March 10, 1998
Texas A&M Head Football Coach R.C. Slocum and the Aggie football team will begin spring drills on Wednesday, Mar. 11 at Kyle Field. The squad will work Wednesday and Thursday before taking a break from action for spring break.
"Because of the new coaches, I thought it would be beneficial to get started before spring break and then have time to evaluate those two practices," Slocum said. "The new NCAA legislation requires that we practice in shorts for the first two days."
The staff changes include outside linebacker coach Alan Weddell (from LaMarque High School), offensive line coach J.B. Grimes (from Virginia Tech) and running back coach Lawrence Livingston (from Washington State). Steve Kragthorpe, who served as the wide receivers coach last season, will take on the additional duties of coordinating the Aggie offensive attack.
The Aggies won the Big 12 South Division title in 1997 and finished with a 9-4 record after facing UCLA in the 1998 Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl. A&M finished the season ranked #20 in the Associated Press poll and #21 in the USA Today/ESPN poll. This marks the eighth time in nine years under the direction of Coach Slocum for the Aggies to finish in the Top 20.
Eight offensive starters return including quarterback Branndon Stewart (56.6 completion percentage with 10 TDs and only 2 INT), leading rusher Dante Hall (973 yards) and the two top receivers-- tight end Derrick Spiller (25 receptions) and wide receiver Chris Cole (25 receptions).
The offense must replace three senior linemen-- center Koby Hackradt, consensus All-Big 12 guard Steve McKinney and left tackle Chris Ruhman. The trio made a combined 98 starts in their A&M careers.
Defensively, the Aggies return six starters including Butkus Award semifinalist and All-Big 12 linebacker Dat Nguyen, who has led the team in tackles the past three years.. Warrick Holdman holds down an outside linebacker position and has made 28 career starts. The entire secondary returns with Jason Webster and Shun Horn at the corners and Rich Coady and Brandon Jennings at safeties. All three defensive line starters must be replaced as well as two linebackers.
The special teams must replace the all-time leading field goal kicker Kyle Bryant, as well as his holder, Bill Johnston. Junior All-American Shane Lechler returns as punter and the deep snapper, Kyle Lednicky, returns for his senior season.
"We're anxious to get started trying to replace the departed seniors," Slocum said. "Our number one objective in the spring is finding players who will step up and fill the positions and the role of leaders on this coming team. Our main concern is in the offensive and defensive lines."
"We have several players who will be limited in practice because of injuries or surgery," Slocum explained. "Eric Bernard and Joel Bryan are coming off knee injuries and they missed most of the fall. Dante Hall had some work done on his shoulder and Burnest Rhodes had disc surgery so they will be limited. We have several other players who will be limited because of various muscle pulls sustained in off-season conditioning workouts."
The Aggies open the 1998 season against Florida State on Monday, Aug. 31 in the Kickoff Classic which will be played in the Meadowlands. The game will be televised nationally by ABC Sports.
Spring practices are closed to the public.