Prep for #TXSTvsTAMU with a little Cooler Talk. ????
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) August 29, 2019
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AM: This is RTIC Cooler Talk. We are going to talk about Texas A&M, and we're going to talk about Texas state, their opponent at Kyle Field Thursday at 7:30. Please join us on the Texas A&M Football Network at 6:30, Dave Elmendorf, my partner...Will Johnson, my partner...I'm Andrew Monaco. Ok partners, what are you looking forward to tomorrow?
DE: Well obviously I'm looking forward to getting started and I can guarantee you having been a player that all those players are looking forward to hitting somebody they don't know and getting out there and playing a real game and finding out about themselves, about this team.
AM: Will, you hinted about what you wanted to look at, but there seem to be so many storylines when a season begins, for both opponents who will be on Kyle Field...
WJ: yeah I think you can go to every Aggie position unit and just pick something out. The receivers, they all return. So you got high expectations if you've got a lot of experience. Thrilled to see what Jashaun Corbin does. Who's the backup quarterback? If A&M can work up a lead, who's the first quarterback to go in? If you can get that advantage you want and get some of your bench some time...we were kind of talking about that before we got going on the podcast...who is it? Who does Jimbo Fisher go with? Offensive line's got a lot of experience, so expectations there, but a new coach. We love the defensive line. Linebackers have Anthony Hines coming back from injury. The secondary, a ton of bodies. Seems like a lot to sort through there. I mean you just go to any position unit, everybody's gonna be watching something tomorrow night and we're gonna be finding out a lot. Maybe not everything, but we'll find out a lot tomorrow night.
AM: I will ask you guys this during our broadcast, and it may be during the pregame show. Dave, Will and I were talking about the word 'clean' because when Will talked with Anthony Hines and then buddy Johnson talked about it during the media availability to start this season, about the linebackers being able to play clean because of what the defensive line does. I'm looking at you because you and I were at camp and you thought it was a clean practice that they ran. That was an important step in camp right? Because you hit a certain point in that fall camp where the end never seems to be near enough. And I know we joke about hitting somebody else, but you could see almost everything coming together, the pieces of this puzzle finally coming together. That was a really good practice and they seem to really have taken off from there...
DE: Well and not only that, just a few days ago Jimbo was effusive with his offense when he was coaching them, talking about this is so much better. This was a clean day, really clean. And he uses that expression a lot too. So I think that camp, especially the preparation for Texas State, has been very, very good. I think they're focused. The issue is that they really don't know what they're going to see. Not only is it an opening game where you've got no tape to review but it's an opening game with an opponent that has a new head coach and a new coaching staff. For instance you don't know on offense, Jake Spavital the head coach, is his philosophy gonna win out over the offensive coordinator's philosophy? You really don't know. So you go out there with expectations of just doing your job, focusing on your position, not knowing what they're gonna do. We expect them to do RPO, a run pass option, and probably up tempo, but after that you really don't know. It's the same way on defense. I mean, Zack Spavital is the defensive coordinator, what are they gonna do? We think we know that they're going to do a three-man line, three linebackers and nickel behind it, but are they going to bring pressure? Are they gonna fall back? Will they do more zone? We just don't know. So they're just gonna have to play it straight up on both sides of the ball until they see what the game plan is for the Bobcats. We'll see.
AM: Yeah it's intriguing, it really is. You and I Will, we were talking before last season and we thought one of the question marks for the Aggie offense was their wide receivers. It's not a question mark any longer. I dare say it's an exclamation point now for this team.
WJ: We know the names now and we know that they've made plays. Jhamon Austin had some injuries last year that took him out of part of the season, but he's healthy. He looks like the leader of the group. A lot of possession type catches last year, I want to see if he and some of these guys can go downfield this year. That's one of the next steps for Kellen Mond and those guys to me, now that they're all experienced, is the explosion, the downfield stuff. We saw explosive plays last year but a lot of it was Trayveon and then it was kind of catch and run, the 10-yard out route that they could take for 30 or 40. One of my big questions about the offense is they put up yards last year, but I think Jimbo Fisher would tell you too many of the points were field goals last year. And in the red zone that's gonna be important. Stick it in the end zone. You don't have to kick field goals but if you get explosive plays, the home run ball, the deep ball, you don't have to get in the red zone right, if you're going deep on people? I just thought that was maybe one thing they lacked last year. Kellen Mond and these receivers were so good at the intermediate type stuff - 10, 20 yards downfield, throwing into tight windows, they were great at that. And Kellen's obviously good at the short passing game because you would expect him to be. I think the one thing they need is that deep ball. Catch the 50/50 balls downfield. 30, 40 yards downfield. The deep routes Jhamon Ausbon, Kendrick Rogers. Caleb Chapman...is he going to play a part in this? He's kind of a newer one because of the injury last year. But I want to see if they can connect on some of those deep balls this year.
DE: Big part of that though is it takes time to do that and if your offensive line can't protect him long enough you can't throw the deep ball effectively. So that's the next question, is can they give Kellen enough time in the pocket to get that deep ball off? We're gonna find that out, but I think this offensive line is gonna be better than we had last year. I think we're improved in just about every place and not necessarily just because of the talent, but because they've had a year in the system. This is their second year in the system they know what to expect. They're not looking over their shoulder. They know what the expectations of them are as players, and I think that will play out well for this A&M team.
AM: The lights get a little brighter for some of the very impressive freshmen we are going to see. It's a big day. Will and I talked about this on Studio 12. Every time you ask an Aggie about their first game at Kyle Field it is a vivid memory. Two-part question for you partner. Your first at Kyle Field and what is it like as a freshman? You've gone through the recruiting, dreamed of this, and the Demani Richardsons and the Jalen Wydermyers and the Kenyon Greens, they're gonna be on on that stage. It's gonna be on.
DE: Well first of all I did not play on Kyle Field as a freshman because freshmen weren't eligible to play on the varsity. We had a freshmen team which was a terrible rule in my opinion, we just went out and beat each other up and played every two weeks and weren't even eligible for the varsity. So I think it's much better now. As a sophomore I did get to play, and quite frankly I don't remember that first game as a sophomore. I played several different positions because we had a lot of injuries, on offense and on defense, so I don't remember. But I know it was awesome even though we only had 40,000 seats at that point. But I guarantee you these freshmen will certainly remember it. You mentioned the freshmen that are able to crack this lineup, Demani Richardson playing safety, I mean that's a very...and not because I played safety but because I know that it's a very difficult position for somebody that is just getting into the system. I mean that's impressive. And almost as impressive or maybe more impressive is Green starting at right guard. As a true freshman, to start in the offensive line and a system like this that's so complex? That's impressive. And we've got Wydermyer, we've got several other freshmen that are gonna be contributing a lot on this team, it tells you how good this recruiting class was that that many players who are true freshmen are gonna be able to contribute to start with and throughout the season.
AM: I loved what Carson green the right tackle said about Kenyon Green, and I appreciate the Aggies making that easy for us as broadcasters, to know you just have to say Green when we talk about the right side...he said humble. He's a humble kid. Didn't expect anything. He earned that position. You gotta love it when they come in with that kind of attitude and that kind of work ethic.
DE: And take that a step further, his backup is Luke Matthews who's also a true freshman. So I mean at right guard it's gonna be a freshman in there regardless of whether it's number one or number two and they're both really good.
WJ: And it's a testament like you said to the recruiting class, Demani Richardson at safety, Kenyon Green at guard, they identified these guys so early how good they were. It was early in camp and Jimbo Fisher's saying put Kenyon Green at guard I don't care what his age is, the guy's unreal. And Mike Elko's over there on the defense, he sees a few days and he's saying get Demani at safety I don't care what his age is, the guy's unreal. These guys are so good, they identified that early when they were freshmen. Now my question is if you have a true freshman, as good as they are, do you have to live with a mistake every now and then? Won't they naturally just...they're a freshman, aren't they supposed to make a mistake here every now and then?
DE: You know, since they're surrounded with upperclassmen, I don't know that yet. This coaching staff is not going to put up with a lot of mistakes, freshman or otherwise, because they've got other people they can put in there. I think the other thing that we're talking about, talking about freshmen - Demarvin Leal, who was probably the most touted recruit that we had, it tells you how good our defensive line is. He's gonna play a lot, but he's not starting, so we've got four guys that are gonna start in front of Demarvin Leal who's a five-star recruit. That's how good that defensive line is gonna be. This is gonna be a fun team to watch.
AM: I'm so glad, because that's how I want to end it. I think we're going to talk about the defensive line all season long. I truly think it's one of the most talented, between Justin Madubuike and Bobby Brown III as your defensive tackles. Michael Clemons has not talked to anybody in the media all camp because he has said I haven't done anything yet. So he's absolutely chomping at the bit, and I think Tyree Johnson is something special on the other side. If we look at this front four, Will and I talked about this also, that d-line makes this offensive line better. And by having the Dan Moores and the Colton Praters and the and the Jared Hockers and the Kenyon Greens and the Carson Greens I think that offensive line makes this defensive line better. I'm just really excited about the guys with the hands in the dirt on this team and I look forward to watching them play and talking about their performances. I told will during the Cooler Talk that you can see on social media I think it's a special group, I really do.
WJ: Yeah and Tyree Johnson I know Bobby Brown and Madubuike, they're in there on the interior, they're fantastic. You stand two feet from them and I'm intimidated. The bodies are unreal. But Tyree Johnson's a guy I want to watch tomorrow and all throughout the season. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it on broadcast this year, high school numbers that were just unbelievable for a defender. He sacked Kellen Mond three times in one game when they actually went against each other in a game. I think this is his year. This is his time. It's a breakout season for Tyree Johnson, I'll watch him all year.
DE: Well I know you guys have never heard me say this but you win up front. That's where you win. And as an old guy that benefited from having good people up in front of him...that's the strength of this team. Those lines are good, both offensive and defensive, and we'll fill in behind them. We've got talent back there too. This is an exciting team. We're gonna have fun broadcasting these guys.