Fisher, Aggies Meet Media as Game Week Arrives

As the first game week of the season approoaches, Jimbo Fisher and members of the football team held their first weekly press conference inside the Kyle Field Media Center.

Joining Coach Fisher were Isaiah Spiller, Demani Richardson, Leon O'Neal, Kenyon Green, Ainias Smith and DeMarvin Leal. Video, audio and quotes will be available below. Video is also available for free inside the 12th Man Mobile app.

You can hit the RSS/Subscribe button on any of the audio files to subscribe for free to our Studio 12 Texas A&M Athletics podcast and have the audio automatically download to your mobile device.

Head Coach Jimbo Fisher’s opening statement … 

Its game time and I’m very excited to be here. There’s nothing like the excitement for the first game of the season. After going through camp, you come out of that grind and you’re ready to play. I’m very pleased with our team. We have lots of things to improve on and work on, but the guys have worked very hard in a very good camp. It was very physical camp. There were a lot of things on offense, defense and special teams that we got in as far as schemes and going against each other. We have great competition throughout the month. That’s one of the things I love. I love position battles, but also battling against each other and getting each other better, going against high-quality people on both sides of the ball. That’s the way you get better. I am very pleased with that process and I’m anxious to watch us get out and play a game. 

We have a great opponent in Kent State. Kent State was marvelous last year. They only played four games, but they averaged almost 50 point per game. This is a very well-coached football team, and that’s why they are predicted to win their conference and play at the top of it. 

It’s time to go play and do the things we need to do. We have a big challenge ahead of us and we need to have a big week of preparation. This is our week one opponent, so that’s what we have to put all of our focus on now that camp is over with and we have get ready to play. 

On Kenyon Green’s move to right tackle …

He could go play left tackle in two seconds, he played both in camp. He and Layden [Robinson] on that right side are very good. Jahmir [Johnson] has played a lot of left tackle before. He started at left tackle so it’s a much more natural position for him. Kenyon is very versatile in what he does and with the whole group up front, we can play him on either side. I know this sounds crazy, maybe in pro football it’s a little more, but in college football, left tackle to right tackle isn’t that big of a difference. You still have great players on both sides. 

On Haynes King being the starting quarterback … 

  Consistency. Everybody says it was his athleticism, but it was his pocket presence and his ability to throw the football accurately and make decisions. I’m still a firm believer, decision-making and accuracy are how you play great football at quarterback. The legs are an added piece of what has to happen. He was outstanding in the scrimmages, in practice he would get better and better and better. He would play with great consistency. Intermediate throws, short game, reads, getting the ball out of his hands on blitzes. We brought every blitz known to man at him, I’m a big believer that you have to get him prepared in that regard. He did a great job, but at the same time, Zach [Calzada] did too. This was not a deal where one guy [was just better], they kept matching each other and [Haynes] just played a little bit better. We are very comfortable with both guys and we are very anxious to watch them play. 

On why Connor Choate was selected to be the 12th Man …

First and foremost, when you are talking about the 12th Man, you are talking about an outstanding human being. You are talking about a guy that stands for all of the right things. Him as a human being, the way he does things, the character he does things with. He has an understanding of what the 12th Man is and what the history of it is, all the traditions and everything that goes on, he truly loves Texas A&M. Secondly, he’s a guy that comes to work every day on special teams. He was a scholarship guy that left a scholarship to come here and walk on because he wanted to be at Texas A&M. It has always been a kickoff guy, but in the special teams world there are some other guys that don’t cover on kickoff, he snaps the ball each and every play. There’s not a guy more vital on our team. Have you ever heard his name? Nope. But that means real good things. When you are a long snapper and you don’t hear his name, that’s a good thing. That means there’s not a bad snap, not a bad situation. I’ve been around him a long time, he’s as good as anybody snapping that football. His accuracy, his snaps, the things he does and the way he represents himself. He brings an infectious energy to practice every day. He’s got juice, he’s fun to be around, he’s always in a good mood, and he affects the other guys in a positive way. I can’t think of another guy that’s a very high-character person, you put the ball in his hands on every snap whether it’s a punt or field goal or some kind of PAT who does it as well as anyone I’ve ever been around, and then someone who affects his teammates in such a positive way each and every day. To me this is what the 12th Man epitomizes and we are happy to have him there and I think our team is too. 

Junior DL DeMarvin Leal

On the experience that the defensive line returns in 2021…

“This year we have basically the same guys back with the exception of Bobby Brown. So we have McKinley Jackson, Michael Clemons, Adarious Jones and Jayden Peevy. We have a lot of new guys that have come in and made an impact as well. The experience and the size that we have coming back is unmatched, and I can definitely say that we have the best defensive line in the country.”

On his reaction to so many players coming back from last year’s team…

“When I heard that the guys were coming back, I was really excited. Having that experience and that knowledge back will be great. We play and have been playing in this defense for years now, so, having those guys come made me feel like we can do whatever really. We can put everything together, and we don’t have to start from zero. We can pick up right where we left off and improve from there.”

Senior DB Leon O’Neal

On the source behind the passion he plays with…

“Football, ever since I’ve been around it, has been a way of life for me. Off the field, more than on the field, it taught me how to be a man. Whatever adversity I was going through off the field, football always helped me through it. The guidelines, principles and discipline that football requires can really help you if you apply them in your day-to-day life. As a young man, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, and so football gave me the pathway to help me find what I want to do and who I want to be.”

On his expectations of a full-capacity Kyle Field…

“Oh it’s going to be exciting. Ever since I was a recruit coming here, not knowing where I was going to go to school, seeing those 100,000 people roaring at every game really struck me. You realize that these fans are passionate, they love the school and they love the game. And then, playing at night at A&M, it gives me chills. So I’m really excited to get back out there with all of our fans and the 12th Man behind us.”

Junior DB Demani Richardson

On the togetherness of the secondary…

“As far as coming together is concerned, we just worked on holding each other accountable and worked on all of the things we needed to work on together. The sky is the limit for our group, we just have to focus in on the little things and prepare from step one. We don’t need to worry about last year, and we need to just put that out of our minds because that doesn’t matter. We just did our best on the little things.” 

On his mentality and the mentality of the team…

“I would say that our mentality is just to not worry about last year. It kind of feels like unfinished business because of what happened last year. We know we have a lot to prove and we know what we can do. I would say that my mentality is to come in and work hard every day. I know that we have a veteran group, and I want to take that and let that be a key to help us this season.”

Junior WR Ainias Smith

On the strides that he has seen in Moose Muhammad III going into year two…

“Man, Moose, I definitely look at him as a player that is definitely going to help this offense. He has the capability to make tough catches in traffic, one handed catches, catches downfield. I mean, he’s a great player. His strengths, he’s a person that can focus when he needs to. Most of the time he likes to make plays on third down so, he’s definitely a guy that we can be looking towards to making those type of plays.”

On the return to full capacity…

“Man, I just feel like it’s going to be rocking. The crowd is definitely going to give us a spark that we haven’t had in a while. I’m ready. I’m all for it, so let’s go 12th man.”

On setting a new standard for himself…

“My thing going into this camp was just making sure every time I touch the ball, I’m making a play, whether that’s scoring 75 yards, 80 yards. Just making a lot of explosives and not just you know being a playmaker. Like I said earlier this year, I’m definitely going to be a gamechanger. That’s the way that I am going about it.

Kenyon Green

On becoming a leader and role model for a newcomers on the o-line…

“Being a leader is very important to me. Just making sure that I can handle my business and they can see like a role model or somebody that has been there and been through the fire. They can, you know, build off that and just help out as much as I can so we can be the best team that we can be.” 

On the standard that he holds himself to…

“Just details in my game. I’m not really focused on the All-American stuff right now. I’m trying to make sure my team is good, making sure the o-line is capable of handling every situation on the field, so that’s the most important thing to me right now.”

Junior RB Isaiah Spiller

On what Haynes King brings to the offense…

“Haynes is definitely going to prove a lot of people wrong this year. I feel like he is going to have a very big year for us. He’s very athletic, very fast, probably one of the fastest people on the team. He can throw it. He can do anything. He can scramble, so I think he is going to make a very big impact on our team this year.”

On the importance of this first game against Kent State…

“It’s very big. Just getting those young guys out there. A lot of guys haven’t played yet. So, there first experience in a real-life full stadium A&M game is going to be very big. Just taking week by week and not focusing on the games ahead. Just taking every game as it is. I feel like this is the biggest game because it’s the next game. It’s 100 percent capacity and I can’t wait to get out there.”