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Q: What’s your favorite chip? (Travster23)
A: chocolate.
Q: What is the situation with a new baseball stadium? Have heard Schloss reference that a few times this year. We looking to build a new facility or just tinker with what we have to make it bigger? (Naytch)
A: he wants to renovate and expand what they have. Nobody wants an entirely new stadium.
Q: How surprised are you with the number of recruits who are verbalizing that Elko and his staff are far more engaging, approachable, etc.?
A: I shouldn’t be surprised, but sometimes it’s hard not to be. I mean, building relationships seems like the first, and most important, step in recruiting. Jimbo had too many guys on his staff that either couldn’t connect or didn’t care to connect with players and coaches. That was overshadowed by the guys who could get things done, but Elko’s group seems to be seems to be younger and hungrier.
I’m a bourbon man, beer when it’s really hot, wine (white or red will do as long as it’s smooth), but I’ve been drinking my oldest son’s Mike’s Hard Cider Blue Freeze, etc., and I gotta admit these are some tasty drinks. What’s your favorite libations?
I’m not drinking right now. Not because of Lent, but because I got absolutely hammered a couple of weeks ago and the idea of drinking turns my stomach at the moment. When I do drink, I like a good Yuengling on tap. I’m not above a very good burbon, though.
Chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken? (Tsip Despiser)
I lean to the chicken today. Tomorrow could be different.
Q: Have you ever been hit in the face with a baseball, or any other ball for that matter? How is Chase doing after that scary dugout incident in Austin? (HeadleyG2)
A: oh, many times. Mostly baseballs, but I did take a football to the side of the head during warmups at Georgia in 2019.
As for Chase, he seems to be doing ok, though his nose looked like he too a clean shot from Ivan Drago.
Q: Why do you think the Mens BB FT percentage has been so poor this year? (Davidimy)
A: no idea. But they shot them well the last several games.
Q: What is the deal with Dish Balk's mound? That thing seemed oversized? Was it me? Aren't all mounds all supposed to be uniform in size? (Tsip Despiser)
A: well, it’s a turf field with cutouts. Also known as an abomination.
Q: Why did the sip pitcher purposefully bean Jace? Fear of facing him? Or was he simply a product of the arrogant elite that believe it is their place in the world to strike out at those that have more than themselves? (Richard23)
A: I think the guy just had very limited control. Hitting LaViolette only proved to piss A&M off, as evidenced by Braden Montgomery took him deep the next time he got a ball over the plate.
Q: From an insider point of view, how good do you feel this baseball team is? I’m ready to buy my tickets to Omaha. (TAMU_fan)
A: they’re good. So far, they’ve done everything well. But let’s keep in mind they haven’t gotten to SEC play yet. They get Florida right out of the gate, and that may be a far better judge of just how good they are.
Q: I have heard of a lot of analysts “YouTubers” talk about how Rueben Owens is gonna have a breakout year. I hope this the case but don’t you think Moss is the one, if he can stay healthy, more likely to have a monster season? At this point Moss would be RB1 and Owen’s RB2? (jrperez1979)
A: I would agree with both of those assessments.
Q: Where does Buzz find a better offensive scheme?
Open his playbook, new offensive minded assistant, internet, steal playbook from KU, find Bobby Knights old playbook or something else? (Spar2cus)
A: I’d go get an assistant, personally. There were times during Mississippi State’s big run where guys looked like they didn’t know where they should go and ended up in the same place, a lot like the receivers on the football team did in Starkville in 2022.
Q: How do you really feel about the job Elko has done since being hired? I realize since Fran every on the board loves to go negative so they can say "I told you so" when the hire goes bad. (LufkinAg)
A: I have been impressed. He had to make some hard decisions and did so without hesitation. He assembled what appears to be a good staff, got a lot of talented transfers and did a good job closing out the 2024 class. They seem to have started off 2025 well. I don’t have many (any?) negatives yet.
Q: I am hearing that Elko has set up a great organizational structure for player evaluation and overall program management. I also heard that he is making great strides with the right people regarding NIL. Is this correct? What is your opinion of the staff and processes that he has put in place. (KatyAggie)
A: he’s put together a more structured, regimented front office, which will hopefully eliminate some of the confusion and dysfunction that Jimbo’s group had. This alignment looks more like you’d see from an NFL franchise than what you'd normally see from a college team. Kevin Sumlin and Jimbo both took some steps in this direction when they were here, but not to this extent.
As for doing what he needs to with the NIL guys, I keep hearing that Elko is a lot more willing to go out and do the "political" things that are required of a coach in this day and age and will visit, talk to and socialize with people with deep pockets. It's a necessary thing, but I think Jimbo believed it was largely beneath him.
Q: What will it take for Buzz and company to recruit the DFW area and get in on some of the best high school basketball recruits? Best to hire a plugged in assistant who can recruit the area? (RacerRod)
A: Why does it just have to be DFW? Why can't it be Houston? Or why not all of Texas? Elite basketball recruiting, like football, is done nationally, but when you have two basketball hotbeds within a decent car drive of your campus and your two commits end up being from Massachusetts, that worries me.
Q: With the roster already over limit and spring portal still to come, how many does Elko look to get in the 2025 class? I can see a lot of players getting a "hint" to find other places to play. Your thoughts. (Have Gun Will Travel)
A: Well, the roster is already down to 89 guys. There are always some injury retirements and other surprises that knock the number down further. It shouldn't be hard to find 3 guys, or whatever, who realize this isn't going to be the place where things work out for them. Two guys have already taken that hint and bailed out.
As for later on, A&M will probably have between 15 and 20 guys hit the portal next year, because that's become standard, they'll have a couple juniors go pro and there will be more players finishing up their eligibility this season than we've seen in a long time. So I think we'll see a full class for 2025.
Q: Can we keep Buzz and fix the basketball program? (Travster23)
A: That depends on whether he's willing to do some tough evaluations of himself, his scheme and his approach to building a team. But I'll say this: no coach that I've covered is as introspective and lacking in ego as Buzz Williams is. I thought Sumlin and Fisher might change course because they were too proud to continue to fail. That was wrong; they were too vain to admit their way wasn't working. I don't think Williams has that problem.
Q: Mark, how do you think recruiting is looking so far? (ThePassAg)
A: It's still really early, but I'm optimistic that the Aggies are going to pull a high-quality class. They're positioning themselves to do so.
Q: 1. Is Deuce ready for the Spring?
A: He should be.
2. Any others that might be held out?
A: They always surprise us with one or two. But I don't know of any right off the top of my head.
3. Should the Bears pick Williams or should I just concede Bears fans are just undeserving of a topflight QB and the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? (JustAvgIllini)
A: Considering my team's last good quarterback was Kurt Cousins and, before that, Mark Rypien, I got nothing.
Q: what are your thoughts of the new early signing period in football?
Does this mean that we will see more head coaches fired earlier in the season so that the replacement coach can be put in place in an effort to have more time to establish connections with current players before transfer portal opens up and also establish relationships with high school recruits? Will NCAA coaches quit their team mid-season to take a different gig because of this? Seems preposterous but there are millions of $$$ involved, so I could see this happening until an August-Sept signing period is adopted. (3GAg)
A: The new early signing period just moves things up a couple of weeks. It shouldn't change anything, really. I don't think the changes that have been made are good enough, and hopefully a summer signing period will be added.
As for your rather gloomy thoughts on things, I don't think those scenarios are going to play out.
