AggieYell Mailbag
It’s time for your dose of mail call with this week’s AggieYell Mailbag, sponsored by Tipton Auto Group:
Q: Do you like any of the former coaches? (87Ag)
A: Sure, I like most of the former coaches. There are only three I don’t like: Kevin Sumlin, Jim Schlossnagle and Buzz Williams — and I think their actions have given people ample ability to understand why.
Q: How much of this team’s current success is owed to Tommy Moffitt? Is there a concern that he would go back to LSU if the new head coach comes calling?
A: lot of it it is. It’s pretty clear that A&M has been able to wear out opponents and physically take over in the fourth quarter of virtually every game.
As for going back to LSU, I don’t know. He has everything he has asked for at A&M and I don’t know if LSU can match that. But he’s got an extensive history there and that could be a difference maker.
Is it true that neither Florida or LSU have any decommitments since firing their head coaches? If it is, what does that say about those programs? (Umpocket)
I know LSU hasn’t had any and I don’t think Florida has. I think that shows that these players committed to the school over the coach, or they’re being well-compensated. Maybe both.
Q: How did the Aggies D shutdown Trey’Dez Green (14)?
A: I think it was several things that came together. First was the pass rush. Garrett Nussemeier didn’t have time, so that limited his options. It had to be first or second look and get the ball out. When he did get the ball, it was on short routes and the Aggies did a good job tackling him in space. Scooby Williams got him for a tackle for loss and Dezz Ricks stopped him from getting to the sticks on fourth down, for example.
Is the media room adding new faces? (Spar2cus)
Yes. The Athletic and ESPN were both there Saturday night. A couple more wins and I’ll bet the press conference the Monday before Texas will be wild.
Q: Are there any updates to when Le’Veon will be back? (dP47)
A: No. He was in a boot and using a scooter to get around Saturday night. I talked to him briefly, but we didn’t discuss a timeframe.
Q: Does A&M or Missouri benefit more from the bye week?
A: I think they both do. I’ll lean Mizzou because they get a week to get their new freshman quarterback ready, but A&M has a chance to get healthier, you get a week closer to Moss getting back and they can fine tune a few things.
Is the Missouri defense in the top 10 real or just because they have only played 2 teams all year that is worth a s***? (Maroon_Mudbug)
Ok, this is a great question. Here’s how their season has gone so far:
Beat Central Arkansas 61-6
Beat Kansas (4-4) 42-31
Beat Louisiana (2-6) 52-10
Beat South Carolina (3-5) 29-20
Beat UMass (0-8) 42-6
Lost to Alabama (7-1) 27-24
Beat Auburn (4-4) 23-17 (2 OT)
Lost to Vanderbilt (7-1) 17-10
The argument that they’ve only played two good teams seems to hold merit. I’m sure their stats are somewhat skewed by playing trash teams like Louisiana, Central Arkansas and (especially) UMass, but they gave both Alabama and Vandy all they could handle. So I’d say their defense is really good, but probably not top 10 good when looked at with a critical eye.
Q: The common wisdom is that the transitive property doesn’t always work in college football. Team A beat Team B. Team B beat Team C. Therefore Team A will beat Team C. But you made a comment in Mondays Thoughts that got me wondering. You compared Blake Shapen’s (Miss State) passing yds against us and against the longhorns last week and predicting that the texas defense may struggle against our offense. My gut says that at the Team level, there’s too many variables to let the transitive property work. But with a more granular aspect or stat it probably works more often. You’ve been involved in college football for a long time. Whaddya think about this idea? (Boone8466)
A: I think that the transitive property works to an extent. State showed that Texas can be beaten through the air and put their deficiencies on tape. So teams like A&M and Georgia, who have (presumably) better personnel now know the types of plays that Texas may have trouble with. That doesn’t mean the same plays, just the same kind of plays (hopefully you’re still with me here) that may work. If State was out there burning Texas when they were in man (and they were, frequently), then A&M is probably noticing that and developing ideas to isolate players on what they consider weaknesses.
So it’s not Team A would beat Team C because Team B did, but Team A has guys who can do the same thing Team B did.
There will be a quiz tomorrow.
Q: If you were Colin Klein, would you take a HC job this year or wait another year or two?
Many variables. Lots of jobs open this year so next couple of years may be less, but who knows. Our OL will have a lot of new faces next year. Etc. (QuickDrawMcGraw77)
A: I think that it depends on what jobs are open and who comes after him. He’s got a very young family, so he may not want to uproot them for just any gig.
Q: got to thinking about our ability to run the football and the talent we have and it reminded me of the 1996 season. Yes, that season did not begin very good. However, we had a stable of young running backs and four of them had over 500 yards.
Including Marcel Reed, do you think we will have four that will eclipse 500 yards? I recognize that EJ or Jamarion may prevent each other from getting to 500. But, I’m not sure Reuben will get many carries against Samford, therefore EJ and Jamarion could both have close to or more than 100 yards.
Thoughts?
A: Right now, Owens has 440 yards, so he could go over 500 next week. Moss has 389, and he could get over 500 if he returns in the next couple of weeks. Reed is at 349, and I expect he’ll get over 500 — but sacks count against the running game, so that’s a possible issue.
As for EJ and Morrow, EJ’s got 115 yards and Morrow has 109. Amari Daniels has 110. So I doubt they make it unless they have a couple of really big games.
And by the way, we also had two receivers that year, Albert Connell and someone else….Hawkins?? who had great years.
Speaking of the 1996 season had that team not turned the ball over so much and if my memory is correct, they committed lots of penalties. The probably have 9 or 10 wins. Yes?
I don’t know. That’s a bit before my time.
Q: Any legs to the rumor that Klein is leaving for Okie lite? (TAMU_Fan)
A: That rumor was started by a parody site on X (or Twitter). And, in typical BAS fashion, Aggies saw it immediately started losing their crap.
Q: Your insights as to how the Aggie FB Coaches have managed to:
- have very few disciplinary issues and player arrests this season?
A: Good people and discipline in the locker room with oversight from the coaches.
(2) such seemingly cohesive team spirit and locker room?
Good people with the same goal.
(3) had such remarkable Portal success this season compared to LSU which supposedly landed the best Portal class?
I think this one is both good coaching, a good scheme and their ability to mesh with what A&M already had. LSU went out and got a lot of talent, but they were poorly coached and just didn’t fit in with the guys who were already there (except for Mansoor Delane).
Q: Not that I care, but something to talk about during our bye week, what does the Vandy – sip game look like?
- What does Vandy have to do to win?
A: Grind it out, control the clock and get consistent pressure on whoever the quarterback is.
- Is tu QB2 good enough to get more that 17 points?
I honestly have no idea. When he came in, I thought, “who the bleep is this guy?” I had no idea he had transferred in from Troy.
- I actually have a lot of respect for tu defense. What is their weak point? (Richard23)
After last week, I’d say the pass defense. But Davon Booth also ran for 99 yards, so a good running back and a decent line apparently can run on them.
Q: Elko mentioned on a podcast that he wants his defense “toeing the line” of aggressiveness. Positive examples of this could be Cashius barking at the LSU LT or York jawing with Lagway. Negative examples would be Rick’s shoving a lsu player and getting a 15 yard personal foul to keep their drive alive
In your opinion what can be done to fix the boneheaded 15 yard personal fouls that will inevitably come back to bite us one of these game?
A: Honestly, the only two boneheaded personal fouls I can think of were both on Ricks, last weekend and at Notre Dame. There have been some others called that I thought were BS — Albert Regis getting called for roughing the passer when he hit his shoulder pads and DJ Hicks being called for something similar — but anyway, it’s all between the ears. Coaches have to keep reiterating that bad things happen when you get penalized like that, and you could end up benched.
The Ags have been great on special teams covering kicks and returning kicks but have struggled on punt protection and kicking field goals. Zirkel won the job, got injured but is now kicking off but not kicking FGs, please tell me that Randy Bond isn’t beating him out in practice
Zirkel’s healthy and Bond’s still kicking, so yeah, I would assume he is. People have forgotten Zirkel missed a PAT early in the year and has always struggled with his consistency. Bond’s numbers are pretty solid inside of 50 (9-11), but is 0-3 from beyond 50.
We’ve had two punts blocked vs ND, LSU, and several other close calls. Tyler White has the internal clock of a sloth and apparently no situational awareness or football IQ to know to speed up his kicks near the goal line. Who’s the special teams coach, and what needs to be done to fix the problem before it costs us a game (jakeh05)
Patrick Dougherty is the special teams coordinator. As for not getting punts blocked, White has to speed up his delivery, especially deep in his own end. And they have to get rid of whatever formation they have that has allowed two different teams to get a free runner at White.
Q: Any insight on what happened with the errant center snap before Reed and entire rest of the unit were ready? Was that a backup center?
A: No, that was Mark Nabou and he snapped it before everyone else was ready.
Do you think that bad snap was still on Reed’s mind a few plays later and affected his throw that was almost intercepted?
Just wondering…. (Geb)
It’s possible. It definitely seemed like things went straight to hell immediately after that.
Q: Mark, any theory on why we are toward the bottom of the nation in forced turnovers? Is it just a random oddity thing? (Naytch)
A: I think it’s a random oddity thing. Especially the lack of interceptions. No A&M defensive back has one this year, and the only two belong to linebackers.
Q: Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, how do you see our 2026 squad shaping up with what we currently have?
The portal will tell the tale, but I think the foundation is solid for 26.
What say you? (Parlay Magic)
A: I think they’re going to be good at receiver, stocked at running back, may need a tight end out of the portal — but the big things is the offensive line. Right now, they could be looking at a grouping of Lamont Rogers, Papa Ahfua, Mark Nabou, Blake Ivy and Robbie Bourdon. I’m not saying there’s no talent there, but I am saying there’s not a lot of experience. I think they may go after some linemen in the portal, especially at tackle.
On defense, it’s tough not to like what they have coming back. Assuming DJ Hicks returns, they can put a lineup of Marco Jones, Hicks, Landon Rink or DJ Sanders and TJ Searcy out there week one. At linebacker, they’re going to be loaded. They’ll have Marcus Ratcliffe and Dalton Brooks back at safety, Jordan Shaw at nickel and Dezz Ricks and Julio Humphrey at corner. They may want to go after a defensive tackle and a corner, but I don’t think it’s a necessity.
2026 can be extremely good — if they can get the offensive line squared away.
Q: Where would you rank the Aggies in the first CFP rankings? (RacerRod)
A: Second or third. I think an argument can be made for both. I’m afraid that the Alabama hype that is out there could end up putting them at four.
Q: Should the team even travel to Austin the last game of the year? ESPN’s FPI says we don’t have a chance in that game. (Jamisko11)
A: Yeah, I guess they should sigh and just go ahead and go over anyway.
Q: Are the offensive line players returning next year seeing enough playing time to meaningfully contribute to their development and cohesiveness? If not, will Cushing be essentially starting from scratch with them a the portal additions? Thank you. (Kneuse)
A: I don’t think the Aggies are really worried about 2026 right now. They’re trying to win everything in 2025, so there’s not much time or snaps for the backups. I’m sure they’re working together in practice, so that’s going to be a benefit. But Cushing will definitely have to do some work to prepare them next year. Thankfully, most of them will have two years (at least) working with Cushing by the time next season arrives.
Q: If the team finishes the season undefeated, could Elko be a frontrunner for Coach of the Year?
A: He’d certainly be in the running with Curt Cignetti of Indiana if they do.
Is Reed a serious Heisman candidate?
Yes.
What other individual awards or All-American honors might be in play for this roster? (Cambo)
Cashius Howell seems like he’s going to be an All-American and could win a few awards. Reed should be in the mix for some, if he continues to play a this level. Mario Craver could be an All-American, and you can pick any of the linemen and consider them for All-American recognition as well.
Q: Since Pribula almost assuredly won’t play against us, what did Vandy do to limit Matt Zollers to only 6 yds a completion?
A: Missouri has the same problem A&M had last year in that their receivers have trouble getting separation. Also, their offensive line has trouble in pass protection, so he had to get the ball out quickly. So that means a lot of check downs and quick passes.
How will Elko & Co. adjust the D to try and limit their 937 yard RB, Ahmad Hardy? Will the LB’s line up inside the hashes or outside to start? Will a safety start out closer to the LOS than normal?
Stack the box, play man coverage and get exotic with some run blitzes. I’d have the linebackers inside the hashes.
Which poison is Missouri’s D going to choose as a strategy to shut down or limit our O?
They’re probably going to try to shut down the running game and put the onus on Reed.
Is Sark going to the NFL or at least having interest enough to make it known, real?
I don’t think he has any real interest in the NFL and, more importantly, why would the NFL have any interest in him? He’s an offensive guru and his offense is subpar right now. That probably doesn’t have a lot of NFL people salivating at the chance to hire him.
What’s the status on Arie’s surgery? (Tsip despiser)
Kind of in a holding pattern right now. Still waiting for insurance approval, otherwise we need to come up with $11,000.
Q: Who has the more difficult final schedule? A&M, Georgia or Bama? (Elicrow)
A: I think Georgia does, for one reason — they play the toughest team remaining for any of the three in Georgia Tech.
Q: Are we recruiting high school WR prospects with the speed of Concepcion and Craver? (Aggdoc)
A: They’re fast, but I don’t know if they’re that fast. But they’re taller and, for their age, very good route runners.
Q: Does Tommy Moffitt have everything (best facilities and technology)here at A&M for S&C . Is there another school that rivals what he has access to here? Need to keep him happy…..he has made a huge difference since coming here. (X-Ray Ag)
A: He has everything he’s asked for. The only programs who may be able to compete with A&M at that level are Oregon and Alabama.
Q: If you were in charge – what would you focus on during the off week. (BC93)
A: Tackling for the defense, and adding some wrinkles to the offense.
Q: Why would anyone consider being the head football coach at Ok State?
A: It’s still a school in a major conference that has relatively deep pockets. I wouldn’t want it, but that’s just me.
Do you think Gundy has a chance to coach again? (H273)
Sure, but not at the P4 level, at least not immediately. He may take an OC job for a little while and enjoy his paychecks from Oklahoma State while he recharges for a bit. 20-plus years at one job is a long time.
Q: If Reed keeps up his play the rest of the year any risk of him leaving for NFL after this year? (YValley2004)
A: Is there some risk? Yes. Do I think he will? No. I don’t think he’s ready. He needs to put on some weight and he needs to be more consistent in the passing game. And Marcel Reed is a very smart dude and I have seen no indication of a blinding ego. He knows what he needs to work on and he’ll still be well-compensated while he does it.
Q: We’ve got 27 commitments for the 2026 recruiting cycle. Sounds like there’s still plenty of irons in the fire as our season is heating up. Realistically, how many are we going to take? the limit is 105 scholarship players now, right? Are we getting close to that number? In the sec, how many teams are going to carry 105 players year to year? (Boone8466)
A: Right now, I have them at 67 scholarship players (or thereabouts) for next year. I’m sure not all of them (KC) will stay. So they’re at 94 scholarships or so if everyone signs. So that means they can add 11 more guys, though I’m sure they’ll add a few walk-ons as scholarship players. They have wiggle room.
As for the rest of the SEC, I don’t know how many will go with 105 scholarships, but I’m guessing most will.
Q: Way too early make your predictions on where coaches land for the openings! (DentonAg80)
A: These will all be wrong. Every single one of them.
Florida: Lane Kiffin
Penn State: Eli Drinkwitz
LSU: Jon Sumrall
Q: Regarding the Vandy vs tu game, who should we hope to win? The thought occurs to me that if tu loses, then they will not be ranked. However, if the do win, the opposite is true and we have another opportunity to defeat a ranked team on the road to add to our resume for the post season. (USNAAggie)
A: You put too much thought into it. Go Vandy. If A&M beats Texas and finishes 12-0, they’re one of the top four seeds regardless. Probably one of the top three.
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