Steve Kragthorpe to Texas A&M?

Mike Sherman is interviewing for at least one linebackers coach — former A&M great Dat Nguyen is believed to be a candidate — and a receivers coach. Steve Kragthorpe, a former Aggies offensive coordinator and head coach at Tulsa and Louisville, reportedly is a prospect for the receivers job. – Austin American-Statesman

Texas A&M set to hire Air Force DC?

Air Force defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter will be leaving the academy to become the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, according to a source close to the situation. – Colorado Springs Gazette

Joe Kines retires as Aggies’ defensive coordinator

Joe Kines has spoken lovingly of his wife, Rubye, and her cooking over his past two years at Texas A&M. Kines, 65, will now get to savor much more of both – along with other joys of retirement. Kines on Wednesday announced his departure as the Aggies’ defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. “God has blessed me so much,” Kines said. “I am a man of faith and family, and I feel like it is time for me to retire. … It’s time for Rubye and me to spend a lot more time with our grandsons.” A&M coach Mike Sherman said Wednesday he shouldn’t have trouble filling the vacancy, but didn’t set a timetable for doing so. “I have no doubt we will attract quality candidates for the defensive coordinator position,” Sherman said. – Houston Chronicle

Joe Kines mum on his future with Aggies

A&M has experienced a seven-season run of defensive misery under the guidance of Carl Torbush, Gary Darnell and Kines for the past two. Kines’ defense ranks 107th nationally (out of 120 teams), and allowed a whopping 49 points per game over the Aggies’ six losses. Coach Mike Sherman has pledged to get the A&M defense on track, and spoke generally when asked if he expected his coaching staff to return intact. “At the end of every season, after our last ball game, I sit down with them and we go through an evaluation process,” Sherman said. Should Kines retire and Sherman promotes from within, cornerbacks coach Chuck McMillian is expected to be a strong candidate for the coordinator’s position. For now, however, Kines simply will focus on stopping Georgia’s trap — or anything else making the Bulldogs’ offense tick. – Express-News

Mike Sherman Under Fire at Texas A&M

65-10. Another embarrassment. Another showing of ineptitude. And, suddenly, the sunshine pumpers are awfully quiet. Cat got your tongue? The 22nd game in the infamous era of Mike Sherman sure looked familiar, didn’t it? Here’s some breaking news, Aggie fans. Under Sherman, Texas A&M’s football program has become THE embarrassment of the Big 12. This delegation doesn’t come merely from wins and losses. It comes from the simple fact that this and last year’s teams do not compete. Seriously, what teams in the Big 12 or, better yet, the entire Football Bowl Subdivision get blown out more often than the Aggies? In Sherman’s almost two years at the helm, the Aggies have lost 12 out of 16 games to teams from BCS conferences. In those 12 losses, the margin of defeat is nearly 27 points. Read it again. And, again. Let’s all stop the argument about this team being young. Seriously, it’s game 10 of 2009, and the team is regressing. That is a direct reflection on the coaching staff’s inability to develop talent… The fact of the matter remains, if the Twelfth Man is expecting any sort of change, then you are going to be sorely disappointed. The athletic department sits in a multi-million dollar hole. Our athletic director, in his pursuit of “Building Champions,” signed off on Sherman, an unproven commodity in the college game, for seven years. And, here’s the kicker. Sherman’s buyout would be nine million dollars in December. Suffice to say, he’s not going anywhere. And, for that matter, neither is Texas A&M football. – The Battalion

Texas A&M still alive - and so is Mike Sherman

So much for those greatly exaggerated reports of the death of Texas A&M’s football team. Heck, it doesn’t even look sick any more. Not so much as a cough or a sniffle. Maybe its demise will come this week. Or later against Oklahoma or archrival Texas. Or perhaps not at all. The Aggies (4-3) certainly put their obituary on hold here Saturday night and did so in authoritative fashion, with a spectacular rushing attack and an opportunistic defense. Something did die here, however, and that was Texas Tech’s slim chances at a BCS bowl, a possible Big 12 South title and a potential Top 10 finish, after A&M’s complete, 52-30 whipping for the Aggies’ first win in these city limits since 1993. Even the doormats get tired of being stepped on. Such was the case here, where an A&M team thoroughly humiliated just seven days prior emphatically knocked off 21st-ranked Texas Tech at AT&T Jones Stadium with the most points an Aggies team has ever put up on the Red Raiders. The Red Raiders (5-3) benched starting quarterback Taylor Potts — who was booed by a record crowd of 57,733 and called “slow and statue-like” by coach Mike Leach — in favor of a third-string quarterback who had played in just one game since Seth Doege’s sophomore year in high school and lost five turnovers in a sloppy game with horrid run defense. – Austin American-Statesman

Texas A&M football a hard sell

Based on its potential for sheer, unpredictable madness, there are few better games each year than Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech. So more’s the pity that the game wasn’t picked up for television Saturday night. If you’re a fan of the Aggies or Red Raiders, though, try to understand the issues at stake. Bill Byrne, A&M’s athletic director, understands, and he’s got considerably more on the line when it comes to such things than me or you. “I was disappointed for our fans that the game was not going to be on television,” Byrne said this week. “It’s an entitlement, as far as most Americans think, to watch any college game they’d like. “I understand, though, from a network perspective that, given the lopsided scores we’ve had recently, they’re hearing sets click off across the nation and they don’t want to risk that. They’re going to look for games that will have viewers for longer than they anticipate they will be watching our game. “I’d like to think we’re going to do well against Tech this weekend. But it (television scheduling) is not my call.” – Houston Chronicle

Mike Sherman Likely Safe at Texas A&M?

The trainwreck has triggered an absolute meltdown on talk radio and Aggies sports message boards. A&M fans, tired of years of mediocrity since the 1998 Big 12 championship season, are howling for scalps. “As disappointed as Aggies are everywhere, the team is 10 times more disappointed and that’s a good thing,” Sherman said. “They should be disappointed. They should be embarrassed.” Sherman’s scalp is probably safe. He’s in the second year of a seven-year deal with a buyout stipulating he’ll receive $150,000 for each month left on his contract. That’s likely more than an athletic department that cut 17 full-time positions this summer is willing to take on, even if it were so inclined to try — and there’s no indication it is. – American-Statesman

Texas A&M Burning Under Mike Sherman

Former Texas A&M assistant and ex-Green Bay coach Mike Sherman returned to the Aggies a year ago vowing to restore Aggie pride, dignity and accountability to the once proud program. But in less than two complete seasons, Sherman doesn’t seem close to his promise. This will certainly be a tough week in Aggieland after A&M fell asleep against Kansas State and did not wake up until the mediocre Wildcats had pulled off a 66-14 rout in Manhattan, Kan., Saturday. And as crazy as it sounds, the score wasn’t anywhere as close as it appears. The Wildcats led 38-0 at halftime and were up 59-0 in the third quarter before the Aggies started putting points on the board. A&M, which breezed through its first three cupcake non-conference games has now lost three straight and you have to wonder if the Aggies will win again this season after Saturday’s embarrassment… Now the question is how long before Sherman gets his butt kicked out of College Station. The message boards and phone lines are blowing up after what could be the Aggies’ most embarrassing loss in years. Sure there have been some bigger margins of defeat to say … Oklahoma. But Kansas State? And a bad Kansas State squad that has struggled to identify a quarterback in Bill Snyder’s return from retirement, at that? – Fan House

Texas A&M, Mike Sherman starting over amid 3-game losing streak

Texas A&M started 3-0 and the Aggies seemed headed in the right direction early in Coach Mike Sherman’s second season. But the Aggies lost their next two games and then got humiliated 62-14 at Kansas State on Saturday, a shockingly lopsided loss that raises questions about just how much progress the program has made. A&M (3-3, 0-2 Big 12) suffered its worst defeat since a 77-0 thrashing against then-No. 1 Oklahoma late in the 2003 season, and the Aggies collapsed in every phase. A shell-shocked Sherman had no explanation on Monday for why the Aggies played so poorly. He acknowledged that A&M is still short on talent at several positions, but he also said the team practiced well last week. “We never saw it coming,” Sherman said. – AP

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