Nothing accelerates the rate of change like success. That's especially true in football. Successful teams accelerate change among unsuccessful teams trying to emulate their success. Individuals who succeed in their positions are in demand and change positions seeking more money or status -- leading to change within the successful organization.
The Texas A&M football program has been mediocre for a dozen years. The Aggies weren't good enough to attract much attention or raise many eyebrows, or bad enough to prompt rapid change. Slocum, Franchione, and Sherman always seemed to win just enough to hang onto their jobs one more season, then one more season after that.
The Aggies finally made major changes, switching from the Big 12 to the SEC, concurrently replacing Sherman with Sumlin. Both changes occurred gradually, but the success that resulted was sudden. The Aggie football program is finally raising eyebrows in December, with a redshirt freshman quarterback on the brink of winning the Heisman. We'll know if he won in about an hour. Meanwhile, Tommy Tuberville has left Texas Tech, and Kingsbury is mentioned as his potential replacement.
If the Aggies had finished the season as I predicted, at 6-6 or so, there's no way Johnny Manziel would be better known as Johnny Football, and no way Kingsbury would be mentioned prominently as possibly the next head coach at Tech. Success accelerates the rate of change, and if JFF wins the Heisman tonight, he'll be a different guy tomorrow. If the Aggies win the Cotton Bowl and finish 11-2, I expect the turnover rate among Sumlin's assistants will pick up speed, too.
The Texas A&M football program has been mediocre for a dozen years. The Aggies weren't good enough to attract much attention or raise many eyebrows, or bad enough to prompt rapid change. Slocum, Franchione, and Sherman always seemed to win just enough to hang onto their jobs one more season, then one more season after that.
The Aggies finally made major changes, switching from the Big 12 to the SEC, concurrently replacing Sherman with Sumlin. Both changes occurred gradually, but the success that resulted was sudden. The Aggie football program is finally raising eyebrows in December, with a redshirt freshman quarterback on the brink of winning the Heisman. We'll know if he won in about an hour. Meanwhile, Tommy Tuberville has left Texas Tech, and Kingsbury is mentioned as his potential replacement.
If the Aggies had finished the season as I predicted, at 6-6 or so, there's no way Johnny Manziel would be better known as Johnny Football, and no way Kingsbury would be mentioned prominently as possibly the next head coach at Tech. Success accelerates the rate of change, and if JFF wins the Heisman tonight, he'll be a different guy tomorrow. If the Aggies win the Cotton Bowl and finish 11-2, I expect the turnover rate among Sumlin's assistants will pick up speed, too.
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