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1903: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Steal Their Coach

By 1903, Mississippi A&M fans had been all over the emotional block with their football team. From not winning a game in two years to the disbanding of the program to winning a few games before slipping backwards, they had seen it all. Several captains and coaches had come and gone, and the Aggie faithful wondered what to do next.

In a moment that had to be as shocking as Hulk Hogan joining the New World Order, Daniel Martin left Ole Miss to become the head coach at Mississippi A&M, and just as Hollywood Hogan and the NWO ran wild on WCW, Martin and his team took off in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

The season opened on a Friday in Columbus. The opponent that day was Alabama, a team that had outscored A&M 92-0 all time. Change was in the air, and on that day in Columbus, the Aggies knocked off Alabama 11-0.

The great play continued eight days later as the Maroon and White traveled down to Meridian and dismantled the Meridian Athletic Club 45-0. Without a doubt, enthusiasm once again ran wild in Starkville as a home tilt with LSU waited in the wings.

The Aggies had not been able to knock off LSU in two previous attempts, but again Martin and his boys pushed the right buttons, and A&M raced to an 11-0 victory.

If the year were 2003, the next matchup for the Aggies, against Ole Miss, would have been nonstop news in Mississippi. After all the man who walked the Ole Miss sideline the year before now wore Maroon and White. With a chance to defeat his old squad, Martin coached a valiant effort, but the game ended in a 6-6 tie.

The Aggies closed out their season with a 0-0 at Tulane. Overall everyone should have been pleased. The Aggies had knocked off Alabama and LSU, and they did not drop a decision the entire season. With a 3-0-2 record, Aggie fans could not wait for 1904.