April 10, 2003
The NFL draft is coming up in April, but the big news out of Aggieland was the Maroon & White draft for the spring football game which was conducted late Wednesday with Commissioner Dennis Franchione presiding.
"I thought both sides prepared well for the draft," Coach Fran said. "The war rooms had great discussions. There were a couple of last minute trades, and I think the sides are pretty even. We have split the coaching staff, the equipment and training staffs as well as our support staffs into Maroon & White. The winning side will eat barbecue and the losing side will eat beans. We should have a great crowd and everyone should have fun on Saturday."
"We will have special teams play and the quarterbacks are live as well," Coach Fran added. "We will play four, 12-minute quarters."
Four members of the Leadership Council were placed on each side. The foursome of Geoff Hangartner, Reggie McNeal, Jared Morris and Sean Weston won the toss and selected the Maroon jerseys. The foursome of Jaxson Appel, Byron Jones, Dustin Long and Alan Reuber lost the next coin toss which allowed the Maroon squad to make the first selection. The first player chosen in the draft was defensive lineman Johnny Jolly.
The Maroon staff will be headed up by defensive coordinator Carl Torbush and his staff includes Ken Pope, Mark Tommerdahl, Chris Thurmond, David Bobo, Cade Thornton and Jeffrey Barnett.
The White staff head coach is offensive coordinator Les Koenning, Jr. and his staff includes Lee Fobbs, Jim Bob Helduser, Stan Eggen, Melvin Smith and Reuben Vaughn.
The complete rosters can be found on the AggieAthletics.com, CoachFran.tamu.edu and 12thmanfoundation.com.
The fun-filled day will kick off with an autograph session at the Memorial Center Flagroom from 9:30 -- 11 a.m. All of the coaches and players will be available and Reveille VII will also be in attendance. Fans can pick up an offensive and defensive Aggie football poster and schedule cards as well. Fans may bring one personal item as well to be autographed, but in the interest of time please do not bring numerous items for each individual to sign.
The Parent's Weekend "Bevo Barbecue" will be conducted on Simpson Drill Field from 11 a.m. -- 2 p.m.
The gates at Kyle Field will open at 12 noon and the first 3,000 fans through the gates will receive a collector's edition puzzle (10" x 14") featuring Coach Fran.
The entire football team will be introduced to the crowd prior to the 2 p.m. kickoff. The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band will perform at halftime.
Five randomly selected fans will have the opportunity to participate in a field goal kicking contest with the chance to win a variety of Aggie football-related prizes, courtesy of AT&T Wireless.
The last day to purchase $5 tickets for the Maroon & White Game, presented by AT&T Wireless, is Friday from the athletic ticket office in G. Rollie White Coliseum, or by calling (1-888-99-AGGIE (888-992-4443) or 979-845-2311.
Tickets on Saturday will cost $7 with the ticket windows at the north end of the stadium opening at 8 a.m.
Texas A&M students will be admitted free of charge just by showing their student ID card and children age 12 and under are admitted free.