10 Things for Tuesday, sponsored by Ekdahl Nelson Real Estate
1. This is going to be a weird spring. A&M is implementing a new offense, has multiple position coach changes on both sides of the ball, is missing several key players (mostly on the offensive line), is short-handed due to portal departures and about 20% of their practice fields are missing. Outside of that, everything's just copacetic.
2. Jimbo stepped back. At least, for one practice. But where he used to be one step behind the quarterbacks, hollering play calls and getting on players' cases when they screwed up, he wasn't Monday. He was well out of the way, frequently talking to other coaches while Bobby Petrino handled the operation of the offense.
3. There may be an angle to this move that we're missing. Yesterday's meeting with Jimbo was, from the media's perspective, downright hostile. Didn't have to be and shouldn't have been, but frequently good athletes and coaches look for an enemy to get themselves motivated. Last year, the A&M media criticized Jimbo a good bit, myself included. He didn't take well to it. He may be using that criticism as motivation to stay back and let Petrino run the offense so he can sit there and shove our proverbial noses in it, basically saying, "See? I told you could keep my hands off!"
It's just a theory. I doubt he'd answer that question if I posed it to him.
4. This is not what I was expecting, S&C-wise. Every year I mention guys who look like they've gotten bigger and stronger and get mocked for it. No worries on that this year; I don't think I saw anyone who looked like they were bigger than they were last season yesterday. In fact, there were a lot of guys who had slimmed down.
Speed seems to be the focus of this effort, if I had to guess. But LT Overton, who you can see above, was one of several linemen who looked like they'd slimmed down considerably. He was listed at 280 last fall and is listed at 270 now. And Overton was, for his size, absolutely flying yesterday. And before you ask, he cannot play linebacker.
But he wasn't the only one. Walter Nolen looked a lot slimmer; he's listed at 285 when he was 320 last year. Chris Russell looked thinner, and so did Demani Richardson. Shemar Turner is still listed at 300 pounds, but it's a different looking 300.
5. Gabe Dindy grabs your attention. Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy didn't play last year, but was listed at 300 pounds. This spring, he's listed at 295 and looks like he's not only fully recovered, but in fantastic shape. Just from what little we saw yesterday, you could tell his burst was much better off the snap. He was running with the 2s yesterday, and a foursome of McKinnley Jackson, Nolen, Turner and Dindy could be very tough in the interior.
6. Recruiting is starting to pick up steam. As Landyn reported earlier today, A&M has several top linebacker targets coming in to visit this week. 4-star LB Jordan Lockhart from California will be in March 31. And, as he reported last week, 5-star DE Colin Simmons is coming to visit on April 1. And, as I've mentioned a few times, the Maddox brothers (QB commit Anthony and 2025 DT Andrew) will be in this weekend as will former USC WR Gary Bryant.
7. I loved Nick Saban's blitzing of Nate Oats. Oats, infamously, said SEC player of the year Brandon Miller was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" when he drove a car containing a handgun to former teammate Darius Miles after Miles told him to bring it to him. Miles then used that gun to commit capital murder -- allegedly. While Miller didn't get so much as a slap on the wrist and his coach has run interference for him, Saban unloaded after freshman Tony Mitchell was arrested on drug and gun charges -- after driving 141 mph to avoid police.
"There's no such thing in being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You've got to be responsible for who you're with, who you're around and what you do, who you associate yourself with and the situations that you put yourself in," Saban said.
That is one heck of a slap to the face of a fellow Alabama coach. He's not wrong, either, even though he's probably being self-serving by tossing Oats under the bus. One, he's reminding the coach of the No.1-seeded basketball team who the big dog is; second, he's probably pretty pissed off that this kind of attention is being brought to the athletic department, because people will look more closely at the football team too.
Even though Saban's moral high ground is questionable, it's still quite enjoyable to see him lay the smack down.
8. One good thing from yesterday was that I got to watch Ainias Smith go through drills. His lateral movement and acceleration were good, so it looks like the ankle has healed up well. That's a major league plus for the Aggies.
9. Opportunity knocks at wideout after Tyrin Smith decided to go back to UTEP. Right now, your top four is very good with Evan Stewart, Ainias, Moose Muhammad and Noah Thomas. But an injury and you're down to two freshmen and Jalen Preston. For someone like the aforementioned Gary Bryant, the opportunity to play and play a lot would be available in what could (should?) be a good offense.
10. It's time to stop messing around and fill out the roster with the transfer portal. I like what I see at nearly every position, but depth is downright scary. That's what happens when a lot of guys leave because they're backups. But when you're short like A&M is at wideout, offensive tackle, linebacker and corner, you can't just hem and haw and see what happens. You have to make it happen. That could be the difference between an average to subpar season and a really good one.