Is he right? Colin Cowherd says Texas A&M is most underachieving program in the country
The SEC has never had much love for former ESPN talking head Colin Cowherd, and one team now has another reason to add him to their hate list.
Cowherd, now with FOX Sports, called Texas A&M “the most underachieving program in the country” during a segment in which he questioned Myles Garrett’s legitimacy on Monday.
“Texas A&M is the most underachieving program in the country.” — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/FVeEmM6GxO
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 24, 2017
The snippet comes from the video simulcast of his daily radio show, and the pundit didn’t pull any punches. He mentioned that Texas A&M has only had two “great first-round players” since 1995 in a talent-rich state, and he called the Aggies a “flaky program” with respect to their history of transfers.
That may be opinion, but he also listed some stats that back up his case, including that the Aggies have only had one double-digit winning season since 1998 and have only finished with a top-25 ranking three times in 17 years.
Cowherd said that the Aggies’ disappointment is rooted in continual high expectation, stating, “Texas A&M should be a top-10 program every stinkin’ year, and they’re never a top-10 program.”
Though there are certainly some factual data points to the Aggies recent late-season collapses, Cowherd, master of headline-grabbing, took some liberties with the information, with such statements as “the culture is off” and “they’re no better than Arkansas.”
Looks like Cowherd will have to hide if he comes to College Station anytime soon.
“He mentioned that Texas A&M has only had two “great first-round players” since 1995 in a talent-rich state.”
As opposed to who, Tech? Texas? Baylor? I don’t suppose Cowherd took the time to list all the great first rounders the other Texas universities had from this “talent-rich state”. This guy has been a joke since he long before he started his show and he’s only gotten worse.
Most accurate take of his career.
Well, he’s an underachieving host who has a name that rhymes with cow-turd. So whatever.
And you’re posting from the cow college. #circleoflife
How does a national sports talk host underachieve? I’m not a coward (spell check but seemed appropriate) fan but that was a dumb statement.
Cowherd is a tool. Straight up nancy boy, cant stand the SOB. That said, a grown man called him a cow-turd. #barnersgonnabarn
Being a graduate of A&M, sadly, he is correct. Our program is a joke compared to what it should be. Constant top 10-15 recruiting classes, more money than we can spend, the best facilities you can buy, and we can’t even get a ranked, it’s infuriating.
Eh, not sure I’d go that far, but there is a reason the term “Battered Aggie Syndrome” exists. However, if its an under achieving football program, so are several other SEC schools if you look at recruiting class rankings (and a couple of them are about to get whacked with some sort of sanctions, probably).
First, Cowherd is a d1#k, he makes his money by over stating almost every point he tries to make, so while most of us would agree A&M under achieves, not sure I’d go anywhere near as far as to say its the most underachieving program in the country (Again, the SEC has at least 4 other schools I’d say are under achievers. Larger programs, richer than A&M until just recently, have been stagnant for years (Penn State, Michigan, ad nauseam)
Second, until very recently, A&M’s facilities were just awful. Kyle Field was old, full of mould, bats, bat crap, bad bathroom facilities, one of the worst facilities of any school its size, ad nauseam). To say we have more money than we can spend on football has only been true in the last 4 years. Almost 1/3 of A&M’s football revenue in the last three years has come from donations that are way out of balance with what A&M traditionally pulled in. Only time will tell if that insane donation level keeps up.
So, the money and facilities are just now on par with the “Jones’s”. The rest is all on A&M, Sumlin has under achieved, as have most of A&M’s recent hires, but he is note worthy with the worst home field advantage in the SEC (that is just awful), yada yada.
Its an under achieving football program, but so are several other SEC schools if you look at recruiting class rankings (and a couple of them are about to get whacked with some sort of sanctions, probably).
Ole Miss is the only program in the conference that has issues, and they don’t have near the resources A&M has, so I’m not sure who you are referring to. You might want to expand on that a little.
Old Army you are the textbook example of BAS, don’t even go there.
A&M is missing one key element: the right head coach. The current head coach is lacking in two critical areas. One, he is not a grinder. What he considers working hard is not what Nick Saban or Jimbo Fisher or Jim Harbaugh would call working hard. He coasts at times when he should be pumping those pedals. Two, he does not insist on players giving him their very best 100% of the time.
With its resources, location and conference alignment, if A&M could ever hire the right head coach — look out! As it is, they thought Sumlin was great when all he really was was lucky enough to have inherited Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans.
I don’t have full context of the statement “culture is off” but if I take that at face value its probably the only part of this I disagree with. Our culture is such that we have high expectations of the program because of reasons mentioned above by Greenwave81. Being faithful Aggs we always try to stand behind our team and wish the best for them but to imply we as a culture are off…. yea sure…. we are just so “off” having expectations and wanting our program to elevate itself to a true relevancy in the SEC.
I would think by “culture is off”, he is referring to the program and not the fans. And I think there is some truth to that.
Not a huge CowTurd fan, with all his rants. But he’s not too far off on this one. Lots of facts backing it up.
Roughly 26 million people live in Texas. Are there any programs among the 128 D1 NCAA who don’t recruit Texas? This tabloid sports journalist can’t figure out the culture anywhere because he is bad at math. aTm’s share of Texas recruits is small because everyone’s share is small. Their signees are over-rated because all signees from recruiting hot regions are…., by the law of supply and demand,…. over-rated. The truth is aTm does a fair job of recruiting and developing talent, while media who create year-end rankings live in a culture of judgements based on thin or no evidence once they get past the top few teams. This isn’t even debated by the media themselves. Here is a concrete fact, count the teams who have beaten Alabama since 2012, when aTm joined the SEC, culture “that” big-mouth-small-brain.
We or in this case they, beat Bama! Yayyyy! You sound like an old miss fan. And that further proves the point that they underachieve. That team only won 9 games.
You realize the tremendous parity that exists in the SEC but for Bama? A&M had the second best record in the league last year.
No they didn’t.
You’re clueless…
Assuming you are referring to the west and not the entire league, LSU actually had the second best record.
LSUMC, you do realize LSU won 8 regular season games don’t you? And that A&M also won 8 games? Nobody in the SEC except Bama won more than 8 games in the regular season.
The Aggies still didn’t finish second in the conference. You should check the standings.
You still wouldn’t be second in the SEC. Both Florida and Tennessee finished the season with a better win loss record than TAMU. Florida, LSU and Auburn all finished the season with a better conference record than TAMU. Anyway you look at it you’re wrong.
Thanks for the comment but what are you saying ? This has nothing to do with OMiss, unless they are a program that can beat a known high standard product or a set of known high standard products. So if a program has beaten some of the top programs in the PAC, Big10, ACC, Big12, and of course SEC, a few times a year, or a lot of them every other year, then they are not all that far from deserving some respect as a football program. aTm, without a doubt, has these wins. Any mature brain knows that no program can play in the SEC or play in real bowl games without losing a few games. This media boy is….a boy…..immature
“they’re no better than Arkansas.” According to the all time record, that’s true. I’d even go as far to say that A&M is Arkansas with better recruits.
A&M is the Iowa of the SEC. win the first 7/8 games. Lose the next 4
You’re on crack. Bama is the new Dallas Cowboys of SEC; will get to the playoffs off hype, and lose when it matters.
Dabo sends his regards!
Dallas Cowboys > Iowa. I wonder how many losses A&M will have before they get throttled again in College Station vs Bama
TAMU can’t even get to the SECCG game….
Bama won’t either after Dabo retires Saban! hahaha
The problem with your statement is Bama had already been to the SECCG numerous times prior to Saban being a Bama coach…… While you think Bama won’t make one after Saban we no for a fact TAMU hasn’t made one…
Know..
Dabo will retire Saban!
Dabo might replace Saban one day. Either way TAMU will continue to be middle of the pack…..
I will give A&M this I still believe UGA or Tennessee might be the most underachieving just because they’ve been in the SEC
A&M is underachieving by a lot, and that isn’t acceptable. However, Auburn, Texas, Iowa, UCLA, and Georgia are underachieving just as much if not more.
Rush Roberts, Good Bull Hunting:
“If this really bothers you so much, don’t get mad at the mouthpiece. Just stop consuming all the filler. Tune in for the games in the fall and leave the rest of it to the apocalyptic wasteland scavengers of the off-season internet. That’s what underachievers do.” – Pretty much describe many of us on these sites.
By what metric of measurement cowturd? Yes, Ags have been terrible, but I know some programs in Texas that can’t get to 8 wins (*cough cough*…tu *cough). Look cowturd, we know you are a t-shirt-sip homer, but keep the Texas A&M name away from your fart emitting airwaves. Also, never is a strong word…. We were never a top 10 program? You better look at 2012 (yes, I know it’s in the past, but just for argument purposes) nobody wanted it with the Fighting Texas Aggies…Nobody wanted a piece of that team!
sip on cowturd
and
Gig’Em Ags!
LSU had no problem with that team.
After the Bama game? I’m assuming I can cling to the “our team got better later in the season” argument; LSU and Auburn fans do it all the time…
Sure. I don’t recall any LSU fans saying that and I’m not sure what season that would fit, but ok. Barring injuries, every team should get better as the season progresses.
Excuses seems to be an Aggie tradition….
I’m not sure that’s true at all for the Aggies. The early part of the season has always been dominant but they falter as it gets deeper into the season. Much of that falls on the style of play and a lack of conditioning able to keep up with it. The defense simply wore down as the season went on with the Aggie defense playing more snaps than any other SEC team in 2016. That has been addressed in the off season with a new strength and conditioning coach that so far is creating a big buzz with what he’s doing. We can only wait and see how much of a factor that actually was in our late season woes.
@lovingdagame, I was referring the 2012 team.
I was responding to what LSUSMC said about teams should all get better as the season progresses. While that is certainly always the hope, it just hasn’t panned out that way for the Aggies in recent years and it the biggest hurdle needing to be overcome for us.
@lovingdagame I agree. We gotta get over that hump. What would be ironic if it happens this year, when we no longer have 3 generational players.
There is a difference in a top ten team and a top ten program….
Please enlighten us, AdventureTime…..
Do you really not know the difference? Okie State finished in the top ten in 2011 but they’re not a top 10 program in CFB….. BSU is not a top 10 program but they have had teams finish in the top 10……
What is your qualifications of a top 10 program? Quantify it…..
Why does it matter what my qualifications are? There is a difference in a top ten team and a top ten program….. If you can’t understand that you need more then me to try to explain it to you…. A simple google search for top ten programs turns up numerous lists.
Awwww him can’t substantiate him claims and expects everyone to make the same leap of logic as him, even though him premise is hot air….Him wants to get mad and use the word “then”, instead of “than” and suggest that I go to Google for some random blog’s list of arguable top 10 programs…
Awwwww how cute…
Substantiate what claim? Are you really so dense that you’re struggling with the fact that there is a difference in a team and a program? Bama is a top ten program but the team could surely finish outside the top 10 next year and it wouldn’t change the fact Bama is a top ten program. BSU is not a top 10 program but their team could finish in the top 10 next season but that wouldn’t elevate them to a top 10 program…… I understand you don’t have an argument so you’re going in circles without anything of worth in your posts but if you have been a fan of any team longer than a day you should know the difference.
Awwwww him is subjected to bias; him is using Bama as the staple of top 10 programs and teams, although Bama can only account for one of them. Awwww him still haven’t provided a list of him top 10 programs, even though that list will be arguable because there is no metric of measurement (standard). Awwww him loves to state him opinions as if they are ubiquitous facts among all others. Awwww I did make an argument by stating that there is no standard of measurement for these “top 10” programs/teams, but him didn’t understand.
Awwwww how cute….
So you do agree there is a difference in a top ten team and a top ten program? That was the entire point. I wasn’t listing or trying to determine who is a top program. You tried to use one season (2012) to prove TAMU is a top ten program and all I did was show it would take more than one season to prove that…….. I get it. You’re a dumba$$ and maybe even a little slow. Your ability to comprehend what you read is as mediocre as the football team TAMU fielded last season.
Awwww him talking in circles and has to result to personal insults due to lack of cognitive functioning…
Bro, until you provide a list, you have no point. You can’t just say something, not support it with evidence…
GIVE US YOUR LIST!!!!!
And my point was not that 2012 A&M was a top 10 program, it was that “nobody wanted it with the Fighting Texas Aggies…Nobody wanted a piece of that team!”.
You came in and went left, with “There is a difference in a top ten team and a top ten program….”
Completely off base! So I entertained your off-based statement and requested a list of top 10 programs/teams.
AdventureTime, you have yet to provide any evidence of your left- field(again, off topic) claim.
Really? You said “we have never been a top ten program?” and followed it up with you better look at 2012. You tried to use the 2012 team ranking like it was a TAMU program ranking. …… Like I said, there is a difference in a top ten 10 and a top 10 program. No need to try to back pedal now. A list of who top ten programs are currently is not a point I am trying to make. That seems to be some side information you feel you must have. We have already cleared up that there is numerous lists of “top ten programs” but none of them made the list due to a single season…….. You seem to have trouble keeping up.
Anddddd there we have it, your point was that A&M is/was not a top 10 program/team!
I told you to prove it by giving a list of top 10 programs/teams!
You came up with some “go search it on google” as if all generic lists will magically be the same! Again, GIVE….US…..YOUR….LIST!!!! You keep going double talking, and avoiding the latter portion of the argument!
I understand the direction you want this argument to go to, but I won’t let you go on a wild tangent about A&M not being a top 10 program/team. Provide a list (and your source) or have a seat, AdventureTime!
Do you just make up stuff as you go? I haven’t said that TAMU isn’t a Top 10 program in any of my posts. I pointed out there is a difference in a top 10 ten and top 10 program. A team is a single season while the program is cumulative…….. Why does it matter who I think are top 10 programs so much to you? It doesn’t change the fact that their is a difference like I showed you. As far as the google search you can find lists from numerous sources and they all differ depending on the criteria they decide to use. The fact you dismiss them from the start just proves that only your opinion matters to you. Also I am not avoiding any argument as you’re just talking in circles. The point has already been made….. You’re the one that continues to try to use program and team as interchangeable when it’s not.