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Here's this week's AggieYell Mailbag:
Q: Any chance Elko would give you a 1 v 1 interview?
A: Yeah, I think there is. I’m going to try for one after spring ball. Practice and the tournament make it tough to do before.
Q: Which 5 star that is currently showing real interest would you most like to have?
A: That’s tough. I really like Jireh Edwards, the 5-star safety from Baltimore, and Brandon Arrington, the 5-star corner from California. But there’s also Tristen Keys and Boobie Feaster at receiver, who are also 5-stars. If I had to take just one, I’d do it on positional need. So what might A&M have in 2026 at safety, corner and wideout?
Safety
Senior Marcus Ratcliffe
Senior Dalton Brooks
Junior Myles Davis
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Pride
Sophomore Rashad Johnson
Cornerback
Redshirt junior Dezz Ricks
Senior Julian Humphrey
Senior Jayvon Thomas
Sophomore or redshirt freshman Adonyss Currie
Sophomore or redshirt freshman Jamar Beal-Goines
Sophomore or redshirt freshman Cobey Sellers
Receiver
Senior KC Concepcion
Junior Terry Bussey
Junior Mario Craver
Redshirt junior Jonah Wilson
Redshirt sophomore Ashton Bethel-Roman
Redshirt sophomore Izaiah Williams
Redshirt sophomore Ernest Campbell
Sophomore or redshirt freshman Jerome Myles
Sophomore or redshirt freshman TK Norman
Sophomore or redshirt freshman Kelshaun Johnson
(A&M also has Aaron Gregory and Madden Williams committed)
My gut instinct says Keys, but looking at the numbers and the lack of trust I have in players I haven’t seen, Arrington is probably choice one, with Edwards a close second.
Do we win 2 in the SEC bball tournament?
A: I hope so, because then they’re in play for a 2 seed and have a 3 locked up. Well, they should have it locked up. I don’t have much respect for the decision-making of the NCAA selection committee.
Is Buzz looking at North Dakota guard Treysen Eaglestaff for next year? He has entered his name in the portal after averaging 18.9 points per game this season, which includes a 40-point game in a close road loss to Alabama, and an incredible 51 points against South Dakota State.
Eaglestaff is a bigger guard who is a pure scorer, shooting 41.6% from the field, 35% from 3-point, and 79% from the free-throw line during the 2024 season.
A: I don’t know. They can’t really get active with that stuff right now, obviously, since they have the SEC and NCAA Tournaments to worry about. My question about Eaglestaff (and anyone else) is, can he defend? If you want to play for A&M, you’d better be ready to defend and get on the floor for loose balls.
Is Earley going a bit gray on the temples already? (Tsip despiser)
A: If he is, I wouldn’t blame him.
Q: I read somewhere that Reed is working with a QB coach in TN. Do you know who or anything about it? (FbFan222)
A: It’s probably his dad, who is a coach in his own right. Rod Reed is very much involved in the development of his son’s game.
Q: Is Earley still the hitting coach or did he hire someone else to do this? I trying to understand what changed in our hitting from last year to this year. (Superag1000)
A: Caleb Longley, who was the hitting coach at Texas before whats-his-face took over there, now has the same role at A&M. That, I’m sure makes a difference. But so does losing Jackson Appel, Braden Montgomery, Ted Burton, Caden Sorrell and Gavin Grahovac.
Q: So based on the lack of action, is it safe to say there’s quite a bit of indifference to the women’s basketball program in the athletic department? Just can’t imagine any program that wanted to be serious would be fine with the results from this year. (Naytch)
A: I guess they’re going to give Joni Taylor one more shot to fill out the roster, but frankly, I thought they’d make a move. The returns have not been good.
Q: Could you post the football roster heading into spring training. Thanks. (Jerryh670)
A: A&M hasn’t posted the official roster yet, but here’s a shot at it:
QB: Marcel Reed, Jacob Zeno, Miles O’Neill, Brady Hart, Eli Morcos
RB: Le’Veon Moss (injured, out), Amari Daniels (injured, out), Rueben Owens, Tiger Riden, Jamarion Morrow (maybe EJ Smith?)
TE: Theo Ohrstrom, Kiotti Armstrong, Eric Karner, Amari Niblack, Nate Boerkircher, Micah Riley
WR: KC Concepcion, Mario Craver, Terry Bussey, Jonah Wilson, Ashton Bethel-Roman, Ernest Campbell, Izaiah Williams, Kelshaun Johnson, TK Norman (Jerome Myles will be in in the summer)
OT: Trey Zuhn, Dametrious Crownover, Deuce Fatheree, Robert Bourdon, Jonte Newman, Lamont Rogers, Marcus Garcia
OG/C: Mark Nabou (injured, likely out), Koli Faaiu, Chase Bisontis, Ar’Maj Reed-Adams, Papa Ahfua, Ashton Funk, Blake Ivy, Tyler Thomas, Josh Moses, Nelson McGuire
DE: Solomon Williams, Kendall Jackson, Cashius Howell, Rylan Kennedy, Marco Jones, Dayon Hayes, Sam M’Pemba, TJ Searcy
DT: Albert Regis, DJ Hicks, DJ Sanders, Chace Sims, Tyler Onyedim, Dealyn Evans, Landon Rink
LB: Taurean York, Scooby Williams, Daymion Sanford, Tristan Jernigan, Jordan Lockhart, Noah Mikhail, Kelvion Riggins
S/Nickel: Dalton Brooks, Bryce Anderson, Marcus Ratcliffe, Tyreek Chappell, Jordan Shaw, Deyjhon Pettaway, Rashad Johnson, Myles Davis, Jordan Pride, Jarred Kerr
CB: Will Lee, Julian Humphrey, Dezz Ricks, Jayvon Thomas, Adonyss Currie, Jamar Beal-Goines, Coby Sellers
ST: Tyler White (P) Liam Padron (PK; Walk-on)
Q: Is Moss full speed for Spring?
A: No. I doubt he practices at all.
Does the OC create a new offensive game plan for a maturing Reed? (Richard23)
A: I think we could see some tweaks that use his athleticism, but an entirely new game plan? Unlikely.
Q: After your basketball "best of" list, want to do a 1 or 2 deep of a "best of" football roster from the last 25 years?
A: Sure, but that’s going to be extremely tough. Except at quarterback.
Have you seen Reed? Has he bulked up any? Do you think it matters?
A: No, I haven’t seen him. I have heard he’s bulked up some. And yeah, I’d like to see him get some muscle on, because it seriously looked like a good hit would break him in half.
Similar question about hitting coaching from above, has a lot changed in the way hitting is coached this year, if so does Earley start to become more involved to get it more in line with last season's approach?
A: Right now, what they need is consistency. They have a team that can light up an opponent for 19 on Friday and get four-hit two days later. They’ve scored in double digits three times in 10 days, so they just have to find a middle ground. But if they go into conference and struggle, I could see him getting involved.
Pitching seems to be improving. Is that true or is it more about the competition? We'll find out this weekend? (Booyah)
A: It seems like it’s getting better. The weekend starters are the best in the country, but they’ve got to continue to get improved work out of the bullpen. Luke Jackson has looked good; Weston Moss has been good, so if they can get Isaac Morton and Kaiden Wilson going, they’ll be in decent shape. I’m not big on Brad Rudis as the (temporary) closer, but you can’t argue the results so far.
But, like you said, we’ll find out this weekend.
Q: Is Terrance Kiel playing football next year? (JonnyRocketAg)
A: I doubt it.
Q: What should our expectations be for Basketball next year? (Big Smoothie)
A: Impossible to say without seeing what happens with the portal.
Q: For how many years is Earley’s contract? Is it true that there is no buyout cost if it is terminated before the end of its term? (Katyaggie)
A: The terms of the contract have not been made public.
Q: Do you think Buzz understands how to coach an offense? (Rick77)
A: I think the better question is whether he can recruit shooters.
Q: AD mentioned increasing scholarship numbers, presume across sports. Can you elaborate on this for A&M and what you are seeing at other universities?
A: There are definitely more scholarships coming. Baseball could go to as many as 34 scholarships, though most won’t. Football may go to 105 scholarships as soon as next year. So programs who have the money could load up.
Saw where a petition from coaches about JUCO programs/players. How do you think this ends? (DentonAg80)
A: I’m not sure what you mean.
Q: When do we panic about the baseball team? Do you think they read their own headlines a bit or something else driving the early slump? (Jeffmc)
A: Since when do Aggies need permission or a timeframe to panic about anything?
