A&M pulls the plug on Slocum era
In a move that should shock no one, Texas A&M fired head football coach R.C. Slocum yesterday.
"It was with great sadness and disappointment that I learned today that I was being fired as the head football coach at Texas A&M," Slocum said in a release. "We had a season where we lost several close games that could have gone either way, and no one was more disappointed than me with our record. However, we have some really outstanding young players, and I felt our future was bright.
"Although disappointed with Dr. Gates' decision, I do recognize that the university has the right to decide who coaches the team. I have spent 30 years of my life here and have deep feelings for Aggieland."
Slocum's firing came less than a month after he received a vote of confidence from Gates, who took over as university president in June.
The university did not make Gates available to explain the decision to fire Slocum and did not hold a news conference. Instead, the school issued a brief release just before 6 p.m., an unceremonious end for a coach who had been connected with the A&M football program for all but one year since 1972.
Slocum is a man who has devoted his life to Texas A&M. He is, by all accounts, a hard worker, a good leader, and a good person. Having a .500 season was just a bit too much for the Aggie faithful, though. Yes, A&M did not have the season that people expected, but the neither did UT. I don't hear any clamoring to fire Mack Brown. Frankly, Slocum deserved better. In the end, Slocum could not compete against alumni and fan chat rooms, who denizens have been demanding his head for years. Winning football games is the ONLY thing that matters to most of these folks, and it seems a horribly narrow-minded outlook.
I wish A&M's new coach, whoever he may be, good luck. He's going to need it.
