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Volume 5, No. 17
Editor’s Note: Inside linebackers coach Alan Weddell sat down with 12th Man Magazine’s Homer Jacobs to discuss life as a college football assistant coach at Texas A&M. Q: What’s the most exhilarating aspect of being a college football assistant coach, and what’s the most draining part of your job? Weddell: The most exhilarating part is in three phases: First, it’ preparing the game plan; and practice – getting out there, motivating kids in practice; and then, of course, there’s gameday. The draining part of the week is the amount of tape you have to constantly look at and evaluate. And then there are the extra hours you have to put in this time of year with recruiting. Those are two things that are definitely necessary to be successful, but they do take a lot out of you. Q: What’s your typical recruiting spiel when you call up a recruit on the phone? Weddell: I try to let them get to know me a little bit. I think it’s important for them to get to know me and my background. With my background in high school football, I think I can relate to them, and they can relate to me right off the bat. In my recruiting area where I also coached (at La Marque), I think we have a lot of common interests and common people that we know. Then we start talking about Aggieland and the success we have and are going to have. We tell them that we would like them to be a part of that success and that not only are we a great football program but a great school. After you get out of here, you’re going to have a great education and have a great job. So, it’s an easy sell.
Q: What’s the most satisfying recruiting moment for you, when you were able to land one of the top players out there? Weddell: Probably Ty Warren. Although he was local, he could have gone anywhere. I had Bryan High that year, and not only was that my first year and it being at home, but Ty was one that we really targeted very early as one of the top two or three difference-makers in that recruiting class. He was my first one, and I had to battle Shawn (Slocum) for him. Everyone was after him. Q: On the flip side, can you name a recruit that you lost to another school when you thought A&M was going to land him? Weddell: I think the (Ray) Willis kid at Angleton last year. We were really high on him. But Florida State comes in about three days before signing day. He goes on an unofficial visit and signs with them. Florida State had always been his childhood dream team. It had nothing to do with education, location or playing time. He just wanted to play for Florida State. And then there were the Darling twins. They were a package deal. The linebacker said he would love to come play for A&M, but the brother wanted to go to a ‘more of a passing school.’ I think if he looked as us today, he’d see what kind of passing school we are. Q: What’s the prognosis for Aggie football recruiting this year, especially in your area (Houston/Galveston)? Weddell: I think last year we were down in my area a little bit. This year, there is an awful lot of Division I prospects in my area. I think we offered 10 kids in my area and are still evaluating four or five others. Q: How much of an impact do you think the atmosphere at the Oklahoma game had on recruits? Weddell: Recruits are looking for different things. A lot are looking for education and a lot are looking for location. But if a recruit is looking for big-time football, (the OU game) showed there is big-time football at A&M. You don’t have to go to Florida State or anywhere else. You can find it right here in College Station. We play big-time football in a big-time facility and get big-time national media coverage. We’ve had the largest crowd ever to see a football game in the state of Texas, which is the football state. Q: How would you characterize the play of the Aggie inside linebackers so far this season? Weddell: I think we’ve improved as the season has gone along. We’ve been slowed down by injuries a little bit. (Jared) Morris missed three weeks and Harold (Robertson) missed three weeks. Morris was really coming on strong, but then he had a setback and he’s starting to come back. I think (Brian) Gamble has really improved. The first game he was a little soft and a little sluggish. But he’s leading the team in tackles, and he’s at a pace of averaging double-digit tackles per game. Q: What happened on the swing pass for a touchdown in the Colorado game? Was that a mis-read by the inside linebackers and was it a play that will drive defensive coaches crazy? Weddell: It was a pick play. It was a good play against our defense. It should have been a 15-yard gain, but unfortunately, we took bad angles in pursuit after we got blocked and didn’t make the play. Those are the plays that drive you crazy. Q: Who are some of the redshirting linebackers that Aggie fans can look forward to watching play in the near future? Weddell: LeBrandon Shepard shows all the attributes of being a big-time player. He’s got great knowledge of the game, and he’s very physical. He’s gotten big… Cain Hall has been good to him. He’s up over 230 pounds, and that’s what you’re looking for now. We’re in the Big 12, and there are two types of linebackers you’ve got to have: You need players like Jared Morris, who weighs 240-245 pounds. I think LeBrandon will be that type of player. Then you need guys who can cover the backs and the tight ends in a nickel package like a Harold Robertson. Brian Thompson is a speedster and can rush and play the nickel linebacker, as well. Q: How do you compare A&M and Texas today as football programs and universities to what you remember as a football player for the Longhorns in 1970? Weddell: A&M today is a whole lot different than A&M in 1970. It was a Corps school, and there were very few women there. College Station was a small town, and on weekends all the Aggies would go to Austin. The school has changed so much from an institution with 12,000 students then to 43,000 today. The good parts of Texas back in the late 1960s is what A&M is about now. It’s a large school that provides an excellent education with a very strong alumni group. And I’ve said many times that Coach Slocum reminds me a lot of Coach Royal. I think Texas became a very liberal school with the onset of the Vietnam War. I saw a very conservative school when I was a freshman change to a very liberal school by the time I was a senior.
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