12th man fan
10-12-2007, 03:17 PM
Besides newspaper, Jennifer co-hosts a radio show on the noon hour two days a week on the local ESPN radio affiliate here along with Nate Newton and Chuck Cooperstein. She tries to act all "down" with Newton and it's irritating, but i usually like what she has got to say once she gets it out.
The Aggies' recent struggles, not e-mails, are Fran's ticket out
By Jennifer Floyd Engel
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
What Coach Fran essentially was "admonished" -- good word, Aggies -- for Thursday was what detractors had been saying about him for years.
Questionable decision-making.
Slightly sorry behavior.
An at-least temporary lack of integrity.
Said criticisms were foisted upon him for how he exited Alabama, and to a certain extent TCU before that, yet Aggies welcomed him with open arms five years ago because he had a history of turning "ish" programs into contenders.
So let's be honest here. If Fran's team had beaten Miami and was undefeated heading into Saturday's game at Texas Tech, we would not be having this conversation about secret, $1,200 e-mails[ (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#). Certainly not in such hushed tones.
The fact is the Aggies didn't, and Fran does not have enough of those program-defining, show-the-boosters-you're-turning-the-corner victories in his time at A&M to save his butt.
Start up Taps, Fran is about to leave the building.
Anybody who does not think Fran is playing out the string was not listening between the lines when Aggies AD Bill Byrne addressed VIP Newsletter-gate in a news conference Thursday. He sounded more than a tick annoyed to be dealing with this mushrooming non-scandal scandal in-season.
Don't believe me? He said:
-- "I want to apologize because the Aggies are embarrassed right now."
-- "Of course, it will be part of his performance review at the end of the year."
-- "Well, we certainly didn't know about it. I guess there was an attempt to try and keep it from us."
-- "It just got out of control."
-- "Dennis Franchione is our head football (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#). We are 5-1, getting ready to play Texas Tech. I want us to go out to Lubbock and beat the hell out of Tech."
Yep, he's fired. About the only thing that will save his butt now is a Big 12 championship and a BCS bowl berth. And with games in Norman and Lubbock and against Texas forthcoming, Fran has a better chance of being handed a contract extension.
Don't worry. He's a man. He's 40.
Actually, he's 56. So he certainly can handle hearing Fran-ball was a bust in Aggieland long before any secret e-mail society was outted by a Santonio newspaper. Loyal Ags wanted Fran gone and his record suggested such anger was at least somewhat justified.
The problem was going to be the buyout, a significant hunk of cash even for deep Aggies pockets. Luckily for any Aggie looking to dump his butt, Coach Fran provided a hefty paper trail with which to bypass a good chunk of that and fire him.
How stupid can a smart guy be?
This whole e-mail deal is so unbelievably bush league. I don't want to hear how every big-time program clues in its best boosters. Of course, they do. What they don't do is require confidentiality agreements and charge $1,200 for the inside scoop on how Coach X really feels about Player Y. They certainly do not do so without the express written consent of their bosses.
This smacks of a degree of hubris not warranted by a coach with a 45-10 Holiday Bowl loss on his recent Aggies résumé, not to mention how exponentially stupid this whole affair is, and for what? Some extra dollars to keep coachfran.com viable.
Who exactly was advising Fran?
The answer, his personal assistant, Mike McKenzie, is part of the problem. He is a hanger-on who has been feeding at the Coach Fran trough since his TCU days. He became a Franservant, thereby abandoning his duty as a part-time athletic department employee to protect his coach from himself.
McKenzie wrote the e-mails and never once thought to say, "What are we doing?"
This is not to absolve Fran. It's his program and his name was spliced through those e-mails and those quotes. He also is the coach of record for the blowout losses to Cal, Miami, et al.
This is not to say Fran is a bad guy or a bad coach. I know him, or I used to, when he coached at TCU and a person does not fundamentally change who they are in such a short span.
What doomed Fran is his failure to remember how college (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#)works. A coach can run a clean program and lose. Or he can cut corners and win.
What he cannot do is screw up and lose, which is exactly what Fran has done in College Station. Byrne was right when he said Aggieland is embarrassed.
For a lot of Aggies, the honor code is not a punch line. "An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do" is for real and they have Fran on at least one infraction. The NCAA is looking into three as a result of newsletter-gate.
Let's be real, though. Fran is being "admonished" for something you did not have to play $1,200 to learn. His teams have not won enough games.
Jennifer Floyd Engel can be heard weekdays 9 a.m.-noon on The Jennifer Engel Show on ESPN (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#)/103.3 FM.
The Aggies' recent struggles, not e-mails, are Fran's ticket out
By Jennifer Floyd Engel
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
What Coach Fran essentially was "admonished" -- good word, Aggies -- for Thursday was what detractors had been saying about him for years.
Questionable decision-making.
Slightly sorry behavior.
An at-least temporary lack of integrity.
Said criticisms were foisted upon him for how he exited Alabama, and to a certain extent TCU before that, yet Aggies welcomed him with open arms five years ago because he had a history of turning "ish" programs into contenders.
So let's be honest here. If Fran's team had beaten Miami and was undefeated heading into Saturday's game at Texas Tech, we would not be having this conversation about secret, $1,200 e-mails[ (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#). Certainly not in such hushed tones.
The fact is the Aggies didn't, and Fran does not have enough of those program-defining, show-the-boosters-you're-turning-the-corner victories in his time at A&M to save his butt.
Start up Taps, Fran is about to leave the building.
Anybody who does not think Fran is playing out the string was not listening between the lines when Aggies AD Bill Byrne addressed VIP Newsletter-gate in a news conference Thursday. He sounded more than a tick annoyed to be dealing with this mushrooming non-scandal scandal in-season.
Don't believe me? He said:
-- "I want to apologize because the Aggies are embarrassed right now."
-- "Of course, it will be part of his performance review at the end of the year."
-- "Well, we certainly didn't know about it. I guess there was an attempt to try and keep it from us."
-- "It just got out of control."
-- "Dennis Franchione is our head football (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#). We are 5-1, getting ready to play Texas Tech. I want us to go out to Lubbock and beat the hell out of Tech."
Yep, he's fired. About the only thing that will save his butt now is a Big 12 championship and a BCS bowl berth. And with games in Norman and Lubbock and against Texas forthcoming, Fran has a better chance of being handed a contract extension.
Don't worry. He's a man. He's 40.
Actually, he's 56. So he certainly can handle hearing Fran-ball was a bust in Aggieland long before any secret e-mail society was outted by a Santonio newspaper. Loyal Ags wanted Fran gone and his record suggested such anger was at least somewhat justified.
The problem was going to be the buyout, a significant hunk of cash even for deep Aggies pockets. Luckily for any Aggie looking to dump his butt, Coach Fran provided a hefty paper trail with which to bypass a good chunk of that and fire him.
How stupid can a smart guy be?
This whole e-mail deal is so unbelievably bush league. I don't want to hear how every big-time program clues in its best boosters. Of course, they do. What they don't do is require confidentiality agreements and charge $1,200 for the inside scoop on how Coach X really feels about Player Y. They certainly do not do so without the express written consent of their bosses.
This smacks of a degree of hubris not warranted by a coach with a 45-10 Holiday Bowl loss on his recent Aggies résumé, not to mention how exponentially stupid this whole affair is, and for what? Some extra dollars to keep coachfran.com viable.
Who exactly was advising Fran?
The answer, his personal assistant, Mike McKenzie, is part of the problem. He is a hanger-on who has been feeding at the Coach Fran trough since his TCU days. He became a Franservant, thereby abandoning his duty as a part-time athletic department employee to protect his coach from himself.
McKenzie wrote the e-mails and never once thought to say, "What are we doing?"
This is not to absolve Fran. It's his program and his name was spliced through those e-mails and those quotes. He also is the coach of record for the blowout losses to Cal, Miami, et al.
This is not to say Fran is a bad guy or a bad coach. I know him, or I used to, when he coached at TCU and a person does not fundamentally change who they are in such a short span.
What doomed Fran is his failure to remember how college (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#)works. A coach can run a clean program and lose. Or he can cut corners and win.
What he cannot do is screw up and lose, which is exactly what Fran has done in College Station. Byrne was right when he said Aggieland is embarrassed.
For a lot of Aggies, the honor code is not a punch line. "An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do" is for real and they have Fran on at least one infraction. The NCAA is looking into three as a result of newsletter-gate.
Let's be real, though. Fran is being "admonished" for something you did not have to play $1,200 to learn. His teams have not won enough games.
Jennifer Floyd Engel can be heard weekdays 9 a.m.-noon on The Jennifer Engel Show on ESPN (http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd_engel/story/265471.html#)/103.3 FM.