Is a victory over A&M and Jimbo Fisher the measuring stick?

[Cinco de Hogo]

Yes, I'd like to see Arkansas have had that level of success as well. But Fisher did underachieve at FSU with the talent that he had at his disposal.

Fisher averaged having the #5 recruiting class at Florida State over all those years yet Clemson, who averaged having a #15 class over the same period of time, managed to be the hump that he rarely seemed to get over during the end of his tenure at FSU. Fisher lost 4 in a season twice, 3 in a season twice and ended his tenure at Florida State with 6 losses. How does a guy who averages a #5 class over 8 years lose that many games and the last 3 in a row to Clemson? With the resurgence of the Shorthorns in recruiting and having to compete with everyone else who are already established in recruiting in Texas, I don't think Fisher is going to be able to land the talent that he has been accustomed to having at Florida State. And Fisher is definitely not a coach who does more, with less.

Agree word for word,

[Con el Cerdos]

I don't consider A&M a measuring stick. They're just another SEC-W team to me.

I agree 100% with this; and not a shot at anyone, but I don't get the A&M obsession.  Beating A&M on a regular basis would only move us a couple of rungs up the ladder, with MSST now solidly above us.

Want a true measuring stick?  Beat the teams we should every year, compete regularly with LSU and Auburn (winning at least half of those) and beat Bama once every generation.

The OP appears to dismiss the Aggies ability to compete for recruits in it's home state, as well as the coaching ability of it's new coach.  I think both are off base, although the competition will no doubt be an upgrade for Jimbo. 

I think Jimbo will be a coaching up grade for the Aggies and don't think recruiting will suffer either, IMO.  Especially compared with what we've ever done, since joining the SEC.  Which, I think is the gist of the OP.

A&M generally recruits the Metroplex, Houston area, and east Texas very well every year.  More so, since joining the SEC.  In the 2018 cycle, A&M signed roughly 20% of the 4* and 5* players in Texas, even with the resurgence of Texas, depending upon the rating service.  Additionally, they recruit well out-of-state on a situational basis.   In the 2018 cycle, A&M and Jimbo's group signed two 4* players from Alabama, one from Fla, and one from California.  Generally do fairly well in Lousiana as well.

Rather than looking at, and anticipating a downgrade in recruiting and coaching at A&M we should be concentrating more on what our new staff will do to improve the Razorback program.

But overhauling is something we've done regularly as Razorback fans over the last quarter of a century it seems.  Just hope the need for that doesn't continue.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I agree 100% with this; and not a shot at anyone, but I don't get the A&M obsession.  Beating A&M on a regular basis would only move us a couple of rungs up the ladder, with MSST now solidly above us.

Want a true measuring stick?  Beat the teams we should every year, compete regularly with LSU and Auburn (winning at least half of those) and beat Bama once every generation.

The OP appears to dismiss the Aggies ability to compete for recruits in it's home state, as well as the coaching ability of it's new coach.  I think both are off base, although the competition will no doubt be an upgrade for Jimbo. 

I think Jimbo will be a coaching up grade for the Aggies and don't think recruiting will suffer either, IMO.  Especially compared with what we've ever done, since joining the SEC.  Which, I think is the gist of the OP.

A&M generally recruits the Metroplex, Houston area, and east Texas very well every year.  More so, since joining the SEC.  In the 2018 cycle, A&M signed roughly 20% of the 4* and 5* players in Texas, even with the resurgence of Texas, depending upon the rating service.  Additionally, they recruit well out-of-state on a situational basis.   In the 2018 cycle, A&M and Jimbo's group signed two 4* players from Alabama, one from Fla, and one from California.  Generally do fairly well in Lousiana as well.

Rather than looking at, and anticipating a downgrade in recruiting and coaching at A&M we should be concentrating more on what our new staff will do to improve the Razorback program.

But overhauling is something we've done regularly as Razorback fans over the last quarter of a century it seems.  Just hope the need for that doesn't continue.

Opinions do differ.

[oldhawg]

Spot on.

Yes, I'd like to see Arkansas have had that level of success as well. But Fisher did underachieve at FSU with the talent that he had at his disposal.

Fisher averaged having the #5 recruiting class at Florida State over all those years yet Clemson, who averaged having a #15 class over the same period of time, managed to be the hump that he rarely seemed to get over during the end of his tenure at FSU. Fisher lost 4 in a season twice, 3 in a season twice and ended his tenure at Florida State with 6 losses. How does a guy who averages a #5 class over 8 years lose that many games and the last 3 in a row to Clemson? With the resurgence of the Shorthorns in recruiting and having to compete with everyone else who are already established in recruiting in Texas, I don't think Fisher is going to be able to land the talent that he has been accustomed to having at Florida State. And Fisher is definitely not a coach who does more, with less.

Winning percentages during the 2010's.
FSU at 7th under Fisher was not much off their # 5 recruiting average.
1   Alabama   98.4%   72-10
2   Stanford   93.1%   66-15
3   Oklahoma   92.3%   62-17
4   LSU   91.9%   61-17
5   Oregon   90.6%   69-12
6   Ohio State   90.2%   68-12
7   Florida State   89.8%   68-14
8   Notre Dame   89.3%   55-23
9   Georgia   87.5%   56-24
10   Michigan State   86.2%   65-16


Winning percentages during the 1960's.
1   Alabama   93.0%   90-16-4
2   Ole Miss   92.6%   77-25-6
3   Penn State   88.0%   77-27-1
4   Texas   87.5%   86-19-3
5   Arkansas   85.9%   82-24-1
6   Purdue   83.8%   65-28-3
7   Notre Dame   83.6%   62-34-4
8   Michigan State   82.6%   59-34-3
9   LSU   81.9%   76-26-5
10   Tennessee   81.3%   67-32-6


Winning percentages during the 1970's.
1   Alabama   97.5%   103-16-1
2   Oklahoma   96.8%   102-13-3
3   Nebraska   95.8%   98-20-4
4   USC   93.7%   93-21-5
5   Michigan   93.1%   96-16-3
6   Texas   92.3%   88-26-1
7   Notre Dame   91.6%   91-22
8   Ohio State   91.2%   91-20-3
9   Penn State   91.0%   96-22
10   Arkansas   82.4%   79-31-5

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Winning percentages during the 2010's.
FSU at 7th under Fisher was not much off their # 5 recruiting average.
1   Alabama   98.4%   72-10
2   Stanford   93.1%   66-15
3   Oklahoma   92.3%   62-17
4   LSU   91.9%   61-17
5   Oregon   90.6%   69-12
6   Ohio State   90.2%   68-12
7   Florida State   89.8%   68-14
8   Notre Dame   89.3%   55-23
9   Georgia   87.5%   56-24
10   Michigan State   86.2%   65-16

I-A Winning Percentage 2010-2017 (8 years)

Rank  Team              %        W     L     T   Total
1       Alabama        0.877    86    12    0    98
2       Ohio St         0.832    79    16    0    95
3t      Boise St        0.802    85    21    0    106
3t      Oklahoma      0.802    85    21    0    106
5       Clemson        0.800    88    22    0    110
6       Florida St      0.787    85    23    0    108
7       Stanford       0.785    84    23    0    107
8       Wisconsin     0.771    84    25    0    109
9       LSU             0.757    78    25    0    103
10     Oregon         0.755    80    26    0    106

http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/calc-wp.pl?start=2010&end=2017&rpct=30&min=5&se=on&by=Win+Pct

23 games lost over 8 years. Yes, the average looks very good, but when you take into consideration that those losses involve 2 seasons of 3 losses, 2 seasons of 4 losses and another with 6 losses, you can see that they were either very, very good or not as good as they should have been given their talent level. I still think that Fisher underachieved at FSU compared to the talent that he had at his disposal.

[oldhawg]

I-A Winning Percentage 2010-2017 (8 years)

Rank  Team              %        W     L     T   Total
1       Alabama        0.877    86    12    0    98
2       Ohio St         0.832    79    16    0    95
3t      Boise St        0.802    85    21    0    106
3t      Oklahoma      0.802    85    21    0    106
5       Clemson        0.800    88    22    0    110
6       Florida St      0.787    85    23    0    108
7       Stanford       0.785    84    23    0    107
8       Wisconsin     0.771    84    25    0    109
9       LSU             0.757    78    25    0    103
10     Oregon         0.755    80    26    0    106

http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/calc-wp.pl?start=2010&end=2017&rpct=30&min=5&se=on&by=Win+Pct

23 games lost over 8 years. Yes, the average looks very good, but when you take into consideration that those losses involve 2 seasons of 3 losses, 2 seasons of 4 losses and another with 6 losses, you can see that they were either very, very good or not as good as they should have been given their talent level. I still think that Fisher underachieved at FSU compared to the talent that he had at his disposal.

Hmmm.  Will have to recheck the site I used to see what the discrepancy is.  Maybe conference games only?  Thanks.

Regardless, I hope you are correct about his underachieving, and that it continues at Texas A&M.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/2/29/11125594/ncaa-football-best-teams-decades-history-alabama-fsu-nebraska-oklahoma-michigan

February 2016 article.  My bad.

But I still like the 60's and 70's results.

[DeltaBoy]

Frank's pipeline got destroyed and we not recovered