Q: What's everyone doing for vacation? Something to fill the void between Spring Game and Fall Camp.

Although, I have to say that baseball is back on my schedule. (Richard23)

A: Baseball is definitely back on the schedule. But when school gets out, we’re going to take Cody on a road trip to the East Coast, to Savannah, Colonial Williamsburg, DC and a few other places. Gas prices should be a joy.

Q: Is Earnest Crownover going to play fullback when we're in some 2-back sets?

A: I am assuming so, yes. He did last year.

What is a bigger beating to you personally?

a. Political threads

b. Having to come up with new content several times a week

c. The Baltimore Orioles' front office

d. The slow pace of new Star Wars content being released (Phastman)

A: B is the more consistent beating, because sometimes it’s just really tough to come up with something to talk about without being repetitive. But political threads, when they show up, immediately get the blood pressure up. B is more like a minor backache. A can be getting hit over the head with a shovel.

Q: Call your shot on more productive freshmen:

Stewart or Marshall

J Johnson or D green

B anderson or D harris (tschaar)

A: I can’t do the first two because I haven’t seen Marshall or Green at the college level. The last one, I’ll take Anderson just because I think he’ll be on the field more often. There are more corners to rotate at this point.

Q: Can you explain to me what the ESPN FPI rankings are? IMO there has never been a more ridiculous ranking of teams in history. For example, at the end of last year, that team that finished 5-7, had a 6 game losing streak and lost to KU at home was still ranked 25. Then that same team came out in the top 5 of the first issue of the FPI rankings this year and all you heard was "we're back" again and poo pooing the Aggies #14 ranking. Just curious. (Marathonvet)

A: Yes, I can explain them to you. They’re garbage.

Q: I should know the answer to this question, but somehow don't.

Since our college players are now free agent professionals, do they have to be enrolled as students taking 12 hours of class and required to go to class in order to qualify to play, and post a specified GPR in order to continue to play? (AginAfIII)

A: They’re not really free agent professionals. Close, and in fact may have it easier than contracted pros, but still not. And part of the reason is yes, they need to take a minimum number of course hours and keep their GPA up.

Q: The losses to the Mississippi schools last season were annoying and preventable. Getting Durkin will help. That said, what do you guess will be more the more likely form of attacking those offenses?

Staying with more base 4-2-5 and counting on the line and backers to hold up against the run.

2. Apply more pressure out of the base set i.e. more blitzes.

3. Go to even more coverage sets e.g. 4-1-6 (or even more players dropping into coverage) and apply pressure with backer and DBs, if needed.

A: I don’t know if they know how they’ll attack Ole Miss because it may depend on who starts at quarterback for them. That could change the offense considerably. As for Mississippi State, I’m mixing up my coverage looks and blitzing more this year. Hanging back did not work.

Will we see more of the "4 DE" pass rushing sets we occasionally saw with Elko? If so, which "ends" would you expect to move inside?

A: Considering the talent they have, absolutely. I think you could move Tunmise Adeleye inside, and then get guys like Shemar Stewart and Enai White (just examples) on the field. Anthony Lucas and Gabe Dindy could move inside too — but I’m not sure I’m bringing Shemar Turner off the field in that situation.

Which kid do you believe will be the first to push into a decent role as the receiving TE by blocking adequately enough to satisfy Jimbo? (JustAvgIllini)

A: hard to say, because we haven’t seen Donovan Green yet. Having the benefit of spring ball may give Jake Johnson the short-term edge.

Q: How much blame is on Fisher for each of our losses last year?

A: Some. It depends the game.

How much credit is on Fisher for each of our wins? (Big Smoothie)

A: Some. It depends on the game.

Q: Why is Sankey pairing up with the PAC 12 Commissioner? (86Aggie)

A: Because, for once, they actually have common interests.

Q: With all the new highly talented recruits, what type of "issues" with the current team have arisen?

A: None. But not everyone’s on campus yet.

How is the chemistry between the team with everyone having different levels of NIL deals?

A: They have a common goal that supersedes that: to win a championship.

What NIL guild lines would you like to see implemented for college football? (Big Smoothie)

A: Oh, I’d like a lot of changes. It’s not the ideas that are the problem, it’s the enforcement of them. And that’s where things are falling very short.

Q: What holds Devin Price back from being our "big" receiver? (brAg)

A: He doesn’t have tremendous speed. He runs some routes, like slants, better than others. But he has very good hands. So I hope he will get more of a shot this summer.

Q: QB - Best?

1. Decision maker

2. Short/intermediate thrower

3. Play maker

4. Downfield thrower

5. Leader (JustAvgIllini)

A: Not to dodge the question, but I really haven’t seen enough of all three to say. I’ve seen more of King than the other two by far, but I really think you can take the spring game and dump it.

On decision making, King has made some iffy ones, but Max has been knocked for not making decisions fast enough. All three are good short to intermediate throwers, because they’ll throw the ball with touch. Max may be a little better here.

In terms of play making, King’s the guy with the speed. I think he gets that nod, but Weigman is more agile. Downfield throws? TBD.

Leadership? You have two starters and a guy who was called “The Captain” in high school. I don’t think they’re lacking for moxie.

Q: Who is our top QB target and who are we likeliest to sign? (H273)

A: I’m not really sure they know the answer to that yet. This year will be very different in terms of quarterback recruiting as opposed to past years.

Q: Who's your guess on returning punts and kickoffs this year? (Carterr66)

A: I think Ainias is still the punt returner, and Achane is still likely the kick returner. But other guys — like Evan Stewart and Smoke Bouie — could get a look.

Q: In your opinion and since the NCAA isn’t doing much, should NIL be regulated by the feds, state governments, or the individual conferences…or some other method, and why? (FoxCo73)

A: The easiest way, and the way the NCAA and conferences want it, is for the feds to regulate it. Then they won’t get sued. State governments got the ball rolling, but it’s also a total mess because you have 30 (at least) different versions of NIL regulations out there. It’s going to come down to the Power 5 finally having enough, getting together and cracking down.

Q: When (year) do you expect the Orioles to compete in the AL East? (Colt_Seavers)

A: 2024. Adley Rutschman, DL Hall and former A&M signee Grayson Rodriguez are all at AAA and should be up this year. That will start the turnaround. But honestly, they’ve sucked a lot less than I expected so far this season.

Q: With all the offers being extended to recruits, if an offer is accepted, is the school obligated to honor it, or is that considered in bad taste by other recruits to withdraw. With last year's class, we ended the year with some studs, in an already big class. How do schools make room for that elite player that wasn't planned on? (DustyTx)

A: It’s an interesting question, but interestingly enough, it doesn’t happen all that often. But in the case of most schools, there are guys who get dropped along the way. In most cases, it’s an academic or off-the-field issue that causes the change. In some cases, they’ll flat say that their performance hasn’t matched the program’s expectations or their previous play. The extreme case was LSU a couple of years ago, where they started cutting guys because they thought they could get virtually every 5-star out there. It backfired.

Q: What's your best guess as to our record this year?

A: 11-1.

Aside from bama, which team presents the biggest challenge and why?

A: Ole Miss, because they may still be very dangerous offensively. Arkansas will also be a challenge.

Which offensive and defensive player do you think will have the most significant impact? (Hogtide)

A: Offense: whoever the QB is.

Defense: Antonio Johnson.

Q: For RB recruiting:

Reuben Owens - is he wearing out his welcome with the staff?

A: I don’t think he’s worn out his welcome; I think this staff just doesn’t wait around on a single target.

Do we take two RB recruits and who are your highest confidence with? (Have Gun Will Travel)

A: Cedric Baxter and Kaleb Jackson.

Q: You can only recruit players from Houston or DFW. Which one are you choosing? (WhartonBones)

A: For the past few years, it’s been Houston and it hasn’t been close. This year is a lot more competitive, and I might lean DFW. But in terms of overall talent pool, Houston’s had the lead for quite a while now.