The truth about boxcar Joe Kines

The strangest day in the Mike Sherman era came on February 8, 2008, when Defensive Coordinator Assistant Head coach Reggie Herring resigned to join the Dallas Cowboys. Waves of shock pulsated throughout Aggieland. Mike Sherman had proclaimed at his press conference when hired that he was taking a lessor salary so that he could get the best assistance. And then, within a month, the key component to the coaching staff quits.

Mike Sherman hires Joe Kines as a desperation hire. Basically, he was the best person out that currently did not have a job. However, this last minute desperation hire may end up being his best.

Joe Kines was born July 13, 1944 on a train in route from Georgia to Alabama. He spent his early life traveling from city to city on train performing as a street performer for pennies. Not really. None of that is important, but this is.

When Joe got the call from Sherman, he was on working for Alabama in their Tide Pride office. Joe decided that he wanted one more crack at it and he loaded up the truck and moved to College Station. That would make 2 out of 3 defensive coordinators at Texas A&M from Alabama (Torbush and Kines), and the second straight defensive coordinator who was not working in football (Darnell and Kines). Why is he different than Torbush and Darnell?

Joe Kines has been coaching in the NCAA Division 1 and the NFL since 1977.
Joe has:

• 26 years experience at D1
  
• 4 years experience in the NFL
  
• 17 years experience coaching linebackers
  
• 17 years experience as a defensive coordinator
  
• 8 years experience as an assistant head coach
  
• 10 games experience as a head coach
  

The teams he has coached have a winning percentage .542. Just above average, right? That number is skewed by his stint as a Linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During that time the Bucs were 20-43, a winning percentage of .318.

His NCAA winning percentage is .620.

Here is what is impressive about Joe Kines. Joe has been a coach when a new head coach is brought in 6 times in his career. Twice in his career, he has been retained on the staff when a new coach has been brought in.

Kines knows the aches and pains associated with a new staff. He understands building the chemistry of the staff and developing rapport with the players. He's very experience in taking what the players do well, putting them in a system that will lead him to succeed. His first year at Florida in 1979 they went 0-10. His worst record as a coach. The next year 8-4. The next 7-5. 8-4. 9-2-1. 9-1-1. This was the beginning of the Florida foundation of football excellence and he helped build it.

In 1995, he joined Georgia as the DC. They went 6-6 and head coach Ray Goff was fired. New coach Jim Donnan retained Kines as the DC. In 1996, they went 5-6. 1997, 10-2. 1998, 9-3. 1999, 8-4.

He joined Alabama in 2003 after Dennis Franchione decided to come to College Station. Isn't it ironic, don't you think? They went 4-9 in 2003, 6-6 in 2004, 10-2 in 2005, and then 6-6 in 2006. Even more impressive was Kines' units finished second nationally in total defense in 2004 and in 2005. He was not retained by new Alabama coach Nick Saban following the 2006 season, when the Crimson Tide finished 23rd nationally.

He has a history of helping to turn programs around. At 62, is he a long term solution? No. But for now, he's a great fit with the experience to turn Texas A&M around.

And lastly, if this guy doesn't fire you up, nothing will.

'Canes beat Texas Aggies 42-23

For all the Aggies out there... please please play this video.


Thoughts:

Crowd: Kudos to the students for coming and filling up their side. Miami fans made a great decision to leave in the fourth and head to the Chicken. Guarantees a table!

Goodson: He's electric in space, and believe it or not, the coaching staff did a great job getting the ball in his hands in space. And he protected the ball and made things happen. Great game on his part.

T. McCoy: First time he's really contributed and showed good hands and JJ really trusted him.

Fuller: Despite looking like he's 40 and a man....He could go down as the best in history of Texas A&M. I really hope he's ok.

This team does not quit. I love that. Shows that they have believe in what they're doing and what the coaching staff is doing.

JJ: Made some first time starting QB mistakes. He was much more accurate than I thought he was, which is very positive. He's very elusive back there, and I hate to say it, but he needs to start the rest of the year.

Very creative play calling. The first play of the game was very well designed. The putting 3 RB's in the game and no QB is VERY interesting. I'd like to see how that progresses throughout the year. It's interesting what they'll do with really no experienced good receivers and a surplus of backs.

Lane: Didn't have a carry. He had a horrible play where he went through the line and didn't even block 1 person. He looked better at other times. Laugh out loud moment when the announcers were talking about his weight. They said that he had a neck injury, and was hurt and gained all the weight he had lost back because he couldn't work out. So he gained 15 pounds because he couldn't work out for 2 weeks????

President of Texas A&M: Please don't say we're number 1. Is there anything in the world that Texas A&M is number 1 at?

2 turnovers really made the difference.

I'm really not going to get into the negatives, but..... that defense is shades of Torbush. Wow.

This game was definitely not lost with the coaching. Several times they were in position to succeed, and the players didn't execute.

Replay: Nothing over-turned. Reply needs to be instantaneous. If it's going to be over turned, over turn it. If it's not, don't stop the game.

Yes, that was a crappy loss be a lopsided score. However, If you really look at how they came around throughout the game, didn't quit, it bodes well for a team that will get better as the season progresses. I would not be shocked to see these boys hitting on all cylinders by the end of the season and have a chance to win a lower tier bowl games.

A tale of 3 coaches

One of the biggest things that is often overlooked in college football is consistency. A coach finds a system that works, teaches the kids the system, and as they progress through it, there is consistency.

When a new coach is brought in, the expectations for immediate results from the fan base have nothing to do with the actual factors the coach is facing. I'm sure he wants to win as much, if not more than even the most die hard fan. Starting over, teaching 85 scholarship kids and 20 walkons a new system a challenge, especially with the 20 hour college rule. The coaches that have their system in place, and they're not teaching every kid the entire system.

Three NCAA DI Coaches in their first 5 seasons.

Coach A



Coach B



Coach C


All three coaches struggled in their first 5 years. They are all in a highly competitive conference. One of these coaches was gone after that 5th year.
The other 2 coaches were kept, and stayed at their university.

Coach A


Coach B


Who are these men?

Coach A


Coach B


Coach C


Does that mean to say that Fran deserved to be fired? No. But perhaps that consistency with 3 head coaches in 7 years is going to severely retard the program at Texas A&M. Who is to say in year 6 or year 7 that Fran wouldn't have taken the program to the level of Ku and Mizzou?

A&M was set for 8 wins because of the schedule and consistencies. Instead, they're in a complete rebuild mode that will may lead to 4 victories. 2 rebuilds in 6 years.

Jorvorskie Lane

Jorvorskie is blessed with incredible quickness for a man his size. He has amazing hands, and can even throw the ball. Jorvorskie is listed at 6' 270 pounds. That height may be accurate, but the weight is questionable.

New Aggie head coach Mike Sherman tells Jorvorskie to get down to 265, and to add insult to the fat talk, tells Jorvorskie he is going to play fullback.

It appears as if the previous staff looked a blind eye to Jorvorskie's weight and conditioning. The new staff approaches the subject head on.

Mike Sherman knows the NFL, and knows what it will take for Jorvorskie to make it.
The NFL is a league of measureables. They measure:
40-yard dash
Bench press
Three cone drill
Broad jump
Vertical leap
20-yard shuttle
60-yard shuttle
Position specific drills
Physical measurements
NFL team interviews
The Wonderlic Test
The Cybex Test
Injury evaluation

A good work out and good height weight, a player can overcome years of collegiate mediocrity. Come in over weight, out of shape, weak, and it doesn't matter what you did in college. You may lose your chance. There's no deceiving the NFL about your height and weight. They know.

Let's compare Jorvorskies height and weight to 3 postions in the NFL. HB, FB, and TE. Jorvorskie has played HB and FB, but TE you may ask? Bare with me. One of the recent trends in the NFL is to have more TE's than FB's on the roster, and have an H-back. An H-back is really a hybrid FB/TE. The H-Back is a lead blocker, and will catch the ball out of the backfield. An H-back can stay back and protect the QB as well. It's the kind of role Jorvorskie should be performing for the Ags right now, but due to injuries and no line play, it hasn't progressed.
There really is no technical H-back position, it's usually a TE or a FB playing that role. A good example of the H-Back is how the Cowboys use 6'5" 251 Tony Curtis out of the backfield or the Redskins use 6'3" 258 Chris Cooley.

Jorvorskie is listed at 6' 270. He's probably heavier than that. Aggies don't lie, cheat, or steal, so we'll go with those numbers.

There are 116 HB's on NFL active rosters, not including IR, PUP, and DEV.
The average size for an NFL RB is 5'10" 217 lbs. The median is 5'11" and 217, and the mode is 5'11" 225. The smallest is 5'6" 181 Darren Sproles and the largest is 6'4" 264 Brandon Jacobs. There are 20 HB's taller than Jorvorskie and there are none that are heavier.

There are 94 TE's on NFL active rosters, not including IR, PUP, and DEV.
The average size is 6'4" 256. The median is 6'4" 255, and mode is 6'4" 255. The shortest is 6' and the lightest is 223. The tallest is 6'8 and the heaviest is 288. 93 TE's are taller than Jorvorskie and Jorvorski is heavier than 83.

There are 39 FB's on active rosters, not including IR, PUP, and DEV. What's interesting about this is 5 teams don't even have a FB on their roster. They use more of a TE/H-Back out of the backfield for a lead blocker or not at all.
The average size is around 6' 248. Median and mode are 6' 250. The tallest is 6'4" and the lightest is 225. Jorvorskie is heavier than all but 1 FB in the league.

What does all this mean? Does this mean that he can't play in the NFL? No. But in a league that is all about measurables, it's going to be tough for him to get a shot. The FB that weighs more is in his 9th year, so I'm pretty sure that girth was acquired over the years.

A FB/HB in the NFL has to do more than just block and catch passes. He needs to be able to run down the field on kickoffs and punts, and block for special teams. Martellus Bennent was a 2nd round draft pick at TE, and he's on all special team units for the Cowboys as 2nd string TE. At 270+ pounds, it would be very difficult to run up and down the field multiple times. With the NFL roster at 46 for game days, there is no room for a running back that can't do more than short yardage.

However, if he gets down to 260, he's still heavier than most and can use it to his advantage of size and amazing quickness. If he learns to block, and might be light enough to run up and down the field, Jorvorskie stands a chance.

If he shows up to the combine at anything over 270 (actual weight), he won't be drafted. And if he gets a rookie contract, and is over that weight, he won't make a team.

He's a great player, and I hope he makes it for his and his families sake. And he'll break the alltime TD record on September 20.

Who should be the starting QB for the Aggies?

Texas Aggies hold on to beat the Lobos 28-22

My thoughts on this game: From the Aggie perspective, of course.

Both teams made a hell of a lot of mistakes. 4 fumbles for A&M, 4 fumbles for NM. The difference is that A&M lost one, a muffed punt that lead to a field goal, and NM lost 3. The 2 int's lead to 2 scores as well. Roughing the passer: It appears as if A&M's fortunes are turning in this regard. 2 games were lost last season with crucial roughing the passer calls. This season, it turns into a TD for A&M.

A&M's offense: Boring. Little imagination. West Coast Offense dumbed down. It's a very straightforward offense that can be effective if executed properly. Can college kids learn to execute it? Previous NFL coaches, even the one of the greatest ever failed to implement it effectively in college. Walsh.

You'd think A&M would've done better against the offense that NM was running. Wasn't it almost exactly what A&M was running the last 3 years? Option, zone read, etc. I guess they tried to block out everything Fran taught them.

Special Teams: What was that? 2 delay of game penalties and punting line drives? It lead to great field position.

Goodson: I wonder if he read all his clippings and rantings about his talent from Sherman. It's almost as if he's running around like he did his freshman year and not protecting the ball. He seems to run out of control, and he still has yet to convince me he can run between the tackles. I hope he proves me wrong. Of course, that picture is from last year, so apparently he wasn't protecting the ball last year either.


Jerrod Johnson: I like this kid. I really do. He can make plays and tries to make things happen. If only he had more accuracy. Hopefully he can improve upon this. I'd like to see how well the team does. I love McGee too, and if this team progresses, the best QB should play. If it's him, great. However, if the Big 12 is out of reach, Johnson needs to be playing every down. He just needs to be more accurate. His second TD pass was a crappy pass. It should've been an interception. Which brings me to Fuller.

He's the best true freshman WR I've seen in my years watching A&M football. Hopefully he'll progress throughout the season and throughout his career. That 2nd TD was one of the most amazing plays I have seen by an A&M WR in a long long time.

Injuries: McGee, Goodson, Tannehill, and a few others...If our starting QB, our 3rd string QB and starting WR, and starting tailback are hurt, we're in trouble. If our first string slot receiver is playing QB...that's bad news.

Defense: Did I hear correct? Was that really the first pick six since 2002? Was there really not a pick 6 in the history of Fran?? A&M missed so many tackles it was ridiculous. I don't remember a linebacker being called by name on a tackle all game. It seems like there were not huge missed assignments, unlike last week. Of course, there

Overall: It's a W. And that, in the end, is all that matters. I truly believe that this staff, and this team will get better week to week. Most of the mistakes can be corrected, and I feel good about the program? Why? Because it's more fun to be positive than negative.

Top 25 programs all time in NCAA Football

I've often wondered why some programs are elite, and why they always feel like they should be in the elite status. How did they get there in the first place, and why do they stay there? Why do some programs feel they deserve to be winners? Why they fire their head coaches after a .500 season despite never having a losing season? I came up with a theory as to why and who a program becomes successful and stays successful.

To have a historically good program, you need to be either:
1. The flagship state school. It doesn't matter if your school name has state in it or not. Who ever heard of The University of Louisiana? When you think of football in Louisiana, it's LSU. Or Ohio and tOSU.
2. Have a desirable location. It's great to go to school in Sunny LA or Sunny Florida. Who in their right mind would want to live in a cold state over LA during the school year??

I started to put together a list on programs and their historical AP rankings. I picked AP rankings because it's been around a long long time, and they penalize teams for being on probation, but I started looking around and realized it had been done already.

Here is the list of total appearances in the final AP poll.



16 of the top 25 are the flagship state school
3 of the top 25 are destination schools
19 out of 25 are either main or destination schools

8 of the top 10 are flagship state schools
9 out of the top 10 are either flagship or destination schools

The 6 in the top 25 that don't fit either criteria are:
#3 Notre Dame
#11 Auburn
#19 Texas A&M
#20 Clemson
#22 Georgia Tech
#24 Michigan State

What's amazing about these 6, with the exception of Notre Dame, they are all in the same state as another top all time team.

So Ags, take heart. Despite being #2 in the state, despite a bad location, you are indeed, a top 20 program. Or at least until some of the programs below pass you.

Sherman era off to a bang!

18-14 Arkansas St. beats Texas A&M.

I don't know what was worse, the internet stream, or the performance of the Ags.
http://www.texags.com is going to be fun today and next week.

At least Fran beat Arkansas State his first game.



It is what it is. Ags couldn't stop them when it counted, and they turned the ball over too many times. Heisman hopeful Goodson fumbled when the game was on the line.

You should've known the Ags were in trouble when in the first series the Ags had their first sting QB playing QB, 2nd string QB playing TE, and 3rd string QB playing WR.

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.

Who is Mike Sherman?

Wikipedia says:

Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954 in Norwood, Massachusetts) is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies football team. Prior to coaching the Aggies, he served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from the 2000–05 seasons. Sherman led the Packers to five consecutive winning seasons from 2000–04 and three divisional titles in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Before he started an NFL coaching career, Sherman served as an assistant coach at five different colleges, including Texas A&M, where he coached the offensive line for seven seasons.

Let's look at Sherman's career.

He started his coaching career at a public high school in 1980. He coached there for one year and moved to the prestigious prep school Worcester Academy. Worcester is the stereotypical movie NE prep school. Think School Ties. In fact, scenes in that movie were filmed there. Interesting tidbit: Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks head coach went there. So did Donnie Nelson, President and GM of the Mavericks.

In 1981, Sherman joined the Jackie Sherrill's staff Pittsburgh as a GA. He was there for 2 seasons. Pitt was a top notch program and they went 19-3 in regular season and 1-1 in bowls. Interesting tidbit 2, Wikipedia says that he didn't have a room to rent, and slept in the stadium, a la Rudy.

In 1983, Sherm left Pitt to go to Tulane to coach the OL under Wally English. Tulane was bad, and in the 2 years they went 5-17. Can't blame all that on the OL coach. Interesting tidbit 3, Mack Brown became the head coach at Tulane after Wally English was canned. Mack got them to .500, and the left to take over North Carolina. Greg Davis became the head coach there. Greg is fired after 4 years, and joins Mack in Carolina. They've been bosum buddies ever since. Betcha didn't know that.

Sherm then finds himself without a job and ends up at Holy Cross. Yes, back to Rudy. I wonder if he had a room to rent there?? He starts there coaching the OL and does that for 3 years. They have a bad first season, but in those 3 years they go 25-7, including a perfect season of 11-0 in 1987. I'm sure the OC at Holy Cross was given a head gig somewhere, and Sherm is promoted to his first gig as an OC. They go 9-2.

Meanwhile, in Aggieland, Sherms first NCAA boss is ran out of Aggieland chased by NCAA investigators, and RC Slocum is made HC. Big money of Aggieland comes calling, and Sherm flys to Houston, and drives the lonely road up Hwy 6. Along the way he thinks, "Where the bleep am I?" As he takes Business 6, and gets to the top of the hill and sees Kyle field in the distance thinks, "Ok, not so bad." (Note, this is the authors extrapolating thoughts to Sherman.)

We all know the regular season success of the Aggies in this period. From 1989 to 1993, the Aggies go 39-8-1 in regular season. However, 1-4 in bowls. That one victory can be seen here. Aggies, when they're feeling down, think about this game with a smile.

Compliments of Doug Keegan with the Pearl Jam soundtrack. Not bad for a VCR and a Commodore 64.

Sherman is decides that he needs to act, and where else do you learn to act? LA. In 1984, Sherman joins Terry Donahue's staff at UCLA, and things didn't go so well. I don't profess to know any details, but the team only goes 5-6. He also failed at acting, and couldn't even get the role of Coach Harris in Revenge of the Nerds and Sensei John Krese in The Karate Kid. Back to Aggieland.

This period in Aggieland was the beginning of the end of RC's tenure at TAMU. He's again the OL coach, and they go 15-9, with 1 bowl victory.
Following the 1996 season, RC promotes Sherm to OC. Sherm, however, gets an offer from the defending Super Bowl Champions to be the TE Coach. Tough decision...in his own words from Wikipedia, "There is absolutely no other college job I would have left Texas A&M for and only one professional job that I've ever had any interest in and that being the Green Bay Packers. I've enjoyed the small-town atmosphere of College Station for my family, and Green Bay offers that same atmosphere. If the truth be told, there is not a whole lot of difference between an `Aggie' and a `Cheesehead."

He serves as TE's coach for 2 years. They go 13-3 and 11-5, and lose a Super Bowl. Overall, they go 24-8, and 1-2 in playoffs.

Mike Holmgren leaves Green Bay because he was not allowed to be both coach and general manager, and takes that role in Seattle. He takes Sherm with him, and makes Sherm his OC. Ok...so Sherm hasn't been OC since 1988 at Holy Cross, and now he's OC with the Seahawks. Seattle has a good year, go 9-7, and make to the playoffs and lose in the wild card. 0-1.

Now, here's the shocker. Green Bay doesn't give Mike Holmgren the job as GM and Head coach, but after hiring Ray Sherman as HC, they need some help. In 2000, the Green Bay Packers hire Mike Sherman to be Head Coach, and then in 2001 when Ron Wolff leaves, they make him Head Coach and General Manager. They didn't give that job to Holmgren, who is a Super winning head coach, they give it to Sherman, who hasn't had a head coaching job since 1980.

From 2000-2004, the Pack go 53-27 with a winning percentage of .663. The offense is off the charts, and Pack are winning regular seasons, but they only win 2 play off games and lose 4, including the 4th and forever in 2003.

In 2005, Sherman is demoted out of the General Manager role, and Ted Thompson is brought on board. The Pack go 4-12, and are are completely decimated by injuries. They lose their top 2 WRs, and their top 4 RBs. Sherm is shown the door.

Sherman goes to work for his old buddy from Aggieland, Gary Kubiak with the Texans as Asst. Head Coach. In 2007, he serves as the OC. The Texans go 6-10 in 2006 and 8-8and 2007 and were generally on an upward trend.

On November 26th, 2007 Sherm becomes head coach at Texas A&M. That day shall be forever known as Sherman Day.

Coming next: Can Sherman be successful in Aggieland?

ESPN Wonders if Martellus should've stayed?

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/big12/0-1-211/Would-Bennett-have-benefitted-from-another-year-at-A-amp-M-.html

I'm not much for reality series, but the HBO documentary "Hard Knocks" about the
Dallas Cowboys' training camp has been really enjoyable to me so far.
The
reason why is because the show has prominently featured former Texas A&M
tight end Martellus Bennett, a rookie who I always felt one of the most
supremely talented players to ever come through the Big 12. I always felt like
Bennett just needed to grow up to fully realize his talents.
That trend has turned out once he started his NFL career. His Dallas Cowboys coaches have been grumbling about his lack of instruction he received in college and have wondered if his career might be salvaged. Particularly telling has been Bennett's lack of instruction in basic pass-receiving skills.
While I think that assessment is a little premature -- how many 6-foot-6, 265-pound tight ends can you find who are as fast and can jump as high as Bennett? -- I still wonder what might have happened if Bennett had stayed in college one more season.
Something tells me that Bennett could have made a lot more money in an improved draft status if he had stayed in college for one more season. New A&M coach Mike Sherman, a former NFL head coach, would have helped Bennett learn more of what he needed to make himself better prepared for the next level.
In Sherman's ball-control offense, I could envision Bennett catching 55-60 passes and growing up a little more.
And if that had happened, I don't think we'd see Bennett sulking through his meetings with Cowboys tight ends coach John Garrett like he was is
in the last "Hard Knocks" episode that I saw.

Rudyjax says: It's more pile on Fran. We all saw how raw he was, and how he didn't make many of the plays he should've made. Even if it was the coaches, Tellus probably have never been challenged in his life.
And complaining about leaving for the NFL early is like crying over losing your virginity. And I have read nothing anywhere, ever, that says that the coaches are grumbling about salvaging his career. The Cowboys knew what they were getting. A raw, athletic, strong young man that has never been pushed on the football field.
Tellus will be fine.
And yes, Tellus has looked like an Ass in camp, but it's probably 100th of the footage they have on Tellus. Watch Wednesday, you'll be surprised at the different man.