Friday, September 28, 2007

Coach Fran Selling Secrets Like A Chinese Spy

Doesn't it always seem that things pile on when the going gets tough?

Fresh off of a blasting by the 'Canes where Coach Fran's gameplan(don't give the ball to one of our best players, FTL!) was called into question numerous times, and an ESPN preview that features no text there comes word that Franchione sold inside information to boosters willing to pay $1,200 a year for it.

Texas A&M football coach Dennis Franchione said Thursday he has discontinued a secret e-mail newsletter sent to select boosters willing to pay $1,200 per year for team information that Franchione routinely has withheld from the public.
"I knew it was probably going to be controversial," Franchione said. "I certainly didn't mean for it to be that. When I knew you guys were starting to ask around a bit, I thought, 'Maybe we shouldn't do this.'"

It also calls into question whether he was withholding injury information because of the "it is not our policy to discuss them" angle that he always stresses, or because he was hoping to recruit more subscribers with the promise that they would be getting something that no one else was. There's also some speculation as to whether the people receiving the "inside" information could have used it for benefit in gambling, but since they "signed something" Franchione doesn't seem to believe that to be the case.
Because of the confidentiality agreement, Franchione said, he doesn't believe any of the subscribers used the information for gambling.

"We asked them to sign something," Franchione said. "And for them not to do that."

He added: "Most of these people are tremendously loyal Aggies."

Sure they might be loyal, but he has no idea who they're forwarding the newsletter to and what those people might be doing with it.

There also seems to be something wrong with a coach giving personal assessments about players in a newsletter like this. The players listed in the article can't be pleased with having their names and assessments out there for others to read.
The newsletter also provided a candid assessment of the Aggies' receiving corps.

"Privately, Coach told me last night that Earvin (Taylor) and Pierre (Brown) are very steady but with average speed," McKenzie wrote. "Kerry (Franks) has great speed, but (is) inconsistent in receiving."

This can't do anything for team morale, and it appears that the beginnings of getting Coach Franchione out of College Station could be underway.

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