Two months away from the 2008 college football season, Texas A&M is ready to start a new era with new coach Mike Sherman, who replaced the not so fan-favorite Dennis Franchione. Franchione's 32-28 record in College Station was not near enough to save his job, and while he technically resigned, he knew AD Bill Byrne (dubbed Dollar Bill among Aggie fans) had the pink slip in his coat pocket ever since he found out about the VIP Connection. Here's an detailed analysis of the Mike Sherman hire.

The Good

Mike Sherman lead one of the country's greatest and most historic franchises when he was in charge of the Green Bay Packers from 2000-2005, also serving as general manager from 2001-2004. Earning a 57-39 record, he is the second winningest coach in Packer's history, only behind the great Vince Lombardi. He coached future Hall of Famer Brett Favre, which will appeal to any recruit in the country. His draft picks as GM include Nick Barnett and Aaron Kampman, who have turned out to be key ingredients in Green Bay's recent success, not to mention a trade for Al Harris. Sherman is considered a great offensive coach, which looks great considering the offensive weapons A&M has. Sherman twice coached at A&M in the late 80's through the mid 90's, not counting his one year stint at UCLA. He understands the tradition and the pressure that comes with the job. Many critics have compared this hiring to Nebraska's hring of Bill Callahan, but Sherman has a proven record and was very successful in the NFL; accomplishments Callahan never earned outside a Super Bowl performance under Jon Gruden's system and players.

The Bad

Sherman hasn't coached in college since the 90's, and college football has changed dramatically since then. He made a huge splash among A&M supporters such as former coaches R.C Slocum and Gene Stallings, but didn't generate the buzz other schools did like Georgia Tech when it hired Paul Johnson, Arkansas when it tapped Bobby Petrino, or Ole Miss when it grabbed Houston Nutt. Despite a great NFL record, he had a 2-4 post-season record, which can't be overlooked. Bill Byrne hired Sherman to win Big 12 and national championships, and a poor post-season record doesn't fair well among fans, especially since A&M has one of the worst bowl records in the country in the last 10 years. Sherman was not on anybody's wish list except A&M's, and his quick hiring has been very controversial, considering the bigger and more proven names Byrne could have gone after such as Jon Gruden, Chris Petersen, Rich Rodriguez, Kevin Sumlin, and Jim Leavitt. Since he's been away from college football for so long, many feel that he may struggle to compete against the Bob Stoops' and the Mack Browns' that have won championships.

Bottom Line

Even though Sherman's negatives appear to outweigh his positives, he has a huge upside with his experience and success that many coaches hired this off-season don't possess. This is a very risky hire by A&M and one of the more controversial since the formation of the Big 12. But because of his experience and success that other Big 12 coaches would love to have, Sherman can win championships and turn the Aggies into a consistent contender, as long as he follows these rules: He allows Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Joe Kines to completely run the defense, he doesn't start a secret newsletter, uses his knowledge of the pro game when grooming players for the NFL, and applies his general manager skills to build the football program into a franchise itself. If Sherman can continue to recruit top players, bring back as much of The Wrecking Crew as possible, and truly make this not only his team, but his franchise, Texas A&M is destined for great things, which include annual Big 12 contention and finally being talked in national championship discussion.