August 04, 2003
 Senior punter Cody Scates, a preseason All-American, averaged 43.7 yards per kick last season--good for fourth all-time in the Aggie record books. |
Special teams are an important part of coach Dennis Franchione's program.
In fact, Franchione involves himself in the complete special teams preparation process.
Each of Franchione's assistant coaches is given responsibilities in the kicking game and each of the six special teams has a head coach. Assistant coach Mark Tommerdahl enters his seventh season coordinating the entire kicking game effort.
"The best players perform on the kicking teams," Franchione said, "and the coaching staff drafts every position five deep in the kicking game. Everybody gets a chance to play on special teams."
The A&M coaching staff will have a nice stable of special team performers to mold their gameplan with this season. The Aggies return a pre-season All-America punter in . Scates, a senior from Lee High School in Tyler, averaged 43.7 yards per kick on 67 punts last season. His average ranked fourth on the Aggie all-time list.
Scates had an outstanding game against Oklahoma keeping the Sooners pinned in their end of the field. On the year, he deposited 22 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He averaged over 50 yards in two contests, the Oklahoma game and the Baylor battle. Scates also handled kickoff duties.
Placekicker , a true sophomore from Plano West High School, was 12-of-21 in field goals during his debut season. The first true freshman placekicker in more than 15 years, Pegram finished 7-of-9 in field goal kicking down the stretch and had a solid spring. Pegram was 32-of-33 in extra point attempts.
Last season, Scates also served as the team holder, but following spring practice Franchione listed quarterback as the holder.
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Perhaps the biggest shoes to fill will be that of departed deep snapper Chance Pearce. Drafted in the seventh round and later inked by the Houston Texans, Pearce made just one error in 490 attempts during his career.
Former backup snapper will look to match Pearce's success. A senior from Lufkin, Texas, Muhlbach has yet to take a snap during game action, but has been by Pearce's side waiting for the opportunity to shine. Muhlbach had a solid spring and the staff is counting on him to fill the void left by Pearce.
The kickoff and punt return duties were shared by a plethora of players during spring drills. Although no player emerged on the depth chart, several players will be vying for the duties.
Junior has honed his skills as a return specialist and turned eyes throughout the spring. Last season, Carter returned five kickoffs for 104 yards. He also returned four punts for 22 yards.
Fellow junior saw action at kickoff return last season toting eight for 51 yards. He also tallied one punt return for 31 yards.
Rounding out the experienced return specialists is junior . Last season, he split time returning kickoffs with Bethel Johnson. The duo each returned 12 kicks for 252 yards.
STATISTICAL LEADERS - SPECIALISTS - LAST 10 YEARS
Field Goals Field Goal Pct. Punts-Avg. PR Yards-Avg. KOR Yards-Avg. 2002 T. Pegram 12 T. Pegram 57.1 C. Scates 67-43.7 B. Johnson 139-11.6 Johnson/Thomas 252-21.0 2001 C. Scates 8 C. Scates 50.0 C. Scates 71-40.7 D. Gentry 199-12.4 S. Davis 162-18.0 2000 T. Kitchens 15 T. Kitchens 83.3 C. Scates 52-40.2 C. Taylor 125-7.4 R. Whitaker 195-21.7 1999 T. Kitchens 15 T. Kitchens 65.2 S. Lechler 60-46.5 D. Hall 134-12.2 B. Johnson 174-19.3 1998 R. Bynum 16 R. Bynum 80.0 S. Lechler 80-43.6 C. Taylor 285-7.7 S. Parker 200-22.2 1997 K. Bryant 18 K. Bryant 81.8 S. Lechler 56-47.0 D. Hall 208-12.2 D. Hall 156-22.3 1996 K. Bryant 18 K. Bryant 78.3 S. Lechler 72-42.7 D. Hall 573-13.3 D. Hall 324-23.1 1995 K. Bryant 7 K. Bryant 46.7 S. Terry 60-43.3 R. Mickens 281-11.7 L. McElroy 208-23.1 1994 K. Bryant 17 K. Bryant 77.3 S. Terry 46-43.0 Bi. Mitchell 205-7.9 L. McElroy 301-50.2 1993 T. Venetoulias 13 T. Venetoulias 68.4 J. Bennett 53-38.4 A. Glenn 339-19.9 L. McElroy 590-39.3
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