Inside the Aggies | College Station North Holland Compares Green Bay to Aggieland | Q&A with R.C. Slocum

By Homer Jacobs

I suspect when the rivers of rumor concerning the next Texas A&M offensive coordinator stopped flowing, A&M fans’ thirst for a new leader of the offense had not been quenched.

Gary Kubiak was still in Denver. Tom Rossley was still unemployed in Dallas. Elliot Uzelak — whoever he is — was still whoever he was.

Mike Sherman had been promoted from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator. It wasn’t a slap toward Sherman, who has proved his coaching and recruiting abilities as a loyal assistant to R.C. Slocum for seven out of the last eight years.

But A&M fans — like all college football fans — seek change. Yes, even Aggies, who live for unchanging tradition, yearned for a new offensive start, even it meant for an old player and assistant like Kubiak to come back home.

Fans and supporters want big names cashing the coordinator’s checks. If most people had their druthers, the ghost of Vince Lombardi would shelve his Nike commercials to be their head coach.; the offensive coordinator would be Bill Walsh; and the defense would be left in the hands of Buddy Ryan.

But, obviously, it doesn’t work that way. In college football, for sure, there are very few big names out there to lead Texas A&M’s offense.

On a rare quiet day in his office, Slocum even ran down the list of the Top 25 teams in the Associated Press poll to explain his unenviable position of finding a "big-name" offensive coordinator. He was right. There was nobody out there.

Is Florida State’s offensive coordinator going to leave Bobby Bowden for anything but a head coaching position? No.

Is Steve Spurrier going to leave Florida to Fun-and-Gun in College Station? Will an assistant ever leave Nebraska or Penn State? No and No.

Ohio State’s quarterback coach Walt Harris was practically ushered out the door to the head coaching position at Pitt. And does anyone think Arizona State will wow the world in 1997 without Jake Plummer? No, again.

So Slocum followed his heart, picking a loyal assistant coach like Sherman. And, he insists, he followed his brain, too.

Slocum wants one of his guys. It’s not an ego thing, but the A&M coach wants every coach and every player working on the same agenda.

"I have a clear philosophy," Slocum said, using the Miami Dolphins of the 1970s with Larry Czonka running and Bob Griese throwing as an example of the type of balanced offense he envisions. "I know what I want to do. And Mike Sherman understands that as well as anyone. We’re on the same page in terms of what we want to get done.

"I’ve got a guy here who cares about players and is loyal to this program. What I want to do is start with that philosophy and have guys who are on the same page. The big thing is having guys who share my philosophy across the board — in handling players, the whole thing."

It was obvious after the 6-6 season in 1996 that few people were working in synch. Slocum hired Steve Ensminger to coordinate his offense and Phil Bennett to guide the defense, assuming the two coaches shared Slocum’s same philosophy.

And Ensminger and Bennett, no doubt, were good workers and tried to do what Slocum instructed them to do. But were the coordinator’s hearts really into what Slocum had mandated?

Ensminger was a passing guy, having earned his reputation as the coach who managed Eric Zeier’s passing game at Georgia. And Bennett admitted several times this past season that he could not call the blitzes normally associated with A&M defenses because he was so worried about the secondary getting scorched.

"You have to believe," Slocum said. "There has to be a commitment and a belief (in an offensive system). That’s like a guy not believing in blitzing. You can’t bring in a guy, and every time you call man coverage or a blitz, he’s scared to death to do it."

The A&M defenses under Bob Davie and Tommy Tuberville were successful, as were Bennett’s. But what Davie and Tuberville — now head coaches at Notre Dame and Ole Miss — shared with Slocum was invaluable. They believed in the system.

Offensively for the Aggies, there have been more problems than just a difference in philosophy. The quarterback and receiver positions have not developed like Slocum had hoped.

Once again, Slocum brought in someone he feels comfortable with in quarterbacks coach Ray Dorr. The former Kentucky assistant doesn’t have the big name, but he has a long and impressive resume (see story on pages 12-13). It is Dorr’s calm demeanor that could be the calming influence for an inconsistent player like Branndon Stewart.

"Ray Dorr is a guy’s who’s been around and coached a bunch of quarterbacks and good quarterbacks," Slocum said. "He’s an easy-going, positive kind of guy who will be good with those quarterbacks."

Dorr could be a major pickup for the A&M coaching staff. In fact, one sportswriter who has covered Dorr called him "a steal" for the Aggies.

"He’s got a very good reputation in recruiting and developing good quarterbacks," says Scott Monserud, the current executive sports editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram who covered Dorr when he was the head coach at Southern Illinois from 1984-87. "He’s very personable, and he’s a very sound football coach. He’ll do a terrific job."

Although Slocum had not hired a defensive coordinator at the writing of this column, you can bet the Aggie defense will have Slocum’s style splashed all over the field.

And for those wondering the extent of Sherman’s play-calling abilities, well, he was always the first to speak up during one of former offensive coordinator Bob Toledo’s daily meetings.

It was Toledo and Sherman taking control of the offense when A&M was headed to annual Cotton Bowls. Kubiak, who was the young and quiet coach on the staff in 1993, appeared to be learning on the fly.

But what all of the new coaches will bring to Texas A&M is unity toward achieving goals. They will be extensions, wrong or right, of their head coach.

"My decision (to release three coaches) was not over a game, but an overall thing," Slocum said. "This thing had taken a turn off of where I wanted to be. You just have to go back and get it on track and keep the faith."

Some would call what Slocum did with his assistants as scapegoating. And the A&M coach realizes that claim. He would rather call it "making adjustments."

"What I can’t do is keep going like it was," he said frankly. "I couldn’t sit here and let it go another year. So it’s the same for me in identifying the problem. At some point, you take the heat.

"It’s not fun doing what I did. But once you identify problems, you have to take the actions. I’ll take the heat right now."

And things surely will cool down next year as the Aggies should improve dramatically on their 6-6 season. At the very least, coaches like Sherman and Dorr will have shown Slocum if he made the right hiring moves.

"Davie, before he came here, had just been fired at Tulane," Slocum said. "He had a horrible record. He’s now the head coach at Notre Dame. That’s the way coaching works." Join the Foundation
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College Station North
Holland Compares Green Bay to Aggieland By Rusty Burson

Prior to the 1987 NFL Draft, Texas A&M All-American linebacker Johnny Holland had spent countless nights hoping that some team close to home would select him. The Oilers would have been perfect for the Hempstead native. The Cowboys or Saints would have been great, too.

At the very least, Holland thought, playing in a city with a similarly mild, warm climate would be satisfactory. Holland pondered the possibilities of the Falcons, Dolphins, Cardinals and various other teams.

Instead, he was selected in the second round by the Green Bay Packers, home of the "frozen tundra," and generally considered the ice box of the NFL.

To Holland, Green Bay could have just as well been Greenland. It certainly seemed foreign to him.

"When I learned the Packers had taken me," Holland said, "my first thought was, 'Man, Green Bay? I don't want to go there. It's way too cold.' Besides, at that time, the Packers hadn't exactly been tearing up the league."

Not hardly. Green Bay was still the land of cheese, but championships disappeared in the late 1960s. Playoff appearances had been extremely rare over the previous two decades and losing seasons had become the norm. Plenty of beer in the city once known as "Title Town," but very little need for champagne.

In 1987, the Packers still had a long, uphill road to climb to return to their elite status in the NFL. And Holland would simply be a long way from home. It seemed like a potentially disastrous situation.

Until Holland actually arrived in Green Bay, that is. Despite the distance from home, the frequently frigid temperatures and the early losing seasons, Holland was pleasantly surprised to discover he felt right at home in Green Bay. In some regards, in fact, it was almost as if he had never left Texas A&M.

"Once I got here, I fell in love with this place," said Holland, now an assistant coach with the Packers. "All the traditions surrounding the Packers, the closeness of the fans to the players and the involvement of the players with the fans all reminded me of Texas A&M. It's almost an exact replica of A&M. Even the size of the town reminded me of the size of Bryan/College Station. It was the perfect place for me."

Holland says he's never actually gotten used to the cold of Green Bay. "I don't think a Texan can ever get used to it. Right now, it's about three degrees outside with a wind-chill factor of minus 20," he said as the Packers prepared for their NFC Championship Game against the Carolina Panthers. "But you do learn not to focus on it. Sometimes, you think about all those Texans down there playing golf in December, January and February, but I really do enjoy being here right now."

That much goes without saying. That he returned to Green Bay after his seven-year playing career ended — and after returning to Texas to take some time away from football — is proof enough of Holland's warm feelings for wintry Wisconsin.

And now, a decade after agonizing over his banishment to Green Bay, Holland is quite proud to be back with the Pack. The team is back on top in the NFL, and Holland feels rejuvenated by the competitive aspects of the coaching profession.

What was once viewed as a potential disastrous situation is now an ideal environment for Holland and his family.

"It's funny how things work out in the long run," Holland said. "I didn't really want to come to Green Bay in the first place, but it was actually quite a blessing. The fans here have made me feel as appreciated and as comfortable as I did at Texas A&M. I never thought that would be possible."

The making of "Mr. Anywhere"

When Johnny Holland arrived as a freshman at Texas A&M in 1983, the Aggies were a rather mediocre team without much identity. Jackie Sherrill had just completed his first year, a 5-6 season that ended with a 53-16 loss to Texas.

Holland's first year, the 1983 season, wasn't wonderfully memorable, either. The Aggies went 5-5-1 and were once again blasted by Texas, 45-13, to end the year. But by the end of the 1984 season, A&M was beginning to show signs of a team on the rise, and Holland was beginning to establish himself as a big-time linebacker, posting 155 tackles. With Holland now a fixture in the starting lineup, the Aggies finished the '84 season with a big win over TCU and a huge 37-12 victory over Texas.

"When I first got to A&M, we were still just trying to put things together," Holland said. "We had a new coach, a new system and a lot of good, young players. And toward the end of my sophomore year, we began to put things together."

In 1985, it all came together, as the Aggies won their first outright Southwest Conference championship and made their first Cotton Bowl appearance since 1967. (Coincidentally, 1967 was also the last season the Packers won the Super Bowl.)

Holland certainly played a major role in leading the Aggies to their first championship in nearly 20 years. No. 11 was everywhere, using his speed and instinctive abilities to make tackles on both sides of the field, in the backfield and in the secondary. As a result, he earned All-American honors and the nickname "Mr. Anywhere."

Holland's senior season was equally impressive, as he recorded 147 tackles, once again earned All-American honors and helped lead the Aggies to their second consecutive SWC title and Cotton Bowl appearance.

Holland was easily the most dominant A&M linebacker since the mid-1970s when Robert Jackson, Ed Simonini and Garth Ten Naple earned All-American recognition. And he was the first of the Aggies' major impact linebackers who would eventually help A&M establish the "Linebacker U" reputation that exists today.

"By playing linebacker at Texas A&M, I had a major advantage over most of the other players who were entering the NFL," Holland said. "Coach Slocum was my position coach and my defensive coordinator, and he taught me so much that I put to use in the NFL. Coach Slocum was — and still is — an outstanding coach. He put me way ahead of players from other schools.

"It's not luck that so many linebackers from Texas A&M have done so well in the pros. That's a bragging right that I am very proud of. I take a lot of pride in Texas A&M's Linebacker U reputation and telling people I am from Texas A&M."

Making a quick impact in the NFL

Holland may have initially been disappointed to have been drafted by the Packers, but it certainly didn't show in his performance. The Packers' second-round selection wasted little time making an impression on Forrest Gregg's coaching staff during his rookie training camp in 1987. And by the opening game of the regular season, Holland had become a starter. In fact, he was the Defensive Player of the Game in his first contest.

Holland went on to become the team's Rookie of the Year, and he says 1987 would have been a tremendously satisfying season if it had not been for a players strike.

"There were a lot of ups and downs that first year, but I really began to appreciate the opportunity to play in the NFL and the fans of Green Bay," he said. "That's when I began to notice the similarities between Green Bay and Texas A&M. The fans here absolutely loved the Packers, win or lose. That part was a lot like A&M."

Over the next couple of years, there were certainly more losses than wins for the Packers. But even through the darkest times, Holland stood out and became a fan favorite for his work ethic on and off the field. Holland and his wife, Faith, were extremely active in the Green Bay community, donating their time and funds to several charities in the area. And by 1992, Holland had become the focal point of the Packers' defense, leading the team in tackles and finishing in the top two or three in virtually every defensive category.

It was a rather amazing year for Holland, considering he missed the final two games of the season. In the 14th game of the year, Holland sustained a herniated disk in his neck that required career-threatening neck surgery.

Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and Holland had another outstanding year in 1993. But in the playoff game against Dallas, Holland sustained another herniated disk. And after discussing the situation with doctors — and learning about the possibility of paralysis — Holland decided it was time to retire.

"It was tough because I felt like I was in the prime of my career," Holland said. "But I also realized injuries were part of the game. I had seen what injuries had done to other players throughout my NFL career, and I played with an attitude that every season could be my last one in the NFL.

"Besides, I had very few regrets. I considered it a blessing to play in the NFL at all. I looked back at all the great players I had played with and against in high school and college who never got the chance I did. I was very fortunate."

In reality, Holland says, his playing career couldn't have come to an end at a better time. He was financially stable, and his wife was pregnant with their first child. So, Holland and his wife returned to Hempstead to get away from football for a while and start a family. Holland's son, Jordan, was born March 15, 1994.

"Being away from football at that time gave me the opportunity to spend some quality time with my wife and to help out with Jordan," said Holland, who also has a five-month-old daughter, Joli. "I don't think you would ever plan for a career-ending injury, but if it was going to happen, it couldn't have happened at a better time."

Answering the call

Before Johnny Holland had left the Green Bay Packers, head coach Mike Holmgren asked his star linebacker what he planned to do with the rest of his life. Holmgren suggested that Holland would make an outstanding coach, and asked him if he would ever be interested.

Holland had never envisioned being a coach, but he told Holmgren he would certainly consider it if the right opening came along.

In March of 1995, the right opening came along. Holmgren called Holland and said a defensive assistant and quality control position was available.

"I wasn't completely sure if that's what I wanted to do, but I went for the interview and was offered the job," Holland said. "Once I got into it, I found that it was the closest thing to actually playing that I could find. When I was out of football, the things I missed were the camaraderie, the friends and the competitiveness of football. I didn't miss the practices or all the bumps and bruises. But coaching has kind of given me the best of both worlds. I'm really enjoying it."

In his current role, Holland helps coach the Green Bay linebackers and has a variety of quality control responsibilities such as reviewing film, updating the playbook in the computer and so forth. Eventually, he says, he'd love to work his way up the coaching ladder and become a head coach.

"I'm very competitive, and I didn't get in this business to stay at one level," he said. "But right now, I'm having a lot of fun and learning a lot. My wife is happy to be back here because of all the friends and associations we made when I was a player here, and I feel real good about being back here."

If he had his preference, Holland says he would eventually like to end up coaching somewhere in the South. There's only so much ice and snow a Texan can endure in one lifetime, he says.

Of course, the weather is not the only reason why Holland says he would eventually like to get back closer to home. It's hard to get good coverage of Texas A&M in Wisconsin, he says.

"I get my 12th Man Magazine during the week, but it's hard to follow the Aggies up here," Holland said with a chuckle. "I need my Aggie info. Besides, I'd love for my kids to be able to learn more about Texas A&M and see it all for themselves. Texas A&M was so good for me, and I'd love to see them eventually go to school there. I wouldn't ever push it on them, but I know they'd love it."

Until Holland and his family are able to get a little closer to Bryan/College Station on a permanent basis, Green Bay and it's A&M similarities will have to suffice.

"I guess if you couldn't go to Kyle Field every weekend, this is the next best thing," Holland said. "It feels a lot like home. Just a lot colder."

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Q&A with R.C. Slocum

QUESTION: What is your favorite aspect of recruiting?

COACH R.C. SLOCUM: People, over the years, that I’ve heard who don’t like recruiting, those people to me are the bad recruiters.

There’s a grind to recruiting that I suppose nobody likes. But in terms of going in homes, meeting families, I don’t mind that at all. Meeting different people, kids from different backgrounds — that part of it I kind of enjoy.

In looking at programs this time of the year, you have to believe that you win with recruiting. There’s two elements — having players and coaching players. If you don’t have the players, you can coach as hard as you want to coach, and you’re not going to be very good. There are people who have good players who don’t win with them. But there’s nobody winning without good players.

Q: How do you deal with the travel involved in recruiting?

SLOCUM: That’s the grind you have. I left here at noon (Dec. 22) and got in at midnight last night. I went to Dallas, a guy picked me up and took me to Irving. I went back to Dallas, went to Terrell and saw a kid there; went to Tulsa and saw a kid there and got back here at midnight.

As soon as the kids got out of here (on the Dec. 13-14 visit weekend), I took off and went to Houston and saw four home visits that night. I was back in here after midnight. The next day, I take off to Tyler and have four home visits over there. The next day I was back in Houston and then over to Opelousas, La. Every night I’m back after midnight.

There’s no time. Every minute of every day (is accounted for). It’s just a grind. That’s part of the deal.

Q: What’s the most frustrating part of recruiting?

SLOCUM: There are a couple of things. At the top of the list is the unfairness or the negative thing of people taking advantage of kids. There are guys in this business who absolutely misrepresent things to kids and throw out negative things about A&M that aren’t factual at all. That part is frustrating, that it’s not done at a higher level. It gets to be a nasty, dirty business a lot of times. There’s always somebody in there. A lot of the schools you never have a problem with. Or at a school there could be guys you never have a problem with, but there’s just one guy who has no integrity.

Q: What are some of the more bizarre recruiting stories you can remember in your career?

SLOCUM: (Bob) Davie and I sat in a parking lot because we had used all of our visits up with that (Clifton) Abraham kid who went to Florida State. So we sat in a parking lot and had him stand in the window, and we talked to him on the phone. And I did the same thing with Leeland McElroy. I went to the school, and I couldn’t see Leeland. So I went into the school with (new offensive coordinator) Mike Sherman and saw the counselor. I had used my visit with Leeland in his home, and that was my one contact with him. Sherman could see him, but I couldn’t. So Sherman has the kid in the counselor’s office, and I sat in the car outside and talked to him. I couldn’t see him, but I wanted him to know how important he was to us that I would come down and sit in the parking lot at school.

Q: How has recruiting changed from 10 or 15 years ago?

SLOCUM: It’s a much, much shorter period now. When I first started recruiting, you could go out in the summers and bring kids in for official visits before their senior years. Charlie Weatherbie, the Navy coach, I brought him down here to A&M and took him out to Lake Sommerville and went (water) skiing. Plus, we could go out and watch high school two-a-days. Before we’d start our two-a-days, we’d have a three- or four-day swing on the road where we’d go watch high school practices.

And the first year I recruited, the national signing day was in May. Each year, each respective conference had their own signing letter. The SEC always had their (signing day) the second week in December. And a kid may sign three or four conference letters. He may sign with one school in the Southwest Conference, Oklahoma in the Big Eight and LSU in the SEC. Then you could go to the national date and keep right on recruiting, but you’d narrow your competition down to three or four other schools.

So I’d be in spring training here and take off at night and go see a kid. And at one time, you had unlimited official visits. So if things didn’t go so well (on the first visit), we’d say, ‘You know, we need to get you back here for another visit.’ So you bring him back for another official visit.

Then they kept moving the national signing date closer to the conference signing date. Finally, they came up with a uniform national letter and national signing date. That was the major improvement.

And limiting the number of contacts was a major improvement. You used to go see a kid every day. And you used to be able to take a kid out to dinner. Coaches all weighed a lot more then. You’d have somebody for breakfast, meet some kid for lunch. After school, some kid was always hungry, so you’d eat after school. Then that night, you may have a couple of meals. It was a tremendous expense. You could take kids out to restaurants, so there was a one-upsmanship in the big cities in going out to the nicest clubs.

In many cases, you’d have whole big families eating at the Petroleum Club, and alumni back then could pay for it. So there is a lot more sanity to it now. I think it’s a lot better for the kids, because (the NCAA) has gotten it down to the point where more of the real things you ought to consider in recruiting are being considered.

And I think you could restrict those (official) visits even more and cut them back from five back to four. You would make guys, ahead of time, define more what they’re looking for. It’s always interesting to see a guy take five trips, with four of them out-of-state. And then he says, ‘I’m not going to leave home.’ That decision could have been made in one or two trips.

Q: What can be done to curb the bombardment of the recruits by media, recruiting services, etc.?

SLOCUM: The biggest problem right now in recruiting are these different recruiting services. A few years ago with the newspapers, it appeared the editors were moving toward trying to restrict (the coverage), but it went the other way. I was in Oklahoma, and they had a list of commitments that weren’t any where near accurate for us. There’s so much of that stuff out there that you can never get an accurate list.

What you really ought to do is say we’re not going to print commitments. There’s just a whole bunch of misinformation out there.

You can put anything on the Net. If you polled the kids, they would all tell you the toughest thing is all the recruiting services calling.

Then you get those lists in the paper of all the recruits and the schools their considering. You’ve got guys on those lists who we have never talked to and never recruited at all, and they’ve got us as one of their choices. Then you have other kids we think we’re going to get. They’re definitely visiting, the families are coming, yet we aren’t listed as one of their choices. You just wonder how (the recruiting services) arrive at that stuff.

You’ve got the Houston Chronicle Top 100, and you know that week they haven’t contacted 100 kids. So they just print it, and it’s inaccurate.

And then everybody is counting up the guys, saying we’ve got this many, we’ve got this percentage of the top 100. The whole thing is a joke. It’s like a novel or something.

Q: How much of recruiting is just speculation by fans and coaches on how a player will develop on the collegiate level?

SLOCUM: About half of them never play. If you go back and check the lists four years later and check the bluest of the (blue chips), a lot of those guys never play a down. So then when they go to school, the fans are saying, ‘Well, the coaches just aren’t developing those guys.’ The reality is some of the guys were blown out of proportion in high school as how good they were.

Dante Hall was not a highly-touted guy, and Reggie Brown was not a highly-touted guy. But they were very good prospects. And you take other guys who were all-everything, but that guy wasn’t very good to start with. You take them thinking they’ll be big-time guys, but sometimes they just didn’t develop. There are whole bunch of factors that get involved.

It’s a very inexact science because you’re dealing with human beings. And we’re dealing with things we cannot measure.

Q: Is recruiting going better than you expected coming off a 6-6 season?

SLOCUM: I don’t know if that’s even a factor. The coaches have really worked hard. This whole year we started off with a bigger push back in the spring, and in the fall, we pushed to be further along. We’ve changed our thinking a little bit. In the past, we would hang in there and then have our big push in January. The trend in college athletics is for guys to commit earlier. Schools back east and in the Big Ten are bringing guys in earlier. We’re ahead of schedule, and it’s going well.

And I think the opportunity to play at some positions where we have some obvious openings where a guy can come in and play, that helps. Texas last year had that advantage in the defensive line. They had us over a barrel because we had all seniors. They had obvious holes there, and those (freshman) kids did play this year. They had that to use in recruiting, and we didn’t.

This year, we’ve got (those opportunities), and it’s helped.

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