Texas A&M Director of Compliance Tedi Ellison goes to work each day, prepared to monitor the athletic department like the Army Corps of Engineers surveys the flood plane along the Mississippi River.
Like the Corps checks each levee, Ellison follows up on every lead of every potential rules violation. She plugs each hole, searches for every leak.
And, she hopes, there never comes the day when the whole dam breaks.
And Ellison thinks about that possibility daily. Perhaps even more than that.
"Always," she says.
Texas A&M is on 24-hour alert, thanks to a series of NCAA probations and sanctions that have beset the school, most recently in 1994.
"You always wonder where the next problem is going to come from," said Ellison, now in her seventh year as A&M’s compliance director. "The way we monitor, secondary infractions come up and you have violations. In a program this large with this many rules and this many people, it’s not unusual to have infractions that are secondary in nature, inadvertent or isolated, and they don’t give a recruiting advantage. That’s just part of a good monitoring program."
It’s the outside influences that keep Ellison worried. It’s overzealous former students determined to stay close to the program. Too close.
"It’s the things you can’t see through the monitoring programs," Ellison said. "If you see something, you either have to talk to that person or let us deal with that person. It takes just a small amount of people or one person to ruin the positive things so many people have done."
And there have been a lot of positives at Texas A&M in the last five years. In fact, A&M is one of the compliance leaders today in the eyes of several schools, and more importantly, the NCAA.
A&M has one of the largest compliance staffs in the country with three full-time workers who oversee the monitoring and educational compliance programs within the athletic department. Ellison and her staff are favorites on the lecture tour when it comes to talking compliance and educating thousands of alumni.
"We get quite a few calls from schools wanting to know about our monitoring systems, and they ask for a lot of educational information," Ellison said. "Sometimes the NCAA will call and ask for different information that we’ve produced. They ask us for information and ask us to speak at seminars. I think they see the efforts that have been made here."
Despite the efforts being made at A&M, and they are extensive, there seems to be an unfair, overriding perception of the program nationally. "A&M cheats" still is an easy way to summarize the athletic program — particularly in football — for the cynical, uneducated person in Austin, South Bend or State College.
It’s a label that has been stamped on A&M because of a history of problems with the NCAA, the last setback coming when the Dallas Morning News revealed a summer job incident involving Warren Gilbert Jr. and some lax football players receiving payment for work not performed.
In reality, the case was isolated and gave A&M no recruiting advantage. The fact that the Aggies received no scholarship reductions and just one year of sanctions was a testament to that. However, the NCAA placed A&M on five years probation that runs through January of 1999, and that penalty was an obvious warning to a repeat offender: Watch yourself or else...
"I think the NCAA definitely knows the strides we’ve made toward doing things the right way," Ellison said. "I think they know the efforts the coaching staffs, particularly R.C. (Slocum), have really done to tell the boosters, the coaches and the student-athletes that we are not going to tolerate people going outside the rules. I think the NCAA is very well aware of that.
"Even though it has improved dramatically, there is still the perception that if something goes wrong, ‘Well, they’ve got that history.’ So we are continually having to stay on the right path and show the things we are doing."
When Slocum was hired in 1988, he was determined to clean up the program. That’s why he has said on several occasions that he will never get over the NCAA problems that hit his program.
But he is steadfast about what goes on with the football program outside of what a few ill-advised players did during summer vacation four or five years ago.
There have been too many players and coaches come and go at A&M for the word not to spread if the Aggies were circumventing the rules.
"You either are going by the rules, or you’re not," Slocum said. "If you are, more and more people know as time goes on. It starts off as kind of an inside thing. And once that starts spreading, over a period of time, that circle gets wider and wider."
But the fact that the players, their parents and his assistant coaches, current and former, can spread the word, there is still an obstacle course of perception. But that, too, is slowly eroding into a positive.
"I think we’ve come a long way, but I think we had a long way to go and a long way to go as far as perception," Slocum added. "Anytime you have (NCAA problems) over a long period of time, you have quite an image and reputation built up.
"We earned that reputation, and we didn’t do it overnight. And you can’t erase it overnight."
And Slocum will tell anyone he encounters that there is "unequivocally" no funny business going on within the A&M athletic department. Indeed, the "ask before you act" motto that Ellison has preached is standard operating procedure at A&M these days.
Slocum said the level of compliance at A&M is at an all-time high. And, as he said to each gathering of former students and Aggie football fans during his Coach’s Tour this summer, that level must be maintained.
"We’re at the point where (the NCAA) has a good level of confidence of what we’re doing here," Slocum said. "Right now, our president would feel very strongly about how committed we are to going by the rules. I feel good with the people we compete against. They don’t see us as cheaters. So each year that you go along, you improve your image. But everybody associated with Texas A&M has to take part of the responsibility for compliance."
Indeed, Ellison and her staff monitor just about everything they can, from off-campus housing for student-athletes to automobile registrations. A&M must watch carefully for players abusing complimentary admissions or exchanging apparel or athletic equipment for money or other goods (e.g., four USC football players were recently declared ineligible for equipment exchange).
A&M also sends out videos, pamphlets and even has a compliance page on the Internet to educate the school’s 200,000 or so former students. But for all of the education, people still can slip up. And the fact that A&M’s one-year sanctions are over from the NCAA doesn’t mean the awareness should soften.
"No matter what kind of programs you have in place, people are still going to do what they want to do," Ellison said. "If they see a way to get close to the athletes or for the athletes to make money, people are going to make individual decisions instead of what’s best for the institution. That can be a problem when they have that kind of mindset.
"People forget where we are. It’s kind of like when a police car is behind you on the highway, you’re going to go the speed limit. When they’re not around, maybe you don’t have that in your mind so much."
The days of the under-the-table dealings between coaches and players are basically over in the state of Texas, although problems between boosters and players still exist. Texas Tech is the latest school to come under investigation by the NCAA for such dealings.
And the era of seedy agents circling campuses is definitely upon us. As Ellison and Slocum says, it is the outside influences that can crumble the inside foundation.
"We’re only as good as about one person, one misguided person who doesn’t have the whole university’s interest at heart," Slocum said. "That one person can cause grave, grave damage to the program or university."
There likely will never be another NCAA "death penalty" handed down to an institution. The impact that penalty had on SMU is still being felt on The Hilltop in Dallas.
But that doesn’t mean Texas A&M — if another major problem were to arise in the athletic program — would not be sentenced by the NCAA to life in prison.
For now, however, A&M’s probation is going too well to conceive of more major problems occurring down the line. There may be holes to plug, but the dam is not about to burst.
"Hopefully, (the latest probation) strengthened the resolve that we can never, ever have another thing like this," Slocum said. "That’s probably the only positive, where we had a lot of A&M people say, ‘That’s enough.’"
QUESTION: How pleased are you with the development of the A&M offense so far this season?
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE ENSMINGER: I’ve been pleased with it all along. We haven’t gone into a football game the last couple of years, where the people stop us, where you’re struggling running the football and struggling passing the football. In every game we’ve been in, we’ve been able to run the football and been able to pass the football. We’ve hurt ourselves most of the time.
Q: Do you think the rash of turnovers is over for the year?
ENSMINGER: I hope so. We’ve had enough for the year. I think the effort, concentration level and the maturity and understanding of this team that we can be a good football team is there. We just have to eliminate the mistakes.
Q: If you do keep the turnovers at a minimum, how potent can this offense become by the end of the season?
ENSMINGER: I saw us against a good Louisiana Tech team, a team that beat Mississippi State, move the football up and down the field. I think we’re capable of doing that. Facing a good defense, I expect us to move the ball, run it and throw it when they give it to us. How good can this offense be? I don’t know.
Q: But it can be better than it has been in recent years?
ENSMINGER: No doubt about that. We’re better than we have been and better than we have been the last two years. We won a bunch of games there, but I think we’re more productive, more explosive, and I think we have more weapons this year.
Q: How would you grade Branndon Stewart through the mid-point of the season?
ENSMINGER: If you take one game out, I think he’s been outstanding. In the USL game, he made some poor decisions, some freshman mistakes. But since the USL game, he had thrown the ball 100-something times and not thrown an interception.
Q: After looking at the film of the USL game, what happened to Stewart in that game?
ENSMINGER: The last (interception) was in a last-minute deal where the ball was tipped in the air. One of them was a very freshman mistake, where he just threw the ball up. The other two (in the flat) were just poor decisions. Sitting back in the pocket, you have one or two people to read, and you say, ‘I’m going to go here or here.’ I guess you think your arm is a little better than it is, and you try and stick it in there. And it doesn’t work.
On every offensive play, whether it’s the quarterback or a running back or a wide receiver, you have to make a decision: Is it this coverage or that coverage? Am I in traffic, so do I cover the ball up? Is this guy open or is he not? And can I get it to him? It has to be a decision on what affects the team, not what’s best for Branndon Stewart or whoever else. You have to make that decision seeing the whole picture. Being his second ballgame, I felt like he made that decision based on his abilities and not how it affects the team.
Q: There have been times this season when Stewart appeared to have room in front of him to run out of the pocket for big yardage. Has he been told not to scramble with the ball or keep his running to a minimum?
ENSMINGER: We want him to run the football if he gets out there. We want his eyes to be downfield to see if a receiver is there. We don’t tell him, ‘Once you get out of the pocket, think run, but once you get out of the pocket, make sure you eliminate the sack, No. 1. Keep your eyes downfield for big plays, and then take advantage of the run.’ That comes with experience. You can’t do that in practice, so it has to come with game experience.
Q: What about the option? Is that still in the plans for the rest of the season?
ENSMINGER: Well, we’ve run it. We ran it against USL, and it was very effective. Most of it is what the defense gives you. We want to run the option basically not for him to run the option. I don’t know if he is a Wishbone option guy. We’d like to kick the ball to our backs and let them run it.
Q: Is this the type of offense you envisioned when you came here two years ago?
ENSMINGER: There’s no doubt about it. It is, and I really think there is a lot more to it. I think we can be in different and more formations to put pressure on the defense. It’s still a growing process with a young offense and how much can you put on these guys for them to execute. We’ve been very basic, and we’ve executed better. The better we get, we might put a little more on them.
Q: Is Albert Connell an All-America candidate at wide receiver?
ENSMINGER: I think he is an All-America talent. It depends on who we play and how they plays us. Last year, toward the end of the year, they started double-teaming him. Texas really did a lot of stuff to Albert where we had to throw the ball to Aaron Oliver and Donte Hawkins. I think he has that talent. And it goes back to the quarterback and whether he’s on a winning team.
Prior to the 1996 season, Texas A&M removed the fullback position from its offense, choosing instead to run a split-back formation. The Aggies made that decision primarily in an attempt to better utilize the multiple talents of their numerous young running backs.
For a much different reason, however, Texas A&M probably should have given at least some consideration to eliminating the position 17 years ago. After all, no fullback would ever be able to fill the shoes — or the pants size — of George Woodard, the colossal bull of the Brazos who terrorized opposing defenses in the mid- and late-1970s.
Woodard was a fan favorite and somewhat of a folk hero. He may not have actually been bigger than life, but he probably only missed that designation by a few pounds. And although the end of his career at A&M was marred by a major, disabling leg injury, Woodard may still be the most memorable fullback in the Aggies' history.
"Yeah, there was nobody quite like big George," said former Texas A&M coach Emory Bellard, who recruited Woodard and coached him from 1975-77. "Some very good fullbacks played for me (in the Wishbone) in all my years of coaching, including (Texas All-American) Steve Worster. But George was as good as they came at fullback."
The fullback position wasn't named after Woodard, but he defined the way the position was supposed to be played — bullish, bruising and battering. And there was probably not a more "fully-figured" fullback in the country than Woodard.
At least not until the Chicago Bears put William "The Refrigerator" Perry in their backfield.
But unlike Perry, Woodard was not a side-show freak or merely a publicity ploy. He was the real deal, a super athlete with almost super-human size for a running back.
As a junior and senior, Woodard outweighed every one of Texas A&M's starting offensive linemen. And his thighs were so big (26 inches each as a senior in high school) that it was necessary for Woodard to buy pants far too big in the waist line just so he could slip them over his thighs. He would then have the waist taken in to the appropriate size.
"I did more than my fair share of sewing on pants for George," said Woodard's mother, Addie. "He's always been a real big boy. In college, he probably played his best (weighing) in the neighborhood of 250 to 260 pounds."
Woodard's "neighborhood" at A&M eventually stretched close to the 300 block, but he was much more than just a mammoth man with telephone pole-like legs. In fact, what made Woodard's phenomenal physique so impressive was the fact that he maintained the athletic ability of a person nearly half his size.
As a 6-foot, 240-pound high school senior at Van Vleck, Woodard ran a 9.9 in the 100-yard dash and cleared over six feet in the high jump.
Picture the sight of that.
"There was always so much made about his size that a lot of people forgot or failed to recognize what a super athlete he was," Bellard said. "But when he played for me, he wasn't that overweight. He was just massive, especially in the legs and chest. And he was a dominating football player."
Dominating, indeed. In his career at A&M, Woodard rushed for 2,911 yards, fifth best on the Aggies' all-time rushing list and tops among A&M fullbacks. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 1976 and '77, and he ranks third best among the school's career rushing touchdown leaders with 35.
In his opening game at A&M as a freshman in 1975, Woodard fumbled on his first play. On his next play, however, Woodard went 66 yards for a touchdown. Then on his third carry, he went 25 yards for another score. Overall, he rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries.
"That was a pretty good way to start my career," said Woodard, whose warm personality is as welcoming as his size was intimidating. "We had a great team in those days. I really loved being a part of that team. It was a special group of guys."
After the LSU game, Woodard would go on to enjoy 15 more 100-yard rushing games in his career, including a 185-yard performance against USC in the 1977 Bluebonnet Bowl.
He was also a key element in the rebirth of Texas A&M football. Prior to Woodard's arrival in 1975, the Aggies had just two winning seasons in the previous 17 years. But led by a dominating defense and Woodard's powerful rushing, A&M posted consecutive 10-2 seasons and an 8-4 record in Woodard's first three years.
The A&M defense received much of the national attention, but Woodard was the primary focus of opposing defenses. Tackling Woodard, especially for defensive backs in the open field, was roughly the equivalent of trying to shoot down a jet with a sling shot.
"Lots of big fullbacks, you can hit ’em low," former A&M linebacker Kevin Monk said prior to the 1977 season. "But with George, it doesn't make any difference where you hit him. You just grab hold and holler for help."
Woodard was so powerful he often seemed rather unstoppable on the football field. Ironically, it was on the slow-pitch softball field where Woodard's career came to a halting stop.
In the summer between his junior and senior seasons, Woodard broke his tibia while playing softball. He was never the same afterward. Woodard missed the entire 1978 season and carried the ball just 13 times for 47 yards for head coach Tom Wilson in 1979.
As a result, Woodard's dream of NFL stardom was replaced by the realities of real life and far less glorious jobs. Instead of a contract in the pros, Woodard initially began working as an employee of the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville.
The physical pain from the broken leg was long gone, but the emotional pain of the injury and subsequent lost opportunities remained for years.
"He couldn't even watch a football game for a long time," his mother said. "For about eight to 10 years (after his career at A&M ended), he would walk out into the backyard and stare at the trees any time a football game would come on television. He couldn't watch it."
Today, Woodard has no problems watching football or talking about it, especially with the kids each Sunday at his church in Bay City. He is even considering a possible return to the sport as a coach if he can find the time to finish the remaining 40 hours left on his degree plan.
Whether that happens or not, Woodard no longer looks back with regret. His football memories of the past are far more pleasant than painful.
"The Lord blessed me with my size and abilities," said Woodard, who is now driving heavy equipment for Matagorda County. "I have so many great memories and friendships that came from my time at Texas A&M. I would have loved it if things would have worked out differently for me. I'm sure I would have played in the NFL. But God has other plans for me, and I'm being patient."
Woodard says he is often stopped on the streets by A&M fans who recognize him, and he loves reminiscing about his playing days. He especially enjoys running into old teammates and coaches. He bumped into Curtis Dickey several years ago at a mall in Arlington and has returned to College Station on occasion to visit Bubba Bean. And about five years ago, Woodard, who calls Bellard a father-like figure, surprised his former coach with an unexpected visit.
"I was speaking at a banquet a few years back in Bay City, and I had gotten there a little early," Bellard said. "All of the sudden, the door just filled up. It was George, and he was even bigger than he was when he played at A&M. He came over and picked me up in a big bear hug. I thought he was never going to let go of me.
"But that's the way George is. He's really one of the most likable guys I've ever coached. You can't help but wish the best for him, and you can't help but like big George. He's one of a kind. Once you meet George, you'll never forget him."
Those who watched him play will certainly never forget George Woodard. Literally and figuratively, he will forever be one of the biggest players to wear the maroon and white.