Bateman looking to leave A&M on a high note

Kentucky has a new defensive coordinator: Jay Bateman. Texas A&M still has a defensive coordinator, and it’s the same Jay Bateman.

Even though the opportunity to call plays will have Bateman heading to the University of Kentucky after the College Football Playoff, he said Tuesday that his focus has not shifted from where he is right now.

“I’m spending the same 24 hours a day I’ve spent on football with them. (New Kentucky coach) Will’s (Stein) been great. He’s going through it, too, at Oregon. I’m just really focused on winning this game and the path through the playoffs for these kids. I feel like that’s the most important thing,” Bateman said.

That means the focus for Bateman and the Aggies (11-1) is on the Miami Hurricanes (10-2), who will travel to Kyle Field for a first round matchup Saturday morning (11 a.m. central, ESPN/ABC). Bateman, who coached at North Carolina and Florida before coming to A&M, said he knows the Miami players well.

“I think Mark Fletcher Jr., the running back, is a really good player, physical. No. 6 (CharMar Brown), the backup, is really good player, physical,” he said. “They’re going to be big up front. They’re going to block you. They’re going to hand the ball off to the running backs and they’re going to make you tackle the running backs. They do a really nice job that way.”

The Hurricanes are led by former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, who completed more than 74% of his passes this season with 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

“Carson Beck’s a really good player. He was at Georgia when I was at Florida. We defended him. He’s got great arm talent. He’s big, played a ton of football,” Bateman said. “I think maybe the best player we’ve played the whole year is No. 10, the slot receiver, (Malachi) Toney. He just plays so hard and he blocks people. They throw him screens, he breaks tackles. They put him in the backfield and he throws it or he runs it. What a tremendous player he is. So he’s going to be a real challenge for us.”

The Hurricanes only turned the ball over 11 times this season with only one fumble lost. Bateman said that if the opportunity for a turnover presents itself, the Aggies have to take advantage.

“Their ball security is really good. I think the running backs do a really good job with that. When they have turned the ball over, it’s been in the pass game. So I think that when we have our chances there, when the ball gets tipped, when it is overthrown, we’ve got to take advantage of that,” he said. “Against Texas we had a couple chances to intercept the ball and didn’t. So when we get those opportunities, we’ve got to make them count. You have to affect the quarterback. We’ve been able to affect the quarterback. I think that’s going to be really important in this game is when we have our chance to affect the quarterback, we affect him. Then if mistakes are made, we take advantage of it.”

Bateman said the level of talent Miami has will make them the toughest opponent the Aggie defense has faced this season.

“I think this is the best offense we have played. I think it’s the most complete offense,” he said. “They’ve got a number of kids on our team that are going to be drafted really high. I think it’s going to be real challenge. I think they do a really good job.”

When Bateman heads to Lexington, he will be replaced as defensive coordinator at A&M by Lyle Hemphill, who joined the staff after last season and has played a major role in developing the weekly defensive gameplan. When asked about Hemphill, Bateman was complimentary of his work.

“I’ve been really impressed with Lyle. He’s helped us and helped organize some things. I think it’s been great,” he said.

Bateman said that, even though he is excited for the opportunity to run Kentucky’s defense, he and his family will miss Aggieland.

“It’s awesome. It’s a great place. I knew it when I came here,” he said. “I have has a lot of friends here. I love my players here and I’ve coached some really good players. It’s been awesome.”