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Volume 5, No. 18
When college football observers underrated the Aggies before the season, they pointed to question marks at quarterback and defensive back. Youth at those positions, the consensus claimed, would be too much of a burden for Texas A&M to overcome.
As the regular season came to a close last weekend against Texas, the Aggies will now look toward a bowl game and the 2001 season with the defensive back and quarterback positions looked upon as strengths of the team. Sure, Mark Farris is the 25-year-old graybeard, having started 11 games and looking every bit the part of a mature quarterback developing at a break-neck pace. But the defensive backs? Weren’t they supposed to come along more like peach-fuzzed pups, freezing up before Josh Heupel’s eyes? It didn’t happen, as the Aggies’ secondary – complete with a new coach overseeing a new position – met nearly every challenge dinked and dumped in its direction. "Across the board, during two-a-days I started thinking that we have the ability to line up and play man coverage," said Shawn Slocum, who returned to A&M from USC to coach the defensive backs after mainly coaching linebackers and tight ends in his career. "When you do that, it gives the defense flexibility. "I tried to recruit Sammy Davis to USC and tried to recruit Sean Weston to USC. And I had recruited Jay Brooks and Michael Jameson, so I had a pretty good feel about the guys who were here. I was pleasantly surprised to see what kind of player Terrance Kiel could become. Throughout the two-a-days and the course of this season, I’ve gotten more confidence in them as a coach. And they’ve gotten confidence in themselves as a unit."
The season began with A&M unsure of its ways in the defensive backfield. Senior safety Michael Jameson missed most of the Notre Dame game with an Achilles injury, and Jay Brooks was burned twice for touchdowns by the Irish in the 24-10 loss. The Aggies then shifted their lineup, pushing former walk-on quarterback Wes Bautovich into the starting lineup while Jameson recovered and switching Brooks to his more comfortable role as nickel back and punt blocker extraordinaire. Redshirt freshman cornerback Sean Weston was thrust into a starting role, and suddenly, the Aggies were lining up two true sophomores, one redshirt freshman and a senior free safety – when healthy. R.C. Slocum called it his youngest secondary ever at A&M. Would the pass defense unravel like it did in 1996, most notably in the 41-37 debacle at BYU? The Texas Tech game would provide the answer, as the Aggies picked off three passes, eluded a sure touchdown pass in the second half, but held on for a 33-15 win over the pass-happy Red Raiders. "Sean Weston really came on in the UTEP game when they had Lee Mays," Brooks said. "He tested Sean a couple of times, and Sean really stepped up. Wyoming challenged us with four or five wideouts, but they didn’t challenge us vertically. "Tech came out and had the whole package. They tried us vertically and tried us horizontally. And we rose to the challenge." The Aggies not only were able to cover most of the receivers in the Big 12, but A&M defensive backs were beginning to make the big plays, reminiscient of Wrecking Crews of the past. No, this wasn’t Ray Mickens and Aaron Glenn patrolling the secondary, but Kiel and corner Sammy Davis were quickly turning heads as legitimate stars of tomorrow.
With four interceptions apiece, Kiel and Davis helped A&M pick off 18 passes in 10 games, four ahead of last year’s senior-laden secondary. "We knew from the get-go what we had coming back," said Brooks, who had blocked four punts heading into the Texas. "Coach Slocum always told us that we’re young but that we had to prove something to everybody. He had a lot of confidence in everybody. It took each and every game to get better and better. "The stats starting rising, and we started making a lot of plays. We started getting interception after interception, and everybody was doing their part. That’s the thing… everybody wasn’t trying to do too much." In addition to the young Aggies growing up quickly against some of the better spreads offenses in the country, the defensive backs were bolstered by brutal practice sessions. Playing bum-and-run coverage with Robert Ferguson can do that to a player. "When Ferguson first came in, he gave us a lot of trouble," said Weston, a quick-footed corner from Inglewood, Calif. "As we kept working against him, he made us a lot better. It’s not as bad as it used to be in practice. He’s probably the best receiver I’ve seen all year." Having to battle Ferguson’s hard-nosed mentality on the practice field and Shawn Slocum’s fire and focus on gameday resulted in the toughening up of the Aggie secondary. Now mentally prepared to play man-to-man coverage, the Aggies were able to cut loose as a defense up front. No, the days of the all-out blitz aren’t returning in this day and age of college football, but the Wrecking Crew did show flashes of wreaking its old havoc. "That’s a credit to us and our coaching staff," Brooks said. "Our coaches are putting us in the right places, and they know who wants to play. (Shawn) brings more intensity to the game. During the week, he teaches us technique. But when it’s gameday, he tells us to do what we have to do to get the job done. You love having someone like that in your corner, just being a warrior. And he’s a warrior. Not to take anything away from Coach (Larry) Slade or Coach (Ron) Milus because everybody has their own coaching style. But (Shawn) has that warrior mentality to go out and win." Shawn Slocum said the A&M head coach took a definite hands-on approach toward the secondary last spring and during two-a-days. Now, he can use his hands to pat Shawn and the Aggie DBs on the back. "R.C. has done a great job of helping out, and he continues to be a great resource for me as a coach to draw from the things he’s done," Shawn said. "It’s been a great situation for everybody. "The days before spring training, he was around quite a bit. As the season has gone along, he’s been less and less around. I like to ask him things because he’s been down a lot of the roads I haven’t been down. That’s the way coaches ought to be – drawing from other people who have had experience." The Aggie coaching staff – realizing the onslaught of trendy passing offenses now popping up around the country and in the Big 12 South Division – has made it a top priority to sign large classes of defensive backs the last few years. In the last two recruiting classes, A&M has signed 12 defensive backs. And all indications are that the Aggies could sign at least five more this February. In last season’s recruiting haul, players like Adam Black, Jonte Buhl and Dawon Gentry headlined the Aggies’ defensive class. So far, all three true freshmen have seen action this year, with Buhl and Gentry seeing the most playing time. Buhl was even thrown into the unbelievable atmosphere during the Oklahoma game when Davis left the game with a sprained ankle in the first half. And with Jameson graduating after this season, Gentry could move into the starting role at free safety as a sophomore. Black, who has missed playing time with a hamstring injury, still has the coaches excited about contributing quickly in 2001. "He’s had some nagging injuries, and that set him back a little bit," Shawn Slocum said of Black. "About the time he got hurt, Jonte stepped up. I think (Black) is going to be a fine football player. He’s got speed, toughness and wants to be good. "We play four, five and six defensive backs. And our kicking game requires the use of a lot of DBs. The more that we have, the more you’ll see those guys in those situations and we’ll have more team speed. That’s going to help us. We were down (in numbers) because he had lost a lot of guys. So we had to restock the shelves." With more sets of bowl practices coming up and another spring training, the Aggies’ secondary is poised to be the star-studded portion of the Wrecking Crew next season. "Jonte Buhl is one of the best coming up," Brook said. "And we have some more back there. Black has been hurt, but he’s very talented, too. Gentry is one of those hard-hitting safeties. He’s always knocking heads in practice. "It should be the strength of our defense next year. The defensive line will be the question mark, so we’ll have to be the strength. We’ll have new faces at linebacker and on the defensive line. People are going to expect us to do well, but we’ll be ready for it." Yes, it’s only December of 2000, but already there are eyes in Aggieland gazing toward the 2001 season, when A&M will be rebuilding a defensive line and linebacking corps that will lose five senior starters to graduation. Just a year removed from being tabbed as greenhorns, the A&M defensive backs now will be the money men of the Wrecking Crew. "I’m excited about next year because I think we can do way better than we did this year," Buhl said. "I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next year because we have more experience, and we know what it takes to get to the next level. It’s going to be great."
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