Coach Fran Era Begins on Saturday
Aug 25, 2003 | Football
August 25, 2003
Game notes for Saturday's season-opener against Arkansas State at Kyle Field...
Game 1:
Arkansas State INDIANS (0-0, 0-0 SBC)
at
Texas A&M AGGIES (0-0, 0-0 B12)
Kickoff --- 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 30, 2003
Site (capacity) --- Kyle Field, College Station, Texas (82,600 capacity)
Radio Information --- The game will be broadcast by the 60-plus station Texas A&M Radio Network. For a complete list of stations, go to: AggieAthletics.com. Calling the game on the A&M Radio Network are Dave South (play-by-play), Tim Cassidy (commentary) and Chris Valletta (sideline reports).
TV Information --- The game will be televised on a pay-per-view basis by Big 12 Special Order Sports, Fox Sports Net's pay-per-view division. The game will be available to participating cable television systems in Texas and nationwide to satellite dish customers. Suggested retail price for each telecast is $29.95. A list of participating cable systems, as well as satellite providers, offering the pay-per-view telecasts will be announced later this week. The A&M vs. Arkansas State game will be replayed on FSN Sunday, Aug. 31 at 1 p.m. central throughout the Southwest region (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and parts of New Mexico).
GAME INFORMATION --- Texas A&M and Arkansas State have faced off on the gridiron twice prior to 2003 with the Aggies notching victories at Kyle Field in 1983 (38-0) and 1984 (22-21) ... Both games are memorable for different reasons. The Aggies easily won the 1983 contest on the strength of a school and Southwest Conference record six field goals by Alan Smith (44, 45, 42, 33, 59 and 57 yards). The 1984 game is remembered for the horrific ankle injury suffered by future all-conference quarterback Kevin Murray. With Murray out, Craig Stump came off the bench to rally the Aggies to victory with a late touchdown throw to Jimmy Teal ... This year's game will be A&M's first against a team from the state of Arkansas since the Arkansas Razorbacks bolted from the SWC to the Southeastern Conference after the 1991 season.
FRANCHIONE ERA OPENS AT TEXAS A&M --- The Dennis Franchione era at Texas A&M opens with the Aggies facing off against the Indians of Arkansas State on Aug. 30 at Kyle Field. Texas A&M is the seventh head coaching stop for Franchione, who has posted 4-1-1 record in debut games at his previous schools.
Fran's Debut Games Southwestern (Kan.) College 1981 Ottawa T, 21-21 Pittsburg State 1985 at Arkansas Tech W, 24-13 Southwest Texas State 1990 at TAMU-Kingsville W, 15-7 New Mexico 1992 TCU W, 24-7 TCU 1998 at Iowa State W, 31-21 Alabama 2001 UCLA L, 17-20 Texas A&M 2003 Arkansas State Aug. 30
Coach Fran will be looking to continue a relatively recent trend of Aggie coaches winning their debut games at A&M. Three of A&M's last four head coaches were victorious in their initial game. Prior to that, however, four straight A&M head coaches lost their first game in Aggieland. Overall, A&M coaches are 16-8-1 in their debut games.
Aggie Head Coaches in Debut Games R.C. Slocum (1989-2002) 1989 Louisiana State W, 28-6 Jackie Sherrill (1982-88) 1982 Boston College L, 16-38 Tom Wilson (1978-81) 1978 Rice W, 38-21 Emory Bellard (1972-78) 1972 at Wichita State W, 36-13 Gene Stalling (1965-71) 1965 at Louisiana State L, 0-10 Hank Foldberg (1962-64) 1962 at Louisiana State L, 0-21 Jim Myers (1958-61) 1958 Texas Tech (n) L, 14-15 Paul "Bear" Bryant (1954-57) 1954 Texas Tech L, 9-41
AMONG THE WINNINGEST --- The 26th head football coach in Texas A&M history, Dennis Franchione is in his first season in Aggieland and his 21st season as a collegiate head coach.
With a career record of 155-73-2 as a head coach, Coach Fran ranks as the seventh-winningest active Div. 1-A head coach in college football (by total wins). His 67.8 career winning percentage ranks No. 8 among active head coaches with a minimum of five years of service.
Franchione is in his seventh stop as a collegiate head coach, and has coached previously at Southwestern (Kan.) College (1981-82), Pittsburg State (1985-89), Southwest Texas State (1990-91), New Mexico (1992-97), TCU (1998-2000) and Alabama (2001-02).He also served as an assistant coach at Kansas State (1978-80) and Tennessee Tech (1983-84).
The dean of Big 12 head coaches, Franchione has won eight conference championships and a divisional crown in his 20 seasons. Last season, Franchione's Alabama squad had the best record in the SEC West but were ineligible for the crown.
Winningest Active Div. I-A Coaches (by Victories) Rk Coach, School Yrs. Record Pct. 1. Joe Paterno, Penn St. 37 336-100-3 .769 2. Bobby Bowden, Florida St. 37 332- 96-4 .773 3. Lou Holtz, South Carolina 31 238-120-7 .662 4. Jackie Sherrill, Miss. St. 25 178-110-4 .616 5. Frank Beamer, Va. Tech 22 159- 92-4 .631 Ken Hatfield, Rice 24 159-115-4 .579 7. Dennis Franchione, A&M 20 155- 73-2 .678 8. Fisher DeBerry, Air Force 19 149- 83-1 .642 9. Mack Brown, Texas 19 135- 89-1 .602 10. Paul Pasqualoni, Syracuse 17 129- 64-1 .668 Winningest Active Div. I-A Coaches (by Percentage, 5-Year Minimum) Rk Coach, School Yrs. Record Pct. 1. Bob Pruett, Marshall 7 80- 13-0 .860 2. Phillip Fulmer, Tenn. 11 103- 25-0 .805 3. Bobby Bowden, Florida St. 37 332- 96-4 .773 4. Joe Paterno, Penn St. 37 336-100-3 .769 5. Lloyd Carr, Michigan 8 76- 23-0 .768 6. Frank Solich, Nebraska 5 49- 16-0 .754 7. Bill Snyder, Kansas St. 14 117- 51-1 .695 8. Dennis Franchione, A&M 20 155- 73-2 .678 9. Paul Pasqualoni, Syracuse 17 129- 64-1 .668 10. John Robinson, UNLV 16 124- 62-4 .663
FRAN FACTS ---
- Won the conference or division championship nine times in 20 career seasons as a head coach
- Two-time National Coach of the Year
- Has been named conference or regional Coach of the Year 10 times
- Two-time finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year Award (2000, 2002)
- During his five years coaching in the state of Texas, Coach Fran has posted an overall record of 38-20. He posted a winning record in all five of those seasons, never winning less than six games.
- Defense has been a staple of many of Coach Fran's teams. He has held opponents to single-digit points 64 times in his career. During his last five seasons at TCU and Alabama, Fran-coached teams held opponents to single digits 18 times. Five of those occurred at Alabama in 2002 as the Tide finished the year ranked third nationally in total defense.
COMPLETE STAFF JOINS COACH FRAN AT TEXAS A&M --- First-year Aggie head coach Dennis Franchione brought his entire staff from Alabama to Texas A&M, marking the first time the Aggie football program has had a completely new coaching staff since 1954 when Paul "Bear" Bryant brought most of his Kentucky staff to Aggieland.
Franchione's assistant average 24 years of coaching experience and they average five seasons of tenure with Coach Fran.
Three assistants - Stan Eggen, Jim Bob Helduser and Mark Tommerdahl - are in their fourth coaching stop under Franchione. Three others - Kenith Pope, Les Koenning and Chris Thurmond are entering their third stop with Franchione.
Helduser has the longest tenure as a member of Coach Fran's staff with eight seasons at Southwest Texas, TCU and Alabama.
Two members of Franchione's staff have collegiate head coaching experience - Helduser, who assumed the head position at Southwest Texas after Franchione went to New Mexico, and Carl Torbush, who served as head coach at Louisiana Tech (1987) and North Carolina (1998-2000). Torbush's 1987 Bulldog squad fell to the Aggies at Kyle Field 32-3.
ACTION JAXSON --- Jaxson Appel (Friendswood, Texas / Friendswood HS) finished his freshman season in 2002 with 69 tackles, the most ever by an Aggie freshman defensive back and third-most by any A&M freshman. Appel was the Aggies' fourth-leading tackler last season despite missing two full games and all but one play of another due to an ankle sprain. Appel posted a career-best 10 stops in the regular season finale against Texas and had nine stops against three opponents.
Appel also set an A&M freshman record with four pickoffs in 2002, which broke the previous record of two that was shared by five players.
ACADEMIC SCHOLARS --- Thirty-four members of the Aggie football team received Texas A&M/Verizon Athletics Scholar Awards at the annual CHAMPS Awards Banquet last spring. To be considered for the award, the student-athlete must achieve a cumulative GPR of 3.00 or higher or a semester GPR of at least 3.00.
GRADUATES --- A trio of Aggies enter their final season of eligibility with their degree already in hand.
Student-Athlete Degree *Andr? Brooks management (BBA) John S. Kirk construction science Alan Reuber management (BBA) * - retired during fall camp
BACK IN ACTION --- Junior Jont? Buhl (Pflugerville, Texas / Connally HS) will be back on the field in 2003 after missing the 2002 season due to a knee injury he sustained on the opening kickoff of the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl. As one of the Aggies' top defensive reserves in 2000 and 2001, Buhl posted 40 tackles and an interception while breaking up six opponent aerials.
A two-sport standout, Buhl earned track and field All-America honors in the 1,600-meter relay in 2001, but redshirted in 2002 due to the injury and concentrated on football in 2003.
A-PLUS FOR CARTER --- First-year A-back Jason Carter (Caldwell, Texas / Caldwell HS) brings a variety of skills to the Aggies' new hybrid rusher/receiver position.
Before shifting to A-back last spring, Carter became the first A&M quarterback to log a rushing attempt, a passing attempt and return punts and kickoffs in the same season since Charley Milstead in the late 1950s.
Carter may have honed his versatility on the basketball court where he was one of the state's top high school players before coming to Texas A&M to play football. Apparently he still has some skills on the hardwood - Carter was the pick of 67 of 88 teammates who responded to the question "Who is the team's best basketball player?" on the team survey.
FARMER FIGHT --- The Aggies' leading rusher the past two seasons, Derek Farmer (Tyler, Texas / Lee HS) reached the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing yards in his 15th career game, which tied for fifth fastest in school history. Farmer also became the first Aggie since Greg Hill in 1991 and 1992 to lead the Aggies in rushing as a freshman and sophomore.
With 1,242 career rushing yards, Farmer ranks No. 27 in school history, just ahead of Anthony Toney (1,238 from 1984-85) and Mike Mosley (1,206 from 1977-80) and just behind John Kimbrough (1,357 from 1938-40) and David Brothers (1,269 from 1976-79).
FLEMMING'S IMPACT --- Senior Oschlor Flemming (Denton, Texas / Ryan HS) has impacted the Aggie football program in ways that aren't obvious from looking at his 323 career rushing yards and one career start. In 2002, Flemming served as the student representative on Texas A&M's director of athletics search committee that brought 2003 John L. Toner Award recipient Bill Byrne to Texas A&M. Earlier this year, Flemming was voted by his teammates to represent the running backs on the Aggies' inaugural Leadership Council. Flemming is one of just a handful of non-starters on the Leadership Council.
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS --- The biggest player on the Aggie defense made a big impact in 2002. Marcus Jasmin (6-foot-4, 310 pounds) produced 66 tackles, 10.5 tackles for losses and 5.5 quarterback sacks in his first season as a starter last season. His 66 stops and 5.5 sacks were the most by an A&M noseguard since first-team All-Southwest Conference pick Sammy O'Brient posted 95 tackles in 1987 and 7 sacks in 1985.
An excellent all-around athlete and former high school basketball standout, Jasmin's resume also includes a kickoff return for 9 yards, a pair of blocked kicks and even had a pass come his way on a fake punt attempt.
JONES BUILDS ON DEBUT --- Few players can boast of a more impressive starting debut than cornerback Byron Jones (Bay City, Texas / Bay City HS). Starting for injured teammate Sean Weston in the 2001 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, Jones produced 3 pickoffs that he returned for 77 yards and won the game Overall and Defensive MVP Awards.
He built on that performance in 2002, emerging as the team's leader in interceptions (4) and passes broken up (9). He also produced 183 yards and 2 touchdowns on defensive returns - 117 yards and a touchdown on 4 pickoffs and 66 yards and a touchdown on a fumble return.
GOING LONG --- Dustin Long (Port Neches, Texas / PN-Groves HS) won the starting job at quarterback early in 2002 and then quickly emerged as one of the Big 12's top passers.
Among returning Big 12 quarterbacks, Long ranks No. 2 in passing yards and touchdowns. He finished 2002 with 2,509 passing yards with 19 touchdowns on 177-of-333 passing. He set a school and Big 12 record with 7 touchdowns against Texas Tech and a school mark with 399 passing yards against Kansas.
Big 12's returning passing yards leaders Rk. Player, School Passing Yds. 1. Josh Fields, Oklahoma State 3,145 2. Dustin Long, Texas A&M 2,509 3. Brad Smith, Missouri 2,333 4. Aaron Karas, Baylor 1,792 5. Bill Whittemore, Kansas 1,666 Big 12's returning passing Tds leaders Rk. Player, School Passing TDs 1. Josh Fields, Oklahoma State 31 2. Dustin Long, Texas A&M 19 3. Brad Smith, Missouri 15 4. Jammal Lord, Nebraska 12 5. Bill Whittemore, Kansas 11
LEADERSHIP COUNCIL --- Sixteen Aggies representing each position group were elected to the Leadership Council last spring by vote of their teammates.
- Quarterbacks: Dustin Long, Reggie McNeal
Running Backs: Derek Farmer, Oschlor Flemming
Receivers: Terrence Murphy
Offensive Line: Geoff Hangartner, Alan Reuber
Defensive Line: Linnis Smith
Linebackers: Archie McDaniel, Jared Morris
Safeties: Jaxson Appel
Cornerbacks: Byron Jones, Ronald Jones, Sean Weston
Specialists: Cody Scates
Non-scholarship: Tim Van Zant
FUTURE SCHEDULES --- Big 12 Conference members have received the conference-games-only portion of 2004-07 football schedules thus solidifying Texas A&M's future schedules for the next four years.
The format for the next four years will remain the same as the previous eight seasons of Big 12 football play. The six squads in each division will play one another every year, and there will be a rotation of three teams from the opposite division every two years.
AGGIES IN THE NFL DRAFT --- A record four Aggies - defensive lineman Ty Warren, cornerback Sammy Davis, wide receiver Bethel Johnson and defensive back Terrence Kiel - were selected in the first two rounds of the 2003 NFL Draft, including two in the first round (Warren and Davis). Two more Aggies, offensive lineman Taylor Whitley and deep snapper Chance Pearce, also were selected in later rounds bringing A&M's total number of draftees to six.
Warren was taken 13th overall by the New England Patriots and Davis was selected 30th overall by the San Diego Chargers. It marked the first since 1996 that an Aggie had been selected in the first round and the first time since 1994 when two Aggies were picked in the first round.
Johnson was taken 45th overall by the Patriots and Kiel was grabbed by the Chargers with the 62nd pick. Whitley went in the third round (87th overall) to the Miami Dolphins, while Pearce will stay close to home after being selected in the seventh round by the Houston Texans.
A&M PRODUCES NFL TALENT --- With 43 former players in the National Football League, Texas A&M ranks as the second-most prolific producer of NFL talent in the Big 12 Conference, according to the NFL (as of June 2003).
Big 12's Top Producers of NFL Talent (as of June 2003) 1. Nebraska 45 2. Texas A&M 43 3. Colorado 42 4. Kansas State 36 5. Oklahoma 28 6. Texas 24 7. Oklahoma State 18 8. Baylor 17 9. Kansas 17 10. Texas Tech 15 11. Missouri 13 12. Iowa State 12
ATTENDANCE RECORD FALLS --- Texas A&M's drew over a half-million fans to Kyle Field in 2002, easily the most in school history. In seven games, Kyle Field opened its gates for 561,389 fans, breaking the former record of 496,268 that went through the stadium turnstiles in 2001.
Despite being a non-Texas season (historically the biggest draw at Kyle Field), the Aggies averaged 80,198 fans per home game, which is the second-highest average attendance in school history.
Texas A&M is in the midst of 17-game streak of 70,000-plus crowds at Kyle Field. Prior to the beginning of the streak, A&M has produced a total of 13 70,000-plus crowds in this history.
NEW GAME-DAY PARKING PASS AVAILABLE --- Football fans who want to park near Kyle Field, but don't have a reserved 12th Man space, can obtain a season parking pass from Transportation Services. The $70 pass ($10 per home game) will allow the purchaser to park in designated lots near Kyle Field. These permits are sold as a package only, and each parking pass will have the corresponding game and date printed on it. Customers are given a map, which highlights the four designated parking areas, upon purchase of the season parking pass. These permits may be purchased at the Transportation Services business office in Room 118 Koldus or may be purchased by phone with a credit card by calling 979/862-PARK.
FIVE FORMER STANDOUTS GET HALL CALL --- The Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2003 will include five former standouts - Mike Arthur '90 (football), James "Hoot" Gibson '76 (baseball), Jesse N. "Red" Burditt '47 (football, basketball, baseball), Anjanette Kirkland '97 (track and field), and Suzanne Sheffield-Chatham '84 (track and field). In addition, Charles R. Wiseman '57 will be inducted in the Athletics Hall of Honor. The group will be honored at the 26th Annual Burgess Banquet on Friday, Aug. 29 at the Bernard C. Richardson Zone at Kyle Field.
