Can Sherman be successful at TAMU?

What do these numbers mean?

He's going to win regular season games.

He's a proven winner in the regular season. In 26 seasons, he's only had 6 losing seasons. He's won .617 of all games he has coached.
As a head coach, his winning percentage is greater than Jackie Sherrills.

Mike Sherman had a long climb to get to where he is today. He worked his way up, working in the trenches coaching OL and TE's. He not only knows where the game is won and lost, but he has the technical savvy to teach the intricacies of line play.

Where Mike Sherman has failed, is at the NFL level. And that was one season in which his top 2 WRs and top 4 running backs were hurt. He had a good run, was in a role as coach and GM that many people have not succeeded at. Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells, Mike Holmgren, are all Super Bowl winning coaches that are unsuccessful in a the duel HC/GM role.

The difference between the NFL and the NCAA is that in the NCAA, success breeds success. The NFL makes it harder and harder to maintain the success the longer you have it.

Lets put it simplistically: Imagine that the Cowboys have the worst record, and the Texans have the best record. Assuming that there are no trades and compensory picks...

Cowboys
1
33
55
87
119
151
183

Texans
32
54
86
118
150
182
214

It doesn't take a genius to figure out which team is going to have a better draft if they make wise decisions. Of course, you can still end up with better players if you're the Texans, but you have a much larger pool if you're the Cowboys. Every year that you do well, you have bad draft positions. Teams get around this by being smarter than others, but the very nature of the slotting handicaps success.

Also, the NFL, based on your record, has a system to determine which teams play which. One portion of the determination, is that first team teams play first place teams. Makes better television.

In the NCAA, there is nothing like this. In fact, success truly does build success. Winning games in the NCAA is the true snowball rolling down the hill. The better you get, the easier it is to get better. At some point you plateau, but it's easier to stay at that point than it is in the NFL, which is why the same programs stay at the top over the years.

Win games get on TV more. Get on TV more, recruits see you more. Fans see you more, and unbiased football fans become fans of the program. Everyone wants to jump on a bandwagon, and you get more t-shirt fans. It snowballs.

My only concern looking at his history is his playoff and bowl game wins.


Even if Sherman maintains the .375 winning percentage in post season, it is better than the .200 Texas A&M has had since 1989. Instead of winning 3 in 18, they'll win 6in 18, and hopefully one of those will include a Big 12 and Bowl game championship.

Sherman, to be successful, needs to have the success of his first coach in DI football, Jackie Sherrill. Jackie had a career winning percentage of .593 and .571 in bowl games.