COLLEGE STATION (December 1, 2011)--Mike Sherman was fired Thursday as Texas A&M's coach after the Aggies finished the regular season a disappointing 6-6.
Athletic Director Bill Byrne announced the firing in a statement Thursday night.
Sherman, who was 25-25 in four seasons, was hired at the end of the 2007 season, three days after Dennis Franchione resigned.
Sherman's best and only winning season was last year when the Aggies won their last six regular-season games and then lost in the Cotton Bowl to finish 9-4.
Texas A&M is moving from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference next year.
Texas A&M University Athletic Director Bill Byrne confirmed Thursday evening that head football coach Mike Sherman will not be retained for the 2012 football season. Byrne released the following statement:
“Mike Sherman has operated our football program with the highest levels of character and integrity over the past four seasons and has served as a great ambassador for Texas A&M University. Mike has always put the welfare of the student-athlete and Texas A&M first.
“I appreciate Coach Sherman’s selfless service to Texas A&M as our head football coach and his tireless efforts in building leaders of character. He is truly one of the great offensive minds in football, both collegiate and professional, and I know that he has much to offer the game of football in the future.
“After discussions with our coaches, we will decide who will be the interim coach of the Aggies in our upcoming bowl game. We will meet with the team and assistant coaches as soon as possible, probably tomorrow.”
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Statement from Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin:
“Decisions of this nature are never easy, and I appreciate the patience of Aggies everywhere as we carefully evaluated the current state of our football program and the prospects for the future. I would like to thank Mike Sherman for personifying Texas A&M’s core values and instilling them within our student-athletes. Coach Sherman has created a solid foundation for Texas A&M to build upon in the future. For this, we are extremely appreciative, and wish him well in his next coaching assignment.”
