By ROBERT CESSNAIt's hard to find fault with Mike Sherman's recent hires.
Actually, they've created excitement. All-American Dat Nguyen coming home is huge. Nothing could be bigger unless Texas A&M announces its own TV network featuring Bucky Richardson.
Aggieland has embraced defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, and getting Steve Kragthorpe to be wide receivers coach was one of the steals of the offseason.
Things couldn't have worked out better for Sherman unless Brett Favre had announced his retirement and joined the staff.
Spring drills should be fun, and anticipation will rise come fall camp. But until the A&M football team shows significant improvement on defense and special teams there'll be an underlying wait-and-see attitude.
A new paint job always looks good, but shouldn't the old one have lasted more than two years?
Sherman had to revamp his staff despite a significant two-win improvement last season. A porous defense and misfiring special teams led to lopsided losses and seven setbacks on TV. That didn't give the season a feel of success then, nor now.
Sherman brought in four defensive coaches. He had to. Improving nine spots in total defense to 105th in the country really wasn't improvement. As for special teams, the Aggies were 91st in kickoff return defense, 98th in punt returns and 104th in net punting. That's unacceptable.
No one had to feel worse than Sherman. The departing coaches -- Buddy Wyatt, Van Malone, Joe Kines and Kirk Doll -- have solid credentials. They know how to coach. It just wasn't working here. They needed to move on probably as much as A&M does. It was a no-win situation.
And having those coaches land at Kansas, Tulsa, retirement and a yet to be determined location is a reflection of where the A&M program is.
Hopefully, the new assistants will shore up A&M's defensive woes, solidify the special teams and the offense will continue to soar. They certainly will have a big say on whether Sherman will be successful or not.
Former A&M head coach R.C. Slocum had a knack for hiring great assistants, including Sherman, who was a little known offensive coordinator from Holy Cross in 1988 but has had a pretty good career.
Hopefully, Sherman has developed a Midas touch when it comes to hiring.
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