Bowden to A&M?: Heat Rising In Aggieland

It appears certain that Texas A&M will lose five games at Kyle Field this season for the first time… ever, and it has the boosters talking. And who is this small booster block discussing? Former Clemson Tigers head coach Tommy Bowden. Despite his mid-season resignation at Clemson, there’s no disputing Bowden’s record as head coach at Tulane and Clemson. Bowden’s Green Wave went 12-0 and achieved a top-10 final ranking in both polls in 1998, before being hired as head coach at Clemson. With the exception of a self-imposed bowl-game ban in 2004, Bowden’s teams went to bowl games in every season during his tenure - eight times in nine years. Bowden rebuilt Clemson into a consistent top-twenty team year-in and year-out, and he demonstrated a great ability to rally the booster base for fundraising. Bowden’s staff was filled with strong recruiters and he consistently out-recruited SEC and ACC teams in the skill positions. Bowden set Clemson records for the highest scoring season, second highest scoring season, third highest scoring season and fourth highest scoring season in team history. And - perhaps most importantly - Bowden showed that he could beat Clemson’s biggest rivals, going 7-1 against South Carolina and winning three straight against FSU. At age 54, Bowden seems to have the passion and window of opportunity to lead a team for the next ten plus years. He almost left Clemson last season to take the position at Arkansas but opted to accept a contract extension that kept him at CU. Having built a winner at the state’s smaller public university with a strong military tradition, he understands the unique character that schools like Clemson and Texas A&M have to offer recruits. – FanBlogs.com

Mike Sherman and his Texas A&M staff aren’t doing the worst coaching job in college football. They can’t be. With Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez and Co. creating the blue in Big Blue, Sherman’s crew isn’t even doing the worst job among the big boys. (Let’s not waste energy arguing whether A&M is one of the big boys.) Of course, a number of not so big boys are better than A&M right now. After Saturday’s 43-25 loss to Texas Tech, Jeff Sagarin’s computer has A&M rated 110th in the country. According to Sagarin’s calculations, the Aggies have performed better than only two BCS-conference schools — No. 117 Washington and No. 120 Syracuse — and been outperformed by a host of lower-level Division I schools and even 12 Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) squads. To break it down a little further: Not only is A&M ranked below Southern Cal, it is behind Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. – Houston Chronicle