Suddenly a hot coaching target, Collin Klein talks Aggie offense

Bad news: Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein wants to be a head coach.

Eventually.

“Absolutely,” he said when asked about whether he’d like to run his own program. “It’s been a dream and a goal of mine, but it’s about being with the right people at the right time, and that’s here right now.”

“Here” is with the No. 3 team in the nation, as he leads one of the nation’s most explosive offenses into the home stretch with an SEC championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff still very much in play.

Klein was a finalist for the 2012 Heisman Trophy, which was won by A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Flash forward to 2025 and Klein is coaching at A&M and calling the plays for another potential Heisman candidate, quarterback Marcel Reed. Klein said Reed’s rapid progression during the season has made his life as a playcaller much easier.

“I’ve been really proud of him. And even these last three, four, five weeks that he’s kind of put together and really grown in a lot of areas. We’ve been in a very, very multiple-based offense to where we put a lot on his plate and have from the jump, and I think he’s been managing it really well,” Klein said. “I think our efficiency has increased the last few weeks, in large part because of his ability to get through progressions, check down the football be really decisive when, okay, hey, it’s time to pull the ball down and run. And doing so in a very, very aggressive, assertive, timely manner, and has kept us in much, much better positions on third down, has created, obviously, a ton of explosive plays with him running the football and scrambles as well.”

After having a very vanilla offense in 2024 that struggled after Le’Veon Moss was injured, Klein now has one of the more explosive offenses in all of college football. The addition of wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver, the return of running back Rueben Owens and the development of redshirt freshman Ashton Bethel-Roman have been keys to the revamping of the group. The roles of Craver and Concepcion in particular have changed in recent weeks, with Klein adding jet sweeps to their list of responsibilities.

“We’re a much faster unit, for sure (compared to 2024). I think we’re blocking a lot better on the perimeter and doing a really, really nice job on those edges, which gives those speed guys creases, for really, really good yardage,” he said. “The other thing it does for your run game, you know, it gets eyes moving. It gets fits changing. It gets horizontal stretch that that defense is worried about, no different than play action, vertical stretch that causes strain, you know, and I think it’s a good complement to a lot of the things that we do.”

When Moss was injured last year, A&M’s running game suffered mightily as Owens was injured before the season began and backups Amari Daniels and EJ Smith were nursing injuries of their own. This year has been different, with Owens having already set a career high in rushing yards with 440, freshman Jamarion Morrow adding explosiveness to the offense and Daniels and Smith fully healthy.

“It’s a credit to the running back room and their ability to step up and continue to carry the load, credit to our offensive line and being able to maintain the consistent effort. And then, you know, the last few weeks to Marcel has done a really, really nice job of being able to add some plus one situations to the run game,” Klein said.

The one constant piece to the success of both the running game and the passing game is the offensive line, which is in the running for the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line in college football. The line hasn’t given up a sack in the last three games and has given up the fewest tackles for loss per game in FBS.

“Their mentality and approach from the get go has been outstanding. I mean, they come to work every day. They’re prepared. They have great energy. You know, obviously two of our captains are out of that unit and do a great job that way for our team and obviously our offense,” Klein said. “Coach Cushing does a great job with those guys, and we’re able to put a very, very big run game package on the field every week.”

In its three remaining conference games, the Aggies will face a trio of tough defenses in Missouri, South Carolina and Texas. Klein said that their plan will adjust from week to week to take advantage of what he and the offensive staff perceive to be potential weaknesses in each defense.

“I think it’s something that we from a playbook standpoint, it’s how I’ve always done it, and I think is just a really good way to do it is is building the the puzzle based on what you’re going against that week,” He said. “So it’s not like, ‘Hey, we’re going to run these plays.’ We have to build it to help exploit a weakness or a match up or something that we see that given week, our guys have done a great job. We’ve had multiple, multiple games where six plus guys are getting receptions, and that ball is going across the board to two or three different tight ends, to two or three different running backs, to, you know, three or four different wide receivers, and then you have your quarterback involved in the run game. And so they’ve all bought into the fact that, hey, the more everyone brings to the table, the more that we all can eat.”

Even though the Aggies have been physically tougher than their opponents to date, Klein said their mental toughness has impressed him even more. Even in tough situations on the road at Notre Dame and Arkansas, the offense has been able to come through with points when they were absolutely necessary.

“I’ve been so proud of our guys, their ability to not flinch or, you know, not get rattled if things aren’t going well, or if there’s a bad play or a bad series, just to stay the course, keep competing, not even worrying about necessarily where the score is or what’s going on,” he said. “I think that’s really stood out to me in games, whether we’ve been up or down, for their ability just to sustain and continue to compete, continue to compete, continue to play, and believing that, hey, good things are happening.”

With eight games down, the Aggies are currently in the top 12 nationally in scoring offense, red zone offense, sacks allowed, tackles for loss allowed and yards per completion. They’re 19th in total offense, 23rd in rushing offense and 33rd in passing offense, while converting 52% of their third down conversion attempts over the last three games. This gives a clear sense of how impressive the A&M offense has been during the first two-thirds of the season, but Klein thinks better things may still lie ahead.

“The sky’s the limit,” he said.