Q: A lot of the national media covered the Bonfire tragedy and the A&M-Texas game. What do you think they took from their experiences on this campus during such an unbelievable time?

Slocum: I think the biggest thing is we've known for a long time here what A&M is all about. And we've all been very proud of it, but we've always said it's been one of the best-kept secrets because people nationwide have not had the exposure to all of that. One of the positive things that came out of the tragedy was there was a tremendous amount of coverage all over the country. And I think the media handled everything in a classy way, almost without exception. As a result, the A&M story - what A&M is all about and what the spirit of Aggieland is - got far-reaching exposure that we've really never had.

Q: You've had a few weeks to reflect on what happened with the tragedy, but what was it like going through that week as a head coach, trying to prepare a team with all that was going on around the A&M campus?

Slocum: It was one of those things where you just never relaxed at all the whole week. From the moment I first got the phone call about the tragedy, you just never felt at ease. You were edgy, and you just felt like something was going on the whole time, which it was. You almost felt guilty in one sense preparing for football or even talking about the game. But on the other hand, you felt a tremendous sense of obligation to all Aggies and especially to those young people who were injured and the ones who died working on the Bonfire project, which is symbolic of the enthusiasm for the game and the spirit of Aggieland. So you were torn between the emotions of the relative importance of the game and the responsibility we had to be ready for the game.

Q: Are you more proud of A&M and the extended Aggie family than you ever have been?

Slocum: I'm just glad a lot of other people know about it now. I've always had a good feel of what A&M is all about and what Aggies are all about. I'm just glad a lot of other people got a first-hand look at what this place is all about. It is a special place.

Q: You've always said that most high school recruits are usually predisposed in terms of being a Longhorn or an Aggie. But do you think that the special atmosphere at Kyle Field the day after Thanksgiving may have hit home with some recruits who might not have otherwise been interested in attending Texas A&M?

Slocum: No question you're in a selling process. And part of what you sell is the atmosphere. Getting someone here to see first-hand that kind of atmosphere is a real positive for us. Everyone I talked to after the game was really impressed with the atmosphere.

I wish we had nicer dressing rooms and the meeting room where I met with the team, I wish that had been nicer. But those are things we're working on and trying to better.

Q: Are those types of upgrades in facilities something you are really focusing on as the 12th Man Foundation begins its $35 million capital campaign?

Slocum: We've got in order a list of things that we need. I'd say that's one of the biggest misconceptions about our program. that most Aggies think we have great facilities. That's just not reality compared to the people we would like to compare ourselves to or where we'd like to be.

We've made great strides if you look across the board at the athletic department, but in terms of football, our dormitory is an old run-down dorm. Our meeting rooms are a liability to us. I saw one writer refer to my office as 'Slocum in his closet-like office ' compared to other people.

When they go to Texas and some of these other places, it's a whole different situation. Some of those things we'll work toward getting, and it will help in recruiting. The better you recruit, the better you play.

Q: This has been an up-and-down season in 1999. Are you ready to get to recruiting and look at the 2000 season?

Slocum: I am, but one of the things about this year that I recognized that perhaps not many people recognized was that we lost 10 players off last year's team, with seven of those making NFL teams. Coming into this year, I thought it was really puzzling that all the writers and pickers who prognosticate, almost all of those people picked us high as a team. But when the same guys started identifying who the outstanding players would be in the league, other than our punter, nobody picked any of our players.

On one hand, they elevated the fans' expectations for the team, but then said they don't think you have a bunch of star players.

We didn't pick ourselves fifth in the nation. I didn't do that and the players didn't do that. Then as the year went on, it was like we had lost something or were screwing up something because we weren't playing to that level. A realistic approach wouldn't have had us at that level to start with.

Q: Was the talent dip just a one-year deal, and do you feel good about the younger players coming up through the redshirt ranks?

Slocum: We had a strong senior class a year ago that really probably overachieved. Still, we had seven of those guys make NFL teams. We won't have near that many make the NFL this year. We had a good recruiting year last year, and I think we have some good young players.

Sometimes you have a lull in there and maybe had some players you counted on and they didn't turn out quite like you had hoped, and so you have a dip. Ohio State apparently had a big dip. UCLA is another great example. This year they weren't quite as good. We were in that same situation, but we just didn't fall as far as Notre Dame, Ohio State and UCLA.

We've got a bunch of young running backs who we redshirted, and a bunch of young offensive linemen. We have some linebackers and people who can help this team. But we need to have another good recruiting year.

And another thing is that this league is a very competitive league. Nobody in the league in either the North or South went through conference play undefeated. I'm not sure our expectations are realistic sometimes that we're just going to go out there and blow everybody away. I don't know what we base those (expectations) on.

Q: When you look back on the season, what was the most pleasing aspect of the season and what was the most disappointing?

Slocum: The most pleasing thing was that our players never gave up. We had funs jump off the bandwagon at various points in the season which created a lot of confusion. But our players stayed in there pretty solidly.

And we finished on a strong note. We fell into some hard times, but finished on a positive note.

The most disappointing aspect was the Oklahoma game and the way we played in that game.

But it's all how people look at things. You could say we were one play (a holding call against Texas Tech) away from winning the South for the third year in a row. Or you can say how screwed up things are. It all depends on how you look at things.

Q: Do you have a good feel for this recruiting season, which is now hitting full stride?

Slocum: We've had good reception. You've got to get (a top quarterback). You have to keep looking, but you don't know who those guys are sometimes. This spring, we'll have some competition at quarterback. Vance (Smith) has a strong arm, and Colby (Freeman) will be a heck of a competitor. He has a similar personality to Bucky (Richardson).

Q: How important and uplifting to the program would it be to win the bowl game, finish 9-3 after having beaten two straight quality teams?

Slocum: That was something we talked about after the Nebraska game. I talked to them about tuning out those around them that were negative and had given up. I said the rest of your life you'll be around weak people. I said we've got a lot of opportunities. we can win our next two games, go to a bowl game, win a bowl game and finish up 9-3. There wouldn't be too many people better than we are. Now we're one game away from doing that.

You just have to keep battling, stay positive and keep going. It's hard to do because the players are a product of their environment, and then the challenge of keeping them focused gets even harder.

Q: This is the time of year when you size up how your coaching staff performed throughout the year. Have you made any decisions on your staff, and are you hoping to bring back Shawn Slocum to the staff after he's been successful at USC?

Slocum: It's early in that time. At this point, I haven't had time to go through everything we've done. Each season, you go back and evaluate where you are and how each position functioned.