Desmond Howard sparks coaching change rumors at A&M rival with game on horizon

Texas A&M has the Samford Bulldogs this week, which means they are already preparing for their Black Friday showdown with the Texas Longhorns, who are still reeling after being blown out on the road in Athens, Georgia. The Aggies will look to complete an undefeated regular season with a win over the Longhorns in just under two weeks.

Things are not so great in Austin at the moment, as it happens, which brings no little joy to Aggie fans. After starting the year as the preseason no. 1 team, the Longhorns fell all the way out of the poll after a loss to a horrid Florida team, and then the fans got their hopes back up just to get smacked down by the Bulldogs.

Amidst all that noise, some comments this morning from College Gameday's Desmond Howard have thrown things into an even greater tizzy. With the trepidation in Austin about this game against the Aggies already palpable, the powers that be in burnt orange may be watching quite closely.

Desmond Howard's cryptic comments on Instagram could be just what the Aggies needed ahead of Texas game

Here's what the former Michigan CB— one of the more plugged-in guys around the sport— had to say about Texas.

"Don't be surprised if that Texas job opens up at the end of the season. You guys were shocked when LSU opened up. Imagine how you're going to feel if that job in Austin pops open. I'm not calling or saying anyone's going to get fired. Maybe a mutual parting of ways, you dig?"

Desmond Howard

This would honestly track in a lot of ways. For the uninitiated, the Longhorns have a particular problem with the Aggies having success on the field, such that they have in the past fired coaches who aren't measuring up to Texas A&M. That's exactly what happened with Sarkisian's predecessor, after all— Tom Herman was dismissed after a 3-loss season in no small part thanks to the Aggies' prominence that season making the Longhorns' obscurity look even worse.

It also lines up with reporting earlier this year from Diana Russini that Sark would be open to hearing from NFL teams. Despite how vehemently this was denied from the Texas camp, that's not something that a veteran reporter like Russini would make up out of whole cloth— she heard something from someone close to the situation.

And though it's just message board chatter, it should be said— that scene has been blowing up today with discussion of this exact thing. Take it for what it's worth— and with message boards, that's only so much— but the timing of all this is quite interesting.

At the very least, the specter hanging over the Texas program right now is nothing but a positive for A&M. As they get ready to render comeuppance to the Longhorns, just under two weeks out, these distractions fogging the mind will no doubt be a boon in the long run.