My Aggie Nation Podcast: Did Ross Bjork leave Texas A&M better than he found it?

My Aggie Nation Podcast: Did Ross Bjork leave Texas A&M better than he found it?

What’s up y’all you’re listening to the mation podcast I’m Alex Miller with the eagle joined Always by Travis Brown the Eagles Texas A&M Athletics writer Travis it is frigid inside the eagle Newsroom today it’s warm in here though like usually in this room it’s so hot that

You don’t want to be in here with the lights and everything right now it’s kind of great it it feels great um it’s so cold though out there like my hands are freezing trying to type the keys um and you’ve been typing the keys because big news this week Texas A&M

Athletic director Ross bork is leaving for Ohio State for the same position um you know that was a job that I think many around the college landscape knew as open it’s a pretty it’s a pretty good job I’ll say that um don’t know if I was

Expecting Ross to be the guy that landed that job but uh he’s he’s theiry gu he is going to lead the Buckey’s athletic department if you so today he had his introductory press conference we’re recording this on Wednesday and it it it makes sense when you look at everything

That they were focusing on you know there there we we’ll probably get into some of the pluses and minuses and complaints and Praises that Ross had while he was at A&M but I I think the reason why they targeted him is he’s kind of always been on the Leading Edge

Of where College athl athletics is going whether that be he was him and A&M were always on the the front edge of nil technology whether it be like the influencer platform and getting uh the athletes ways to connect with Brands and people and and all that kind of stuff he

Was he was tied in with influencer and Jim caval their CEO over there and helping them roll that out um and even when I talked to Jim caval over at influencer he he said one of the selling points one of the the biggest things that bork and A&M do is is be involved

With some of that stuff so he was there and he’s always been with had an eye ahead to what the college athletic landscape is going to be in 3 to five years where that’s uh Federal legislation on nil whether that’s court cases that set president on nil and uh

Then especially what the University’s relationship is with athletes whether that event comes down to a employee employer situation with a collective bargaining agreement and making it more like college sports he’s always had an eye on that and and answered a lot of questions today about what he thought

That is going to look like and and ultimately you could sum that all up into it doesn’t really matter what it looks like it just needs to get here so they can have a little bit of stability and understand what framework they’re going to work under so when you look at

That if if if I was a college administrator right now looking at hiring an athletic director I don’t know if the some of the things in the past really matter as much yeah you got to have your finger on the pulse of the sports and make coaching hires but those

Are done with committees and you bring in resources that are sport specific to those hires and facilities and and capital campaigns are are big too but more and more of these dollars are going to be focused in on ni and more and more dollars are going to

Need to be focused in on Alternate revenue streams uh to maybe have to support contracts and paying athletes in some form or fashion in years to come and he’s kind of already on the Leading Edge of thinking through some of that stuff so if you’re going to be one of

The biggest programs in the country uh one of the wealthiest one of the biggest fan bases one of the programs that has had the most success especially on the football field he it certainly isn’t a bad higher if that’s the uh the qualifications that you’re looking for

Yeah no I think you nailed it Travis I think Ross has definitely qualified for that job you know he’s been here for what I’m trying to think back uh almost 5 years now it was what may 2019 yes yeah so you know A&M’s gone through a slew of athletic directors since joining

The secd Ross was probably I I’d have to check dates for sure but he was darn near close the longest tenard uh of that group and uh you know uh when you look back at the Ross buor era of sorts I guess you call it at A&M what do you

Think are maybe some of the highs and the lows that people are really going to remember yeah well I think with how the recency bias is now there’s going to be a lot of people who would think about the quote unquote lows um or some of the

Knocks that that went against uh Ross Bor I think probably the one that comes to mind that will probably be the biggest is the extension of the contract for Jimbo fiser um I I I see both sides of that in the moment because we were there covering the team in the moment

Jimbo Fisher is just coming off of a great 2020 season where they just missed the playoffs went to the Orange Bowl won that game the whole we ain’t done yet on the pl the the platform of the Orange Bowl uh and then the next season rolls around LSU is looking like they’re going

To need to hire a coach and Scott Woodward’s over there at LSU if if at the moment everyone at that time thought Jimbo Fisher was it you you you want to protect the coach uh he was asked about this in the press conference and and so

Was um Ted Carter the new Ohio State president as well as part of this uh search process saying and what do you make of that contract because that was that was historic in this Sport and he said he did his due diligence he had a lot of questions to ask about that some

Of that lies on the the the doorstep the feet of the athletic director but it’s also an Institutional problem uh in that A&M there was other decision makers as in A&M who wanted to see that happen as well and that you learn from your mistakes basically and and that this is

Kind of a fluid ever involving uh industry and that um there are mistakes to be made and mistakes to learn from learn from I I don’t necessarily fault Ross Bor for extending the contract at that moment because and and you can chime in on this as well because there

Was a lot of Rumblings that Scott Woodward would poach Jimbo fer and if you put the the put yourself in that moment in time not there wasn’t a whole lot of people who wanted Jimbo Fisher gone no absolutely not I mean you nailed it earlier I mean think about the season

They were coming off of and then you know they thought they thought they were going to have the next big thing in hannes King right he gets hurt and then it’s kind of like a okay 21’s kind of this Mulligan season aam still beats Alabama they get the number

One recruiting class it’s like hey things went a little Haywire but if eight and floor if eight and4 is the floor man what’s the ceiling and then obviously 2022 proved otherwise and 2023 really nailed nailed in the coffin for for Jimbo’s time and M but yeah Travis I

Mean in the moment I mean I don’t think anybody would have shook their head and said I don’t know about this and I mean hindsight’s 2020 obviously and like you said I you know Ross is the guy that delivers the contract cuz that’s his job but let’s be honest there’s a ton of

Other people behind the scenes that are kind of calling helping call the shots per se yeah I I think that in the next thing too you’ll look into the highing well the the decision to fire Jimbo when he when he did and that was a big decision it was a big decision it’s

Going to cost a lot of money uh and he’s not going to be overseeing that money anymore um and then the hiring of Mike Elco you have the whole Mark Stoops Saga in the middle of that and and how I I I there there’s a lot of rumors out there

About how that went down I’m not necessarily sure from the facts I have I’m ready to lay that right onto Ross bork’s feet um and and say that was his deal because there was a lot of person alties and a lot of big opinions at play

And like he said again in the press conference today that he the there athletic director doesn’t un unilaterally make a decision like that they go out and they hire a search firm they have several candidates they pick a winner and they present that candidate to uh the president the Board

Of Regents and it’s their decision to do that and there’s a lot of factors at play um could it be Poss possible that the mark stupid things was squarely on him and he tried to s Sure but we haven’t really had the reporting on that yet say

For just rumors out there so I think there’s a lot of people who want to blame him for how that was run it very well could have been uh the case and and you know there was some hiccups along the way through how Jimbo Fisher was fired how they hired

The next head coach but I don’t necessarily think that that is Ross bork’s Forte I don’t want to say he’s bad at it but his his Forte is what we talked about earlier he’s going to look at the way that the university relates to in response to college athletes and

What that relationship looks like moving forward and that’s going to be just as huge as the hiring and firing of coaches uh moving forward so those are the two biggest thing I guess you could also say that there’s probably some people in the fan base who were mad that on his watch

The SEC brought in Texas uh and that he but but again he showed up to SEC media days which is not very common for an ad to do right again if you want to take a a step back as a non-fans perspective like what what is he going to do there

Um what power does he have to prevent that from happening and ultimately it’s going to be a good thing for the conference and it’s going to be a good thing for the& M because not that A&M as a brand would have any risk probably of being outside the the power

Two as it’s beginning to form but they strengthened the power two by bringing Texas and Oklahoma in and they’re on the right side of of they’re in the greenest pastures of college football right now and they only got Greener by adding those so hey if it’s any consolation A&M did

Get the first game at home there you go I so I I don’t which Ross won’t be at anymore right I don’t I don’t want to say that Ross bork’s tenure at A&M was was just a total failure because it wasn’t uh there was a lot of be when you

Want to look at made some good coaching hires he made some good coaching hires we even touched on that from the smaller Sports of course with Jim schl Nagle uh going to the College World Series in his first year at A&M to Jared Chadwell might be his best hire of all of them

With what he was able to do with the women’s golf team in his first three years and they look like they’re going to keep that going too right uh Trisha Ford uh at softball seems to be a decent hire Jam Morrison I always forgot about

That I mean he seems to be like that trajectory he was kind of an out of the boox hire too like when when he hired him and I was reading his background I was like this guy did what and I mean look at what he did year one not to

Mention Joanie Taylor’s starting to get things going on on the women’s basketball side a him just beat Tennessee that was a big win at home so yeah so I don’t want to make this come across as if Ross Bor is the the greatest 80 out there there were some shortcomings there

Were some things that didn’t go well um but I the point of emphasis and probably and why Ohio State targeted him was the fact that he he does have experience knowledge and kind of a forte in uh the future models of College athletics and that’s that’s a Savvy hire for a

University uh to go into that does so yeah I don’t want us to be overly gushing on on Ross because I think he did a good job here I think uh there was goods and po pluses and minuses but I I I do see why Ohio State

Targeted him I will say this too about about Ross one thing I appreciated about him he was normally pretty visible and approachable and that a lot of times made our job a lot easier the way he was willing to work with us he was a part of

The community I know you do a lot of high school sports you and Jake and Andrew here and his son Payton was a big part of the A&M consolidated high school team theym Consolidated got a shout out during the Ohio State press conference talking about

When they kind of was uh given a little bio of his whole family um and and and he was out and about and talked to yall during those things yeah I mean I mean Cas point this season I mean it was pton senior season he was one of the Tigers

Top players they’re one of their best receivers uh are all brazes Valley football teams coming out this weekend you might see his name on there just giv a Shameless plug uh and and you know if aam’s got a road game aam had a lot of 11:00 a.m. Road games Ross made it a

Point he was at every single game for Payton this year and in the world of College athletics this day and age an administrator that high up giving up every Friday night to be there for his son tip of the cap to him and I mean that meant some early mornings to fly

Out to Road games or late nights and uh but Ross made it a point that hey I’m still a family man I want to be there I want to be seen I want to help he even showed up to a school board meeting uh last year when you know there were a lot

Of athletes and parents that were expressing concerns with um you know the facilities thatum Consolidated High School he didn’t speak but he showed up and you know I think that goes a long way when you have a guy that’s willing to step outside the office and and be

There in a community and he was and I think he made it a clear point that and he did to you A lot of times that he wasn’t ever um trying to uh wield his weight in in that High School realm he was there as a parent he was not there as athletic

Director Ross Bor he was there as Payton’s dad and you know from day one I think he made that pretty clear I think he even filled in as a uh a seven on seven coach for one of the uh for one of the events that they had because the the

Main coach uh uh was sick or had another obligation or something like that so yeah he was you know we just submitted uh contest his contest season uh in the writing world in the journalism world we just submitted things and one of those stories was the the obituary I did about

Terry Price and the interesting story about that is I kind of was in the loop on what was going on when that news kind of came out because Ross bork was at the state 7even on seven tournament watching his son I was out there working it when rumbling started happening and I was

Kind of attached to his hip for the next couple of hours trying to figure out what was going on there as he was both watching his son but on the phone making phone calls talking to people and so yeah you know was a a a visible part of

Of the community so um those are all sh you know I I I don’t think uh when everybody looks back there’s going it was a immense era of change in the sport that he oversaw oh yeah and he put A&M I I don’t think anybody out there

Would say that A&M was not on the Forefront or made a lot of news or made a lot of waves in the nil front in some of these new Concepts in college football and a lot of that is under his guidance I think that’s a a a good mark

On his time here at A&M um would did the whole football coaching situation were there some head scratchers on that yeah I think there were I think there um things that probably could have been handled better but I think overall um you know one of the things he said in his press conferen

Is that they wanted to make sure they left A&M better than they found it that kind of coaching cliche and I I think ultimately All Things Considered they probably did I’m curious on your take on that kind of perspective yeah I would I would say that for the

Most part that’s the case I mean you think about it he he made when you look at an athletic department as a whole A&M definitely on the Leading Edge of the nil front I mean Ross himself went down to Austin to testify in front of the entire legislature and aam was very much

Involved and in helping form that nil Bill uh we talked about the coaching hires that he made I mean obviously football is the one people see the most of um but you know when you look at top to bottom where’s an athletic department I mean that comes down to where teams

Are in the director’s Cup right and so A&M they they they didn’t do so well the last few years but with some of some of the coaching hires that Ross made you see those programs are probably on an upper trajectory um for whoever the next person to lead the athletic department

Is so yeah I think it’s a fair assessment to say he probably left it better than he than he found it and a lot of those ways that it is better is in the front office necessarily more than the playing field because a lot of those programs were kind of getting uh reset

Rebounded and and what so you’re right director’s cup could be another knock against him because they ultimately all Falls uh to the athletic director um because they haven’t had some great finishes there but the front office is is in a good spot uh moving forward which kind of also then ask the question

And I’ll I’ll throw it out to you to ask of where where do they go from here to fill that front office so Travis who mym seek to replace Ross and I think they might have a decent candidate in their office already I I think so too

Um I think you can look around and we can start uh with okay who’s some people who know this area who know yeah well first let’s set the framework of what A&M has looked for recently right I mean in the last few whether it’s it’s Bill

Burn um uh go Eric Heyman um Scott Woodward I mean those have been sitting ads from quote unquote power five schools whether it was Nebraska Washington South Carolina so that’s kind of been the mold that A&M has gone with in the past which I don’t know if they’re necessarily going to go with

That this time I and I think things have to change I think not there there’s a little bit of a lagging indicator with how you look at football coaches the the the Nick Sabin the um Jimbo fers the I’m trying to think of some of the other

Coaches that have either kind of left and gotten out of the Gary Patterson of the world were on the top of their game at one point about 10 years ago um but when nil stepped in the transfer portal the one-time transfer rule it completely changed the game now coaches were having

To recruit their own rosters they’re having to deal with basically what amounts to contracts for players and negotiating with players and whatnot there’s a lot of coaches that said this isn’t what I signed up for I’m team that have maybe taken a step back like Clemson when they’ve been a little

Reluctant to to Really adapt to the times correct and I know some of those coaches are still probably trying to want to get a coaching job but probably one of the biggest knocks on them is they didn’t fully Embrace this new reality I I think with athletic

Directors you you look at someone like Jean Smith who’s been in his post 19 years at Ohio State probably one of the more prominent athletic directors in the country like a like a like a household name athletic director he’s retiring this year um some of that has to do with

The time but I think there’s probably some of it too that has to do with there’s a lot going on right now and there’s going to be a lot going on in the next three years about how this all shakes out and looks and there’s probably going to be a decent amount of

Athletic directors that say yeah I’m tapping out I’m I’m good um with that and so because of that they probably do need to look a little different the the the search the qu qualifications the criteria is probably going to be a little bit different because I think that there are probably

Some ads at some power five schools that are a little bit older a little bit more established that that might have been the Target in the past who I don’t know if you want to go in that direction because it just depends on how well they

Have their finger on the pulse of where this is all going how willing they are to to be nimble to be malleable to to change their approach to make adjustments with everything that’s going on uh and that’ll be interesting I I think I think just like what Ohio state

Did I think more so than great coaching hires and fundraising and things like that I think an understanding of the world of nil and an understanding of all that’s going on in Congress in the court systems and in the future of College athletics that’s where you’re going to

Be because if you don’t have an eye towards that here in 3 to 5 years it’s going to be rough for you to adapt to how college football is going to change because it is going to change in some ways and then you’re going to be behind

Um so I think that might be a little bit more of a focus moving forward for sure so tell me who A&M might go for so I have two two names that immediately come to mind um who somewhat fit that mold starting outside the two ones that that come to mind that

Would know this area have shown a decent amount of of knowledge and and in the nil space and where college football is going is uh Kirby holcut at Texas Tech okay has served on the college football playoff committee uh they have a good nil Collective system working up there

In Texas Tech was able to do some really good things with their athletic programs in a place that’s really hard to recruit and be at out in West Texas I think that would be a good option and then maybe Rick Hart at SMU I mean negotiated and

And helped get SMU into what’s still right now a power five power four we’re going to have to make new names for things but get them into the ACC uh and we negotiating an interesting contract finding the the boosters to help uh pay for the athletic department while

They’re not taking in TV money it’s it’s I I I think that there’s some Savvy there that could be um good but it’s not necessarily the first phone call I’d make I think the first phone call I make and it’s you don’t really need to call it’s more like

Yelling down the hallway that’s a deputy uh athletic director Justin Moore who’s already here at A&M has been Ross’s right-hand man and for as much as Ross is the figure head and he goes out and he gives the talks and he makes the fundraising pitches and makes the

Decisions Justin Moore has been the day-to-day guy who’s run the department I think he’s had five years of of experience under Ross to kind of see where if if you want to say that Ross is one of the ads on the Leading Edge of nil and where this is all going he’s had

A front row seat to pick the brain of and knows uh there so knows what’s might be coming and so he um has that experience and he knows all of the big players already he knows he was the football he’s been the football and men’s basketball administrator the last

Two years so kind of the step between Ross and and the football coach the football program that has been that guy I think he’s the first call that you make because I think in the with the way that this is going he has the knowledge he has the experience and in a time

Where you’re already turning over a new football program with new football coaches and everything he was involved with those conversations he’s a guy that Mike Elco would have needed to form a trust with to take this job because he was the number two guy I think you start there what do you think

Yeah I mean I think that’s a good place to start and here’s another reason why okay Adam’s made a lot of outside hires over the last 20 years for for its athletic directors you know it’s been a while since amm’s had a homegrown Aggie the department I mean he played baseball

At A&M I mean he he was at U ofh for a little bit uh with Kevin sumlin came back home when sumlin got hired he’s been here the last like 10 plus years I mean I mean he’s really climbed the L the ranks climb the ladder here for four

Different athletic directors now uh yeah I think that sounds right and so I mean look A&M is a place that has a very odd organizational structure outside of the athletic department when you have a bunch of different competing entities that are you know giving their voice sharing their opinion trying to help A&M

Get to where they want to go right having a guy that’s been on the inside that that gets it right I mean that could go a long way when you have a complicated situation like A&M where you have these different pieces and entities and groups that are that are trying to

You know share their influence and input on on things and and being able to unify that I think is what A&M wants to do and having a guy that has those connections and relationships that can keep it going I think could be a very good thing for A&M considering they haven’t reached the

The part of the college football or college athletic world that they want to be in but feel like they can be uh that that could go a long way in a him actually getting there for once yeah I I agree um I think that um the other interesting thing to look forward to

That kind of relates to him is so Jean Smith the Ohio State a uh ad doesn’t retire until June 30th Ross Bor doesn’t start his job at Ohio State till July 1st of this year and one of the things that they were touting at Ohio State is

That this gives half a year for Ross Bor to come under the wing of Jean Smith learn the ropes up there learn how things are are run get a little bit more experience with Ohio State and the transition will be much smoother as he rides off into the sunset and Ross takes

Over but that leaves the question of well what is Ross’s now job with A&M and how long does that go and I haven’t I’ve been asking around there isn’t a clear answer yet of you know is he going up to Ohio State and uh they they said he is

Still in the press conference they did make mention that he is still currently employed with Texas A&M another statement he made is that he’ll be up and around Ohio State events a little bit more starting March 1st um so that’s another interesting date that we don’t really have a definition for and the

People I’ve asked don’t really know how this is going to work if there’s going to be an interim what’s going on so there I think there some of those um some of those in issues are still kind of getting resolved right now but if you go back to when Scott

Woodward left they made RC slokum interim athletic director until they brought in Ross borc if Ross leaves let’s say around March 1st that’s his last day at A&M and goes up to be an kind of an advisory role until he takes over the ad job I think Justin Moore has

Got to be one of the first places you look to become that interim ad so do then maybe you give him a couple of months to audition for the job see how things are going and pull the interim tag that’s another uh way to go about this moving forward that being said I

Don’t necess this isn’t a coaching hire I don’t it’s not like you need to have someone in place uh you know before the transfer portal opens to make sure that you secure your roster I think this is going to be an important hire with how

Things are going in the next 3 years and it’s not one that I necessarily think they need to uh make quickly so that was a lot on the ad there’s basketball going you you want to talk some basketball let’s talk some basketball I think there’s plenty to talk about let’s talk

Some basketball we’ll do that on the other side of the break right here on the myagi Nation Podcast welcome back to the mayagi Nation Podcast everyone we’re talking basketall don’t saying no one wants karaoke hour ah well um the aies look aam aam’s in a in an interesting spot on

The hardwood right now they’re what 10- s 1 and three in SEC play if you would have told me this time yesterday Travis that Wayde Taylor was going to score 41 points and aam was only going to have two turnovers at Arkansas and you would have told me that

They lost I would have thought what on Earth happened but you didn’t mention that Henry Coleman wasn’t playing and oh I forgot anam’s playing at Arkansas where it just seems to be playing at Bud Walton Arena is just some of their Kryptonite man one one win in the last

35 years that’s unreal yeah one one win since the Southwest Conference in fville yeah not an easy place to win uh aam wasn’t able to do it last night look I sense a lot of frustration among the A&M fan basee Travis can we try and separate some fact from some

Fiction and kind of set the record straight and just be honest of where A&M’s really at and if the aies can kind of get it together and and go on a run maybe sure I think I think the program I I think that there’s a lot of we talked

About some recency bias with uh Ross Bor I think there’s some re recency bias in A&M fandom looking back at the shortcomings of the football team it was a program by all all accounts and reports that was unhealthy you had um a head coach that was more concerned with

According to reports the the stars and the amount of talent they brought in and the rankings over how cohesive the team was how much it meshed a coach that was so set in his ways on offensive game planning play calling structure that there wasn’t the ability to adapt and in

Fact it was I’m to what the roster was and it’s going to be my way is so good that I’m going to prove that it’s so good and it’s just not working you’re you’re not playing into the strengths of of your roster there was just some decay

In the program that way I I there’s not that same amount of decay in the men’s basketball program right now I mean first off they they played a the the top 13 non-conference schedule as it was ranked coming out coming into conf conference play they were the second highest ranked non-conference strength

Of schedule of a power five team only Purdue played a harder schedule um coming into conference play when you look at the Kim pal metrics and thing they had the fifth best offense in the country I know people are going to roll their eyes at that because it is kind of

Ugly to watch but it was a productive efficient offense it was defense that they actually struggled with the most early on um the program is fine I know a lot of people want to talk about the way that Buzz Williams recruits and I think the narrative out there is that Buzz

Williams just recruits Eagle Scouts you know just just the best gosh darn people that you could have out there and if they can play some basketball that’s good too that’s not fully true I think when Buzz talks about recruiting the guys that are their guys I think that

There are some character traits like that that they do look for but I always have seen it more as guys that can um who are good listeners who can learn quickly on the Fly who are intelligent um who can take coaching um there and there that is after they’ve achieved the

Standard of this is a guy who’s good enough to play in the SEC uh and so I think the The Narrative that A&M is only going to hit a ceiling because of the players that recruit they recruit okay sure they might not go for the five-star guy who’s dumber than a

Box of rocks but there’s been so many instances when you look at the football team of guys who are these big five-star talents who everyone was excited for but then you hear rumors and conversation of well they just couldn’t learn the Playbook they never saw the field

Because they they they didn’t know their routes they couldn’t learn the Playbook they didn’t adapt well to college coaching or whatever I think what Buzz is trying to do is circumvent some of that by saying these are guys who are all going to know the Playbook they’re

All going to listen they’re all going to be able to take coaching and they’re still really good athletes I I think if you look back at who Tyrese Radford was who way Taylor were his Shooters last year Tyrese Radford increased his three-point shooting percentage by like

20 points from his time at Virginia Tech to A&M I don’t have those stats I I meant to pull those stats up here but he he became a really good three-point shooter last year way Taylor was a pretty decent three-point shooter last year so so it’s in there they have it

They were able to do that at this level before it’s just for some reason it looks like they have The Yips this year they just cannot hit a three um they were one of the most efficient free throw shooting teams in the country wayy Taylor and Tyrese Radford were Radford

Were battling back and forth for who was the best most efficient free throw shooter last year free throws have been a little I would to say it’s an issue but they’ve been worse this year they have not been as good that showed last night it’s hard to say that this team is

Is not full of good talent because they’ve proven at this level that they are good talent in the past they just aren’t doing it this year and they’ve had to do with a lot more injuries this year than they have in the past now do I

Think you’re going to win a whole lot of games if you’re shooting below 30% and from the field and Below 10% from the from the uh or 20% from the three no you’re probably not but the offense the way it’s run circumvents has provides mitigations for not shooting the ball

Well that is getting offense rebounds getting easy layups putting those back getting to the free throw line making those free throws it’s a good strategy it’s just and it’s a good strategy for a team that isn’t going to be one of the top shooting teams in the conference

It’s just there’s not a whole lot of strategies that can mitigate shooting again below 30% from the field and Below 20% from behind three-point range they’re going to have to hit some more shots but and and we can break we can delve into that a little bit further

Here that’s just kind of the overall picture so we know you’re not the real doctor in the brown household but we’re going to pretend that you’re Dr Brown and we’re going to diagnose a few of these specific things that I think people have started to catch on to as Trends number

One let’s talk about Wade Taylor okay SEC preseason player of the year he scores 41 against Arkansas but he shoots like 13 of 32 it’s not very efficient at times how much how much does A&M go by how well Wade is playing see how they did versus arkans or Auburn last week

Versus how they did against Kentucky on Saturday in as kind of a comparison per se and how Wade how Wade’s playing on offense I think if they’re going to try to play out the rest of the season forcing Wade to play herob ball and and try to pull off what he nearly pulled

Off against uh Houston and nearly pulled off last night against uh Arkansas I I I don’t think they’re going to go as far I think way Taylor is a great talent I think even if it takes a a huge volume of shots if you’re scoring 41 points in the

SEC you’re a good talent like you’re you’re doing something well um but they need more secondary scoring I think that comes from getting Henry Coleman back in the line because part of the reason why way Taylor can volume shoot is the fact that if he shoots a three and Henry

Coleman and Anderson Garcia are both in good rebounding position there’s a really good chance that even if he misses that three-pointer it becomes basically a postentry pass they get the rebound they go up and make the layup or get fouled and hit the two free throws

And uh that’s how they get points it it works well that way but if you’re not making free throws if you don’t have Henry Coleman down there who is a more efficient uh Second Chance guy than Anderson Garcia or Solomon Washington is down low then you’re you’re gonna have

To get uh Tyrese Radford the ball a little bit more you’re GNA have to get Jace Carter going a little bit I think part of the reason they’re not going getting going is that way Taylor and I don’t know if this is if this is play calling this is on the

Coaches or if this is Wade Taylor kind of reading what he sees he’s playing a little too much is game he’s playing a little too much it’s all on me I’m going to go down and throw up a crazy uh one-handed floater while falling away to

The right side of the basket and it’s not going to go in and our guys really aren’t in position when I make that crazy play so we’re not going to get the offensive rebound Buzz Williams talks a lot about predictability it’s not really a predictable shot that’s not going to

Do them any good there was one instance where where Wade drove it was kind of late in the game uh way drove down in the paint tried one of those one-handed bumping into the guy floater layup type things just outside of the paint when Tyrese Radford had cut along the

Baseline and was wide open in the corner that’s a great instance to dribble penetrate kick it out to Radford he has a wideopen three chance they’re not hitting the three great but he’s probably their second best three-point shooter or everybody’s collapsed in on Wade he takes the ball drives in and has

A little bit easier of a chance at a layup than Wade did because everybody had already collapsed on Wade having a little bit more Vision it’s kind of Shades a little bit of freshman year Wade when it was a little bit out of control uh he he he kind of had blinders

On and was going one way to do the one thing now he’s an improved player so he’s going to make a lot more of those shots but I think he’s trying to carry too much of the Way of the World on his shoulders when there is options they

They changed their pick and roll game they did this a little bit about Arkansas it’s where they’re running that pick and roll more on the wing than in the high and that works well against Kentucky and you’re getting some more more guys involved in some more chances

To Dish off to Andy or if Henry can get back in Dish off to Henry um so the the issues that they have aren’t huge I think they need to get weighed to to be a little bit more of a playmaker and not necessarily having to score 41 points in

A game uh 25 and five assists will go a long way sure sure and and get some of these guys going um they they do need that one more guy cuz Hayden Hefner has fallen off he’s been really bad the last couple games good J Carter’s scoring hasn’t really been

There the if they they need one of those two guys to step up or Manny obasi uh to to step up and and be a little bit they need one more guy to because because basically when you do have Anderson Garcia on the floor you know he’s on

There for his rebounding a little bit as defense not necessarily as offense so you need one more guy that can produce points but I I I still think this is a good team they just have had to deal with injuries which makes it not non non-consistent guys in in different

Roles uh and they just haven’t shot the ball well and if they can get out of that slump and shoot not they don’t need to be a three over you know 35% from the field uh you know mid-range game or whatever they they just need to

Be um a little bit more consistent on their shooting and the second chance points and the free throws will mitigate for that the other on the other side looking kind of at at the big men situation just how valuable is Henry Coleman because I think at this point of

The season it’s clear Julius marble is not playing they definitely thought he was going to be a key piece of the team coming into the year Wen LC has has put together some good minutes he’s just it doesn’t seem at the level that that Henry Coleman or they anticipated marble

To be I mean give him credit the guy has has fought he had a pretty good game against Kentucky and you you think about Coleman and LC are more of that traditional big man kind of like the the Sha kind of player you think of Garcia and Solomon Washington kind of strike me

As this new age big man where these dudes are really tall freakishly athletic but they don’t quite have the size and the body to to necessarily get down get down and dirty sometimes well I shouldn’t say that necessarily about Andy cuz he’s he’s pretty he’s pretty

Gritty down there yeah but how much and you know this could be a debatable topic but how much in the modern college basketball game do you see guys getting the ball down low the guy is backing the guy up with two dribbles and then turns

It with the hook shot or or uh you know Powers through him into the bask it’s just not part of the game in fact most of the time with these teams when they get their their tallest their post players they work more as a pivot they bring them up to outside the three-point

Line when the play starts uh and they’re setting up what their screens are going to be uh he holds on the ball to clear the big guys out of the lane so that their guards do have the ability to drive or when they do run the pick and

Roll there’s less congestion in the paint and they have some ability to run that pick and roll down in the paint That’s A&M does that a lot look at where Anderson Garcia is at the beginning of most plays or Henry Coleman they’re that pivot they’re the guy who’s at the top

Of the key who’s going to hold on to the ball after the point guard gets up while the play develops and then get it off and then set their screen to pick and roll and and and work through it so you people don’t play triangle offense

Anymore um you don’t see two posts on each block and post injury passes and guys you don’t really see that a whole lot anymore in the game and so you don’t need that kind of guy buz said on his radio show he’s talked to us and like he

Is never going to be a guy who brings in a 72 Center who takes 15 seconds to get down the court because he’s so big and slow uh he a said why would I get I think one of his quotes on the radio show is why would I get that guy when I

Can get a Henry Coleman who is a little bit shorter just as Broad and he can run circles around that guy um and I think that that’s kind of where the modern game is trending and they’ve shown that they can they’re they’re not a tall team but they’re the number one offensive

Rebounding team in the country they’re a good rebounding team uh you don’t necessarily have to have those guys you just have to be able to hit a few more shots to find that open man to have one guy who gets a little bit hot uh especially on the

Road uh to make it so you’re as long as Buzz is here that you’re never going to have a 72 Center who is you’re never going to have a maybe I mean you might have an Oscar sheway he’s a generational talent but they did have Josh Neo well and Josh

Neo the the reason they actually ran that kind of game with Josh Neo where it was get it down low get to but that’s because they realize he’s all that they had that was the only way they’re going to win games because they inherited that roster and and that was just going to

They they kind of altered they were adaptable they altered their game and did it that way but that’s not the way that most teams play the amm offense looks a lot different they were trying to beat you 50 to 49 then right now they’re trying to and you want to talk

About some of that adaptability they’ve played their offense different ways when you look back two years ago and Quinton Johnson was or Quinton Jackson was here they still weren’t a great shooting team they let their defense dictate their offense by using that three quarters court press a lot Quinton Jackson was

Quick enough and a good uh good with his hands enough that they relied so much on steals in transition buckets and that’s how they were successful then now that they’ve got in better Shooters than they had then they’ve worked a little bit more onto the pick and roll game off of

Wade and getting the offensive rebounds cuz they have Henry they have have uh Anderson Garcia and it’s adapting to what the roster is that they have they know they have good rebounders so they’re going to use those good rebounders it seems like Solomon Washington is on the verge of

Becoming a Dependable guy but he he’s not quite there yet he’s he’s kind of a I’m going to say like a five55 guy a Five Points five rebounds but five fouls kind of guy yeah yeah he his best asset is also his his biggest flaw and that is

His energy and his passion and his ability right he is he is a he has all the energy because he wants to be that defensive guy and if you’re a good defensive player you’ve got the energy you’ve got the the tenac tenacity and and all that comes with but he

Also sometimes gets too aggressive for every time you I I don’t think there’s two blocks in that Kentucky game that I don’t think I’ve seen before there was the one that got you know posted around social media a lot where the uh Kentucky guard was going up with the left hand

And then did the Up and Under to go to the right hand to use the rim and he was already midair going to block the left and managed still to get his right and get a clean block on it and follow him across the rim like it was it was

Unbelievable the other one was uh they got into rotation the agie defense did and Kentucky had a wide open shot about the free throw line or might have been top of the key and he went from the corner all the way and he looked like a football defensive Vin that’s on uh uh

Kick block coming around the outside of the and diving in to try he did a full twohand Superman dive was able to get his hand on the ball and block it and then hit his face on the floor I’ve never seen those two kinds of blocks but

With that sometimes you’re going to have him flying in like that and he makes contact with uh the shooter and and gets a foul and so if he can find that happy medium where he still has that energy in tenacity but isn’t flying into guys isn’t um he plays more in control of

Himself right right and so I I think he’s going to and then if he can develop you know he had a great drive to the Lane and one shot like every now and then he he’s hit a couple three-pointers lately he hit won last night in corner

There is a little bit of something there that I think he’s going to be a really good player um and he could be that that scorer within a year he’s just not quite there yet he is however A&M’s best defender and would have been on uh a

Mark on that last shot had he not fouled out earlier in that game yeah sorry I’m getting a call anyway yeah so you know kind of looking at where A&M is headed obviously one and three is probably not the start that they saw but aam’s got some winnable

Games the next two weeks look they’re going to Baton Rouge we talk about fville being a hard place to play Baton Rouge is has been a tough place for them too and they’re playing the LSU team that beat him by 15 at home aam still probably has a chance to win this game

They come back and they play what Missouri next week in the midweek and then they get ol Miss at home that’ll be a tough game Missouri they’re they’re struggling pretty hard you know if aam kid stream together you know three wins here I think I think at four and three

Hit hitting kind of the middle stretch of conference play you’re starting to feel better about where A&M’s headed with some tough games down the stretch you thought this Arkansas game was going to be where they started a good little win streak if you looked at Ken Palm

They predicted that it was going to be a six game win streak they were going to win it with Arkansas at LSU um Missouri home miss home Florida home that’s a really winnable stretch it still is a really winnable stretch especially if they can get Henry Coleman back which by

The broadcast and what seems like he might be able to be back for uh that that LSU game this is a really winnable stretch this is a time where they they need to and can get a lot of momentum heading into Tennessee and Alabama uh

Late in in the season so this is going to be the the meat of where they’re going to get a lot of their wins this season and they need to be able to do that but the difference in where they have been in years past and and where

They are now is the fact that they have three quad one wins and as we know in college basketball that is a big factor into that’s the money stat that is that is a really big part of the money stat they also have now a quad two and

Potentially a quad three loss in uh LSU but they still made the tournament last year with a quad four loss to offer right before Christmas break and a much worse strength of schedule I I I think that this is still a tournament team if you look at Joe lonardi if you look at

Bart tvic they still have him in the nine seed range right now and they’re going to have opportunities for more quad one wins as it comes down the stretch I still think as they sit right now this is a tournament tournament team 41 in the net once you start getting

Into the late 40s 50s that’s when you start getting a little bit in in the bubble area um but they’ve got to find that consistency that they had early in the season where you had Henry Coleman averaging a double double double a game you had Wade Taylor uh you know getting

In the low 20s and Tyrese Radford getting in the 15 to 20 point scoring averaging in there if they can get back to that while maintaining being the number one rebound offensive rebounding team and the number one second chance Point team in the country they’re going

To be fine and in my opinion and their defense is better their defense has improved since the Auburn game they’ve been flying around the defense in the second half of that that Arkansas game was really good defense was what really kind of plagued them early in the season

If they can play that defense while getting back to the same consistency early they’re going to be a pretty good team and they’re going to hit all of the metrics that Prov to be good tournament teams they just have to do it a little bit more consistently well Travis I think that’s

Going to do it for this episode of the mayagi Nation Podcast what say you my friend I think so too my my my voice is tired all right well we’re going to go back into the bitter cold of The Newsroom you guys stay warm wherever you

Are be sure to check of the eagle.com for all of our coverage on A&M Athletics we’ll be back soon on the myag Nation Podcast