August 07, 2004
| Special teams coach Mark Tommerdahl scoured the nation in search of answers to two immediate needs - kickoffs that sail through the opponent's end zone, and long, high, pinpoint punts that yield no returns.
Tommerdahl and coach Lee Fobbs, who recruits Louisiana, zeroed in on one of the nation's best-rated high school triple-threat kickers, Richie Bean, in Marrero, a suburb of New Orleans. His dossier contains honors not only for kicking off, kicking field goals, and punting, but also for soccer and baseball. "We like it when our kickers are all-around athletes," Tommerdahl said. Bean's immediate duties upon reporting were to concentrate on kickoffs, 87 percent of which were not returned in his career at John Ehret High School, and punts. Field goals, meanwhile, appear in good safekeeping with returnees Todd Pegram and walk-on Layne Neumann. Pegram has booted three-pointers and points-after for two seasons, going from a yo-yo freshman season to consistency up to the 42-yard range last year. He made 11 of his first 13, had a little cold spell (2-of-5), and then hit his last four to finish 17-of-22. Neumann, who never has kicked in a game, became the spring game hero with a 56-yard winning kick in the waning seconds of the game. He is a sophomore. His strong leg complements Pegram, most of whose misses last year were between 30-40 yards. Jacob Young walked on with the Aggies after laying off football for a couple of years. Preseason All-America and now NFL hopeful Cody Scates turned up lame before the opening game, and Young filled in with two punts against Arkansas State that averaged 59.5 yards, and he sent one 69 yards later at Nebraska. Young wound up punting in eight games, averaging 37 yards on 45 kicks and dropping 13 dead inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Transfer junior Boone Stutz takes over deep snapper duties, but Tommerdahl was still searching for adequate back-up as camp opened. Chad Schroeder and Ty Branyon are reliable holders. The other bane of A&M's kicking game existence a year ago was fielding punts. Four different receivers dropped punts, and five were recovered by the opponent. "I thought about putting two back there, one to take the punt and the other to recover the fumble," Franchione said, hiding his disdain in humor. Seasoned kickoff returner Terrence Murphy surfaced as steadiest among several who tried the task in spring practice. In the Coach Fran/Tommerdahl scheme, the best athletes play on kicking teams, including many starters. Several accomplished special teams players return in '04 - John Ray, Jesse Woods, Fred Woods, Brandon Leone, Beau Adams, Anthony Squillante and the player who wore No. 12 most games, Blake Kendrick. AggieAthletics.com's 2004 football preview will bring you right up to the "beginning" of football season, when the players report to campus on Aug. 8.
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