Monday Thoughts

Texas A&M has a full staff again after hiring LSU's Tommie Robinson as their new running backs coach. And, true to form, they've hired someone with outstanding recruiting chops.

Robinson had served as LSU's recruiting coordinator, and he helped guide them to one of the nation's top recruiting classes -- again -- this year. He has been around, including stops at Texas, TCU, Miami (Fla.), Georgia Tech, USC (twice) and Memphis. He's also had stops in the NFL, with the Cardinals and Cowboys.

But here's what stands out to me, besides being a spearhead for LSU's recruiting excellence -- Texas. TCU. Miami. USC (twice). Georgia Tech. Any of that stand out for you? It should.

Here's what I mean. What are key areas for the Aggies to recruit in? The state of Texas, of course -- but where have they had a lot of recent success? Florida and Georgia (Miami in particular). Where would they like expand their recruiting? California. And Robinson did a phenomenal job helping LSU in Georgia, where they had five signees in the 2020 class. Georgia is a hotbed of recruiting talent, as we've seen and getting even more established there can't hurt. And LSU has a 2021 commit from California already.

During his second stop at USC (2016), he was one of the nation's top recruiters and helped the Trojans assemble the nation's #6 class overall according to Rivals.com. They haven't gotten within a mile of that since.

So how is Robinson as a coach? Yeah, he's pretty good there too. Derrius Guice ring a bell? Obviously, Clyde Edwards-Hilare went from an average SEC starter to elite between 2018 and 2020.

Robinson has a track record as a very good coach and even better recruiter. He's had success everywhere he's been, and he has experience recruiting well in areas where A&M needs to be strong in order to succeed. It's a very impressive pickup when you look at Robinson's resume in terms of what he's done and what the Aggies need.

It's very rare when you lose coaches the caliber of Jay Graham, Joe Jon Finley and Bradley Dave Peveto and can argue you upgraded at every spot. But, at least in terms of recruiting chops, I think that's what they Aggies did here.

We have less than a month until spring practice begins, and there should be some really interesting competitions to keep track of. But I'm not entirely sure how some of these are going to play out, because it's not entirely clear who will be involved. Here's some examples, and you'll get what I mean.

Nickel. Clifford Chattman got a few starts here last year and was pretty average. Devin Morris was a situational player who made a few big plays, but it was Charles Oliver who ended up being the guy here by season's end. So will it be back to Chattman and Morris, or will someone else be involved?

Offensive tackle. A&M needs backups at both spots. Cole Blanton and Blake Trainor should factor into this somewhere -- but on which side? My first thought is Trainor on the left and Blanton on the right, but that's purely a guess. And will Chris Morris be involved? My first thought is he'll get a shot on the left side, but we'll see.

Corner. Elijah Blades was pretty good, but injury prone, last year. Myles Jones was just ok, but slipped later in the year. With Jaylon Jones and Josh Moten already on campus, where do they factor in? Will one back up Blades while the other gets a shot at Jones, or will both get a shot at a starting job? Things will certainly change before they're done at the end of August, but it's still going to be very interesting to see what they do to start.

Slot receiver. The question here is whether Jalen Preston will get a look here or will stay outside in a backup role. I think he'll get a shot, because the team needs to figure out what they truly have in him.

2019 5-star DB Erick Young was on the verge of breaking into the two-deep at corner last summer before he broke his hand. He missed half the season, then came back as a safety. His role was limited, but he did pick off a pass against UTSA.

So now, the Aggies have added Antonio Johnson, possibly the nation's top safety for 2020, to their group there. They've added another 5-star, Jaylon Jones, one of top to JUCO corners in Brian George and another Rivals 250 4-star in Josh Moten at corner. That's a lot of talent. So what do you do with Young?

I have a suggestion. I would try him out at nickel. It suits his strengths well, in my opinion. He's bigger than most corners (and many safeties, honestly) at 6-foot-1 and 212 pounds; he's faster than the vast majority of safeties but can tackle like one. He plays a physical style of football.

All of this, along with the fact the Aggies need to replace Charles Oliver, makes me think Young should get a look. The guy unquestionably has talent, so find a way to use it. He would be an asset against the run and would get to be physical with opposing inside receivers or tight ends right off the line.

Will this be what happens? No idea. But I do like the concept.

Pretty soon, the SEC will have a huge payday from ESPN. The network, which will take over the SEC Game of the Week from CBS, will see its payday increase from around $55 million to at least $300 million. Conference programs got $44.6 million per school for fiscal year 2019, which could explode to as high as $71 million in FY 2022. The Big 10, which has another deal coming too, could see their revenues hit $80 million per school in FY 2024.

In the meantime, the Pac-12 is stuck with a horrible contract with Fox and the Pac-12 Network, which hasn't had nearly the success of the SEC and Big 10 Networks. The Pac-12 cannot renegotiate its deals until 2025, which means the programs that are already well ahead of them ($33 million in media distribution for FY '19). A projection by the San Jose Mercury News has Pac teams making $42 million in 2024, less than what A&M made last year. The SEC schools could make as much as $320 million per school in the period between 2019 and 2024, with a huge boost from the new Game of the Week deal; the Pac is likely to have revenues per school in the range of $191 million.

That's a $130 million difference, for those of you not interested in doing the math, and that would be devastating. The Big 10 and SEC are going going to be in position to dominate college football simply by overwhelming it in cash.

So the the Pac-12 will just get in the money in 2025, you say? Well, that's a lifetime in college sports, and they might not do it then. ESPN is going to put a ton of money into the SEC deal, and really hasn't had a relationship with the Pac-12 like it has with other programs. Fox can renegotiate with the Big 10 before the Pac gets its turn, and will likely spend a king's ransom locking them down. And Larry Scott has already annoyed ESPN by rejecting their offer to buy into the Pac-12 Network. Oopsies.

The Pac-12 is weak on and off the field right now. It can't be considered a major conference if its revenues are less than 80% of those of the Big 10 and SEC, and their success on the field has been limited at best in recent years. So it can certainly be considered in danger.

So what to do? Well, there's another conference with no real geographic sanity, a subpar TV contract and one very good team who could certainly use a boost. Maybe it's time for Bill Byrne and Deloss Dodds to get their wish, and have much of the Big 12 and Pac-12 merge. It may be a lifeboat for some of those programs, even if it dooms others.

Not that A&M cares. They'll be counting their money, thanks.