Q: Your most and least liked part of the job?

A: Most-liked: covering games. Incredibly cool thing.

Least-liked: Getting into arguments or fights with subscribers over behavior. I hate those situations.

Assume Mond makes just 33% of a Burrow junior-senior leap. Can we be a playoff team next year? (TAMU-83)

A: If he improves by 1/3, that would make him a 35-TD passer. Yeah, that would almost certainly do it.

Q: Serious question from my wife (I really have no answer): "Why do men slap each other on the ass as a token of job-well-done (as in scoring a run in baseball)"? Mark, this is not a lop-question but a question I can not answer her. (Dirkieduck)

A: I don't know the answer to that one either. It is kind of bizarre if you really think about it.

Q: What factors make us the premier program in Texas? (Big Smoothie)

A: Conference, TV coverage, stadium size, fanbase, quality of facilities, coaches/recruiters.

Q: What makes the number 250 significant? (Ricky)

A: The fact that I've done 250 of these is pretty hard to believe. So I'm kind of proud of the milestone.

Q: Who was our biggest recruiting miss in 2019 and who is our #1 absolutely must have recruit for 2020? (h273)

A: I'm guessing you mean 2020 and 2021 (classes). For the big miss, Zach Evans.

KIDDING!

That's an interesting question. I think the big miss would probably be the lack of an offensive lineman who was a dead certain tackle. I think Chris Morris will get a look there, but having Javonne Shepherd not qualify was a disappointment, even though getting him would have meant no McKinnley Jackson.

As far as "must have", I don't know if there is one. But getting left tackles, multiple, is a must. But Bryce Foster and Tony Grimes are way up there. Foster, because he's a dominant lineman and Grimes, because he's possibly the best corner in the class and they'll need to rebuild the corner group behind Jaylon Jones and Josh Moten (and Brian George, but he'll be a senior) in 2021.

Q: With the new hires: whom do you see being able or making the largest impact early on, due to either the players their working with, their prior resume of work, and/or their ability to recruit studs?

A: Recruiting-wise, I think it'll be James Coley. The Aggies were already doing pretty well in south Florida and that's his wheelhouse. It just pieces well together. The guy who really needs to show his stuff as a coach is Tommie Robinson, simply because he's got such a young group to work with. Basketball: which players appear to be making the largest jumps in improvement of their game and why?

A: Josh Nebo has really taken his game to the next level. He was a guy who was primarily a defensive player, and now he's the team's leading scorer. Wendell Mitchell has really stepped up his game, especially from 3, and they're getting a lot more Emanuel Miller than I expected in his freshman season.

Baseball: Do we have the talent (with this coaching staff) this year to make it to Omaha? If not, which group / area could hold us back? (Hustlin' one)

A: I'm not sold on their ability to hit consistently and the bullpen. Both showed why they're potential issues this past weekend.

Q: What story is there on De'Jahn Warren, a 5.2 RR, 2 star (community college) out of Pennsylvania who has an offer from us, bama, OU, Ole Miss, KY, Oregon, Tenn., Penn State, and Mike Sherman's nemesis Akrie State? (tsip despiser)

A: I think that he's a guy who has been evaluated by multiple programs since Rivals did. He had a very good freshman season, with 35 tackles and 5 INT. He also appears to have blocked 5 (!) kicks. He's got pretty good size and has to have pretty good hands.

Q: We never seem to have many Special Teams questions for the mailbag, so here are some to change things up: Who takes over kickoff duties this year? I saw Caden Davis when he was in high school and he has a cannon for a leg, but can he tackle, cause fumbles and recover the fumbles?

A: He has a big leg. We'll see about the rest.

Who was our deep snapper/s last year (punts/field goals XP)? I guess they were damn good, because I have no clue. Who will be our deep snappers this year?

A: Connor Choate was last year as a freshman, and you're right; he's really good. So he's probably going to be the guy again.

Did Nik Constantinou ever play Australian Rules Football? Can he tackle?

A: Yes and yes, mate.

Does G. Guerrieri's son have a shot at punter or kicker this year? A: Only if Contantinou doesn't perform, mate.

Are Achane & Smith our punt and kick return guys?

A: Smith will certainly be one. Achane sure seems like a good bet for a kick returner. Who do you think will be the gunners on punt coverage?

A: Devin Morris will probably be one, since he was last year. I'm not sure about the other one yet. Gilly set the bar high for 12th man kickoff coverage. Is Braden White poised to be a break out coverage teams maniac this year, or will there be a new 12th man? (big_ag)

A: I don't know if we'll see another Gilly or Sam Moeller, but White's a solid guy on teams. And I definitely expect he'll wear 12 again.

Q: Our Rover position seems to have gone the way of dial-up Internet. The guys who played that position seem to have disappeared, as well, unless they are contributors on special teams. Are any of them still around (Okeke, etc.)? If so, any chance of them being salvaged at other positions, or are they just going to ride off into the sunset? (Froppe)

A: They're still around. Both Okeke and Chris Russell were regulars on special teams last season. But you're right, the Rover position was almost non-existent last year. When the Aggies went to three linebackers, they brought on Aaron Hansford or Andre White. But I don't think either, especially Russell, are going anywhere.

Q: I have heard many predictions for the 2020 season and with the bowl game I have heard our record could be 11-2 or better to 8-5. What do you think our record is at the end of the season and do we end up in the top 10 or better? (Staubach1972)

A: If for no other reason because of the schedule, A&M should win at least nine games in the regular season. Dumping Clemson for Colorado and Georgia for Vandy makes a big difference. Ole Miss and Mississippi State don't look to be that good and Auburn lost a ton of talent. That leaves the big obstacles as the last two games, at Alabama and LSU.

Q: Do you have any jersey number updates for the new freshman reporting for this spring? Any number changes from last season? I figure #1, #6, #9, and #13 on offense are probably hot commodities. And Wright might switch from #93. (Jessexy)

A: Not yet. We should know in a couple of weeks.

Q: Absolute favorite player you covered while being recruited? On the flip side who was the worst (no names needed but what circumstances caused it to be you’re least favorite?) (Wrckncrw)

A: Favorite player while being recruited? Ironically enough, Johnny Manziel. He was easy to deal with and was very responsive. My two least favorite were in 2012 (I think) and this past year. Lie to my face and that tends to happen.

Q: What is the best question ever asked in these 250 mail calls? (BC93)

A: Nearly all of them are good.

Q: I think we can say that Jimbo is finally getting all his pieces of the puzzle together on both offense and defense. Do you think Jimbo opens up the offense more this year, and gets away from the ball control (protecting the defense) strategy he ran in 2019? (Apollo1914)

A: I hope so. He's got some real weapons to work with this year, even if most of them are young. This group can do a few more things on offense than the teams from the past couple of years could.

Q: Do you have any lakehouses Jessexy can use for free? (topher06)

A: I need to get a lakehouse, first. Which, by the way, would be awesome.

Q: Is leon coming back? (4cag)

A: Don't count on it.