Mac Engel: Herman’s wish to play Texas A&M exposes Texas’ childish behavior

ARLINGTON, Texas – Texas has all but called out Texas A&M to renew a rivalry that should never had died, with the head coach lobbying for the Bevo/Reveille series to resume post haste.

“I’d love to see the rivalry renewed. Great for college football, great for Texas,” UT coach Tom Herman said at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday in Arlington.

Amen, and amen.

I don’t always like what my Tommy Boy says, but everyone from Austin to El Paso to Port A to College Station should agree his sentiment is accurate. This is not about the University of Texas but Texas, of which Texas A&M is an integral part.

Besides if A&M is as S-E-C as the Aggies say, they should not be afraid of a giant cow, or some underachieving Big 12 team that thinks beating an SEC team, like Georgia, is a big deal.

The Aggies beat Georgia every week.

The renewal of this rivalry won’t happen because the Aggies are smug in their position of feeling needed to make this game a reality. After being treated like a kid brother to Bevo for decades, the Aggies have something they can use to mess with UT.

Actually … a part of me admires this ploy.

Alas, Aggies, I am sorry but the Horns don’t need you. The Horns have so much cash, clout and power they don’t need this game.

Even without this game, UT cannot win national championships just as effectively as Texas A&M, although … the Horns actually have a few of those to back up their title banners (that will never grow old).

“I don’t know what needs to happen, I don’t know what happened in 2011 (when it stopped),” Herman said. “We need to find a way to get that game started.”

It’s not hard. One administration calls the other and says, “I have this and this and this weekend open.” Then they draw up a contract and put it in writing.

UT AD Chris Del Conte tried this complicated tactic last year, but was told no by then TAMU AD Scott Woodward.

Because college football schedules are completed years in advance, it will be a while before UT could even play A&M again. But the two could schedule that future date as early as right now.

What was once a reasonable childish response by the Aggies to Texas about this now simply reeks of immature, selfish cowardice.

A&M’s silent insistence on this issue is that the SEC West is tough enough, and there is no need to schedule a nonconference opponent like Texas. The SEC West is indeed a monster, and the rest is a laughable lie.

Need you be reminded that the Aggies will play Clemson this year in a nonconference game. Clemson as in National Champions Clemson.

Future Aggies nonconference opponents also include Colorado, Notre Dame, Miami and Arizona State.

The Aggies are perfectly, and commendably, comfortable playing a decent nonconference game, provided that opponent is just not named Texas.

Ironically, the Aggies daily celebrate their inclusion into the SEC, but fail to acknowledge the invite would never have been extended without UT’s previous power plays led by ESPN and former athletic director DeLoss Dodds.

TAMU’s initial reaction to Dodds’ and his UT-first intentions were reasonable, even if they were mostly emotional. It’s been years since this all happened, and, per A&M, the school and every Aggie are in a better place as a member of the SEC.

We are routinely sold this which, good for them.

Tom Herman does not have enough clout and power yet to force Del Conte into this game, but the more people like him who lobby for it only helps.

Ultimately, as stated before, economics will drive the Aggies into playing the Horns again. The game is a guaranteed sellout, and eventually all of the administrators on both sides will see the green more than they will burnt orange, or maroon and white.

They should just schedule it now, for when these two play all of college football, and every Texan, wins.

Currently, the Aggies don’t care about that.

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Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns looks on during the second half of the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images/TNS) *FOR USE WITH THIS STORY ONLY*