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Welcome to the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is this week's AY Mailbag:
Q: Is Buzz a good enough coach to win a national championship at A&M? (Big Smoothie)
A: Couple of stats I learned last night or today — Buzz has as many ranked road wins in his six seasons at A&M as the program had in the previous 37 before his arrival, and he has 16 ranked wins total. The previous three guys, all of whom were pretty successful themselves, only had 19 between them.
So yes, Buzz is a good enough coach to win. He got Marquette and Virginia Tech to the Sweet 16, and Tech had only been that far once before. It’s the recruiting that has to get better, and I don’t know if his coaching style is going to attract 5-star players. He gets guys who consistently overperform, but is that ever going to be enough to win the big one? I don’t know.
Q: Did Big Smoothie post this before the last shot? (Richard23)
A: Yes.
Q: Are these the droids we are looking for? (Spar2cus)
A: No.
I can go about my business.
Move along.
Q: Did Hudson get paid before he bounced? Is that a thing? (Dadbod83)
A: If he got anything, it’ll almost certainly be coming back. But these things tend not to be in lump sums, but month to month and you’ve got to be around to get them.
Q: Your assessment of team speed in the projected 2-deep at WR? (BoxsterBoy72)
A: Kind of depends who’s in the two-deep. KC Concepcion supposedly runs in the 4.5 range, and that’s plenty good. Mario Craver ran a 10.74 100 meters two years ago. Terry Bussey we know is fast. Ashton Bethel-Roman is fast. Ernest Campbell, should he crack the depth chart, is lightning fast. Jerome Myles set the 100-meter Utah state record last year. Kelshaun Johnson ran in the 4.3s last year; TK Norman ran a 4.58 40. Izaiah Williams ran a laser-timed 4.46 his senior year. I’m not really sure on Jonah Wilson yet. But, overall, it looks like they’ve got a lot of guys who can move. Whether they can catch the ball and then be fast and elusive in pads is something we’ll have to wait and see on.
Q: Since Lyle Hemphill has been hired onto the defensive staff, which coach did he replace? (Davidimy)
A: Nobody. The NCAA no longer has a limit on how many assistants can be hired; what they do have a limit on is the number of guys who can leave campus and recruit. I don’t know how they’ll work that part out.
Q: Did I see you mention that Elko will be calling the defense?
A: Yes, you did.
Has he said that or you have been told?
A: He hasn’t spoken to reporters since the night of the bowl game, so I got the word.
There is no more limit to the number of on field coaches, correct?
A: Correct.
What other changes are going to be made to the coaching staff? Either changing personal or roles? (GMalone)
A: At this point, I don’t think any changes are going to be made. This is not what I had anticipated, but I guess Elko decided he’s good with what he has if he’s more hands-on.
Q: Following davidimy and Gmalone, what have you gathered about how the coaching staff will be structured going into spring ball or are changes done with the coaching staff yet?
A: See above.
In the past, coaching changes were announced after the national signing day so I still wonder if that might be the case. Being it was reported Elko had been talking with at least a couple of coaches from other programs a couple of weeks ago and now Hemphill is 'announced' without a clear role indicated?, I have to wonder if Elko is done or announcements will come soon.
A: The early signing period and the transfer portal has changed a lot of things, including when coaches get hired or fired. Is it possible teams still wait until February? Yeah, but I’ll be that only about 10% of the players for the 2025 class are still unsigned. That housecleaning now happens months earlier.
Q: Are we interested in any ND or tOSU transfers? (Travster23)
A: So far as I know right now, no. But they still have a couple of days to announce a decision to transfer.
Q: Does A&M have a GM running the front office? If so, who and what are your thoughts on that person? (Big Smoothie)
A: They don’t have one GM, per se. They have Derek Miller, who is the general manager of recruiting, and Allen Gaudet, the director of player personnel. Both seem to be capable guys.
Q: Seems to me, that in the age of NIL and the Portal, that Spring Ball is even more important. Has Elko and staff changed anything to get the new players up to speed faster? How do they come out of Spring Ball in a more efficacious state with all the changes to personnel? (Tsip despiser)
A: One thing they’ve done is gotten almost all of them on campus. I don’t know if Jonah Wilson and Amari Niblack will be in for the spring, but the rest of the transfers should (minus Micah Hudson, of course). And only Jerome Myles is absent from the 2025 class. The more reps the better.
Q: Mark, I know it is early and the team may change a bit before next fall but as it sits now, do you think the 2025 team will be more talented than the 2024 team? To me, it seems to be about the same, which wasn’t good enough. (Naytch)
A: They’ll be more talented at running back, more talented on the offensive line and probably more talented at receiver. They’ll be more talented at linebacker, nickel and safety, and probably corner. I don’t know about tight end yet, but there’s a possibility that group could make a huge jump. Safety, linebacker and the O-line will all be better due to experience, so long as they stay healthy.
That leaves quarterback and the defensive line. If Marcel Reed makes another big step forward, the offense will be very dangerous. And maybe the defensive line is less talented, but it’s not un-talented. And if they work together as a unit, they could be more effective.
Q: Looking ahead to the 2025 college football season, what are your top ranked 3 teams to start the season?
A: Oh, I don’t know. It’s still so early. I guess I’d say Ohio State, Georgia and Texas, but nobody really knows.
For the 2026 football recruiting class, what are your hopeful top 3 gets for ATM? (RacerRod)
A: Right now, my focus is entirely on the trenches. So that means offensive tackles Jackson Cantwell and Immanuel Ihaeanacho and DT Lamar Brown.
Q: If you were able to design the head football coach but had to use the traits of our most recent 5 fired coaches (RC, Fran, Sherman, Sumlin, Jimbo), what's the #1 trait you would take from each? And a trait you would immediately trash?
Fran —I would take absolutely nothing and run him out of town.
Sherman — Take: OL coaching and pregame planning. Ditch: Recruiting and halftime adjustments.
Sumlin — Take: Offense. Ditch: Attitude first, and almost everything else.
Jimbo — Take: Recruiting (when he bothers to do his due diligence). Ditch: Ego, hands-off approach and offensive scheme
Elko — Take: Defense, organization and leadership. Ditch: Fourth down playcalling.
Q: Are we still hoping to snag any OL or DL?
A: Depends on if Ohio State or Notre Dame has anyone of interest get in the portal. Right now, no.
When is the portal closed ?
A: With the exception of the teams who played for the natty or grad students, it’s closed. For the former, it closes Saturday. For the latter, it’s always open.
Did you get the transmission repaired? How's the family? (Hogtied)
A: Transmission: not yet. Family: Cody loved the snow.
Q: If available, do you think A&M will try to get another DT and WR in the spring portal? (Ag20)
A: I think what they should do, and probably what they will do, is take a real close look at what they have in spring practice before making a move one way or the other. They’re probably not going to have a ton of wiggle room to work with.
Q: Can we setup NIL for the basketball team with a free throw clause? 70% minimum or give the check to charity? (I did enjoy the 7/8 last night) (hudedwards)
A: It’s a great idea, but I don’t know if anyone on this team would agree to it except for Wade Taylor.
