COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Mike McKenzie sent hundreds of VIP Connection e-mails over a four-year span in his role as coach Dennis Franchione's personal assistant at Texas A&M.

Subscribers who paid $1,200 each got detailed injury reports, tidbits about the upcoming game plan and various odds and ends about the A&M football program that Franchione would not share with the public.

Franchione's secret e-mail newsletter fiasco was one of the major reasons he was forced to resign as A&M's coach last week. Through open records requests, The Dallas Morning News obtained all the VIP e-mails Texas A&M officials have collected.

Only hard-core Aggies fans may be interested in perusing them now. But considering the content, it's clear that Franchione opened himself to massive criticism over trivial information.

A&M officials collected almost 700 pages of e-mails sent through Franchione's personal Web site, CoachFran.com, from 2004 to 2007. McKenzie said in September he wrote all the e-mails and took responsibility for the content.

A&M athletic director Bill Byrne announced on Oct. 11 that some information in the e-mails violated NCAA rules.

Also through open records requests, The News obtained a copy of the school's report to the NCAA, which outlined 42 instances of secondary rules violations.

McKenzie was giving subscribers a great glimpse at activities inside the coaches' offices inside the Bright Football Complex. But a lot of the details might be considered mundane now.

For example, McKenzie wrote how Franchione was mad about a column in the local newspaper. The writer was kept out of practice that day because "The first six paragraphs were insulting," McKenzie wrote.

On Feb. 1, 2005, McKenzie outlined for subscribers all of Franchione's talking points for the upcoming national signing day.

Then on Feb. 2 at 8:46 a.m., McKenzie sent out an anecdote about what happened when coaches received a letter of intent from tight end Martellus Bennett.

"And just now a whoop went up around the hallways," McKenzie wrote, "and Coach Fran told Coach [Melvin] Smith, 'You can stay another week now, Melvin!' Martellus Bennett's FAX arrived! There's no turning back ..."

Talking about Oklahoma going for it on fourth-and-inches late in the A&M game in 2006, McKenzie wrote: "On our sideline everybody was stunned that [Oklahoma coach Bob] Stoops decided to go for it on fourth down." He then said Chad Schroeder was sent into the game as a punt returner to keep the ball from rolling for extra yardage.

"A safety went into the game, and that's why we had 12 on the field at the end."