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12thman.com's next "Camp Conversation" features a visit with sixth-year running backs coach Clarence McKinney.
Despite leaning on a pair of newcomers at running back in 2016, the Aggies produced the one of the greatest rushing seasons in the last 20 years at Texas A&M. Even better for '17, the top two ground-gainers are back in sophomore Trayveon Williams (1,057 yards, 8 TDs) and senior Keith Ford (669 yards, 6 TDs).Â
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WJ: If you go across the offense, inexperience at receiver, they're always tweaking the offensive line, they're looking for a quarterback. But with your running backs…do you feel you're as set as you can be in an August camp?
"Not set as far as being comfortable, but we like the group. We've got two really experienced guys back there and then a couple of young guys that are pushing them."
WJ: People say it likes to start with Trayveon Williams. I don't know how a coach looks at it though, as you're always breeding competition back there, but as a thousand-yard rusher as a true freshman--where does Trayveon go from here?
"He just continues to get better. He's worked tremendously hard this offseason to get his body ready for this grind. He didn't know what to expect last year. Now he has a year under his belt, he knows what to expect from a physical standpoint. As far as what he does out on the field…we'd like to see him improve on protection, but when he has the ball in his hand we'd like to see him be as electrifying as he was last year."
WJ: You think about the group as a whole…how many ball carriers do you need in an SEC season? Is it four deep? Five? Six? How many would you like to have set going into that September 3 game against UCLA?
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"We just want guys that will be ready to go, because you never know when it's going to be your turn. Injuries happen at the running back position, and at all positions, really. When guys get banged up, you want the next guy to be ready to go. So whoever the next guy is, he's got to be ready to get out there and contribute."
WJ: With Noel Mazzone's offense, there's that want to run the football even more. You guys showed improvement last year, is more on tap in the ground game in 2017?
"You know, we feel like the strength of our offense right now is probably our offensive line and our running backs. We want to lean on those guys, take some pressure off the quarterbacks and those receivers, and be able to run the ball."