Marty Smith: Texas A&M receiving 'return on investment' in 7-0 start

Key notes from Marty Smith interview

• It is such a crazy time. I feel like at this point, there are so many great jobs open now with Penn State, Florida, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State and Arkansas. At some point, the athletic directors need to assess the talent pool out there. It makes it really interesting. There was a stat I used on my show on Saturday. There are as many firings as there were last season. There are so many people getting let go that it speaks to what is expected now. The pressure that comes with the playoff and the wild equation that is college football. I don’t know what to make of it because I think this FSU statement is written in a way that is supposed to be supportive of Coach Mike Norvell. But it suggests that an assessment is necessary. Y’all don’t have that problem down there though.
   
• That is a point of contention in the Penn State example. I’ve read some articles about that. Academia meets Athletics. Urban Meyer made a great point on his podcast last week about Penn State. We are thinking about the buyout number of $48-49 million. But, we as consumers hear that number, and we say that is nice to make the money and coach somewhere else, but what we don’t consider is they also have to pay the outgoing staff and the entire incoming staff. So what you may think it is a certain number payout, like $49 million, but it is more like $75 million. Maybe nine figures. I don’t know where it comes from. Donor fatigue is a real thing. Now, with the oversight from Deloitte. The NIL money raisers, because of the House settlement, I don’t know where it is all going.
   
• With the SEC going to nine games now, with some sacred games being compromised, you have to be careful how you look at this. You don’t want to get so fat and happy that tradition is compromised. That is precious. And the money gets so crazy, it happened in NASCAR. Do you start to price out your consumers? That expenditure makes it way to the fan. Ticket increases, whatever that is. I don’t know where it comes from. It is concerning.
   
• What is the reason for every investment any of us makes? Return of Investment, and Texas A&M donors and fans, athletes, everybody is getting a return right now, because what comes with victory? Admissions. Young people see Texas A&M football, Alabama, Vanderbilt football, Ole Miss football, Georgia football and Tennessee football. They say they want to be a part of that. Human condition wants to belong, wants to be a part of something. So you see an influx of admissions from the Northeast to the South. Out of tuition is a financial boom to the University. Clark Lea right now is vastly underpaid. People say Nick Saban was overpaid, no, he was underpaid. Because of the influx of students from kids out of the state was overwhelming. I’m sure applications are up at Texas A&M.
   
• A&M has to tackle better. Coach Mike Elko said it perfectly, “We picked a bad time to have a bad day defensively.” Life is context and repetition. They gave up 218 yards rushing in the first half, only 50 in the second half. So there were adjustments made at halftime that are obvious. When you gave up a fourth of what you gave up in the first half, those adjustments speak to the coaching. Yes, they gave up a lot of points, but everybody knew Arkansas was going to put up points. That is what they do. And ultimately, the job is to win the game on the road. There are some things that have to be cleaned up, but I look at the context of how much better they were in the second half. They definitely did a good job of making sure that Arkansas didn’t beat them late. I bet they are getting their butts chewed this week. They will have to do better if they want to fulfill the promise of what this season looks like.
   
• It is one of the hardest places to play in the sport. Saturday night in Death Valley. They’ve gotten criticsm. Not having Whit Weeks against Vanderbilt was a critical absence. With how dynamic Diego Pavia and Eli Stowers are, they want to control the clock and beat you down. Weeks not playing was huge for LSU. As for as A&M is concerned, they are so good offensively right now. They are playing complementary football right now. I love the sweeps they are doing with KC Concepcion. It is so fun to watch how they are attacking defenses right now. You can feel Marcel Reed’s confidence. Even without Le’Veon Moss, it was a running attack by committee. Three guys with over 50 yards rushing. That is a problem for defenses, because you don’t know who is carrying the football. They are explosive.
   
• I really like what they are doing down there, what Elko has built. Those players are getting a return on the investment they are making. From self-accountability perspectives. And then the numbers, numbers equal money. All of that is really paying off. From the LSU side, incredibly disappointed down there. You can see it on all of their faces. I do think they are going to want to make a statement. It won’t be easy for A&M.
   
• LSU has to play two of the best teams in America up next. You could argue that Alabama and Texas A&M are the best teams in the nation. Ohio State is a buzzsaw. They are running through everyone. You could make the argument for these two football teams. I don’t envy Brian Kelly or Shane Beamer right now. When you are not a full song, injuries all over the place, and that depletes your depth. Even if you have your starters playing, but they are banged up, like Garrett Nussmeier, and you are not able to be your true selves. It is brutal.
   
• Georgia is a problem because if they have to start starting faster. Their resolve, ability to adjust at halftime and ability defensively to see what the other team is doing in the first half and be so much better in the second half. There is so much value to that. Alabama won three consecutive games against elite competition by one score. There is redeeming value to that. In the future of that, there is a psychological program in there that Alabama and Georiga have. We’ve done it against good teams. Georgia almost came back against Alabama, they came all the way back against Tennessee, and same against Ole Miss. That is valuable to Georiga. It has to give Kirby Smart confidence in his young men, that they are doing this. They are beating great teams. Tennessee is a really good team, even though they have two losses. I really like Georgia.
   
• Texas confuses me. They really adept at establishing the run against Oklahoma, which is one of the best defenses in America. You know Mark Stoops is going to put together a good defensive gameplan. They love to grind you down. That is Kentucky football. I was surprised that Texas wasn’t able to be more explosive. So maybe it is who they are, but they won the game. This league, it almost doesn’t matter who you are playing against, it is going to be a battle. Arkansas fired their coach, they can’t stop a nosebleed, and they gave y’all everything. They won’t quit on Stoops. For Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning to get out of there, they got a win. For them to fulfill the expectations they have, they have to be more explosive.