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Byrne should look to Longhorns for coaching advice

Byrne cannot find an able football coaching staff, should take tips from Texas.

By: Brad Cox

Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Sports
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As the Texas A&M football team prepares for its final game of the 2008 season, the annual Lonestar Showdown rivalry game against Texas, I will sit back and wonder what went wrong.

I will wonder about the Aggies' abysmal 4-7 record. I will wonder about the Aggies' embarrassing losses to Arkansas State and Baylor. I will

wonder about the Aggies' chances of ever winning 10 games in a season again, something not done since the 1998 Big 12 championship season.

Then, when I'm sitting in the press box at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Thanksgiving Day, the answer will hit me. I will see Texas Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp patrolling the sidelines.

When former Texas A&M Head Coach Dennis Franchione walked away from the microphones after a 38-30 win over the arch rival Longhorns in 2007, A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne, known for making excellent hires in every other sport at A&M, announced he would begin a nationwide search for a replacement.

Three days later, Byrne announced the hiring of a former National Football League head coach and then Houston Texans offensive coordinator, Mike Sherman. Meanwhile, Will Muschamp, Auburn's defensive coordinator at the time, was preparing the Tigers for a bowl game.

Texas Head Coach Mack Brown later hired Muschamp for the 2008 season. Muschamp has the Longhorn's rush defense ranked No. 4 in the nation. Though they are ranked No. 110 in pass defense, their pass efficiency defense is better with a No. 59 national ranking. The

Longhorns are also No. 2 in sacks, No. 24 in tackles for loss, No. 24 in scoring defense and No. 58 in total defense.

"This is a special pace," Muschamp said about Texas. "I think it is 'the' elite job in the country."

Meanwhile, the Aggies' top rank in those categories is No. 91 in pass defense, which is inflated by the four yards Army, an option running team, threw for against A&M on Sept. 27.

Muschamp was named Brown's successor Tuesday. Though Brown does not expect to retire in the near future, the move has put Brown on the clock.
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