March 02, 1999
On a sun-splashed spring afternoon, Texas A&M Head Football Coach R.C. Slocum put the defending Big 12 Conference football champions through the first day of spring drills.
"I thought we got off to a good start," Slocum said. "You can tell they've worked hard in the off-season and they are in good shape. There was a lot of enthusiasm."
"We've tried in recent years to spread out our spring practices to help reduce the number of injuries," Slocum said. "It's been my experience that most guys get injured when they are tired."
The Aggies have to replace three starters on both sides of the football. The left side of the offensive line is gone in tackle Rex Tucker and guard Cameron Spikes. The other position lost on offense was tight end, and the Aggies actually lost two key players at that spot in Dan Campbell and Derrick Spiller.
"Tight end would be our top priority at this time," Slocum said. "We've got to come up with somebody at that position."
Also missing the start of spring drills on offense will be starting center Seth McKinney and starting right guard Semisi Heimuli. McKinney has a broken foot and Heimuli had ankle surgery.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Aggies have to replace three starters who have a total of 132 career starts. All-American and Lombardi Award winner Dat Nguyen is gone from his inside linebacker position where he established a new school record with 51 straight career starts. All-Big 12 outside linebacker Warrick Holdman started 42 games in his career and recorded seven sacks and 23 tackles for losses last season. Strong safety Rich Coady started his final 39 straight games of his career and will be sorely missed in the defensive backfield.
"We lost quality players, play makers and team leaders on both sides of the football," Slocum said. "We had great team chemistry last season and we need to try and build upon what we accomplished last year. I've been impressed with the work of the players in the off-season program and there seems to be a carry over from last season."
The Aggies won the Big 12 South Division crown for the second straight year and won the Big 12 Championship Game by defeating top-ranked Kansas State last year in St. Louis. The team faced Ohio State in the Nokia Sugar Bowl and ended the year with an 11-3 record and a final ranking of #11 in the Associated Press poll.
A&M will workout Wednesday, Mar. 3 and Thursday, Mar. 4 on the grass practice fields beginning at 4:30 p.m.
In addition to McKinney and Heimuli, defensive lineman Mike Kazmierski had shoulder surgery and will not participate in spring drills.
The A&M spring practice schedule is as follows:
Mar. 2
Mar. 3
Mar. 4
Mar. 8
Mar. 9
Mar. 11
Mar. 23
Mar. 24
Mar. 26 Coaches Clinic
Mar. 27 Coaches Clinic
Mar. 29
Mar. 30
Apr. 1
Apr. 5
Apr. 6