swimmer full ride for coming to texas. he does well at ncaa's does well in academics as well...so they work the deal with the university and award him with equal academic money...(which he qualified for thru the standards) and ask the stud swimmer to release his scholarship the next year for the good of the team. he is not out money, has nothing to loose and the team has available scholarship for the next season. They do it with any or all of scholarships they can each year.I know this goes on and is fine line within the legalities....but it works or has so far....Texas A&M does not play by these rules and I commend them for that (or are we crazy not to? i don't know). However, just saying that we are not playing in the same game or by the same rules and we are losing.

Kordell - people have been suspicious of Auburn for a long time. Some thought that Dave Marsh left because some things would catch up with him (no proof though).

I would not be surprised if the money comes and goes amongst the roster to free it up when needed. Easiest to do if the kid can already afford the school.

Everything you suggested Byrne do would be him giving special treatment to swimming over all the other sports. Its unreasonable to ask him to do that, when he has all the other sports to consider. And that swimming conference with coaches, etc, has nothing to do with Byrne. That's a Bultman/Holmes project. As for swimming so many meets in Austin (like hs State) that's because the state of Texas WILL NOT ALLOW us to host the meet. Its extremely unfair, yes, but they want all of Texas High School athetes to come through the state capitol. Talk about an unfair advantage. Its because everyone in Austin knows we have as good (if not better) facilities than t.u does, and they know they would lose athletes in all sports to A&M. Don't think we haven't tried to host state championships (swimming, tennis, golf, T&F, etc).

Kordell - I have heard the exact same thing. Studs at t.u being asked to give up scholarship to be allocated to bring in recruits. Eddie will not "break" rules, or lie to athletes, but you can bet he will do everything just short of that, and he will bend them as far as he can get away with. As I'm sure you know, Jay is as honest as they come, and will not do anything in anyway that could ever be confused with even bending the rules. No loopholes. I commend him for that. And yes you're right, we will be forever losing that battle with Eddie unfortunately.

I don't know why people think that just because an athlete is foreign, it automatically means they're on a full scholarship. The coaches aren't stupid, and know that they need to save a fair amount of money each year for next years recruits. Just because we have 7+ foreign guys, doesn't mean we don't have any money available to offer recruits.

Its easy to criticize the coaches and how they use the scholarships and they're recruiting decisions, but while everyone thinks they can do the job better than Holmes/Boyd, the bottom line is that we have to trust them. because, as much as we sometimes question it, YES they DO know what they're doing. And they're going to continue doing it. Let's have faith in the coaches, just like the athletes do. Like BigPapa said, TIME!