BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
1. The offseason of Johnny Manziel has been as chronicled as any. From your perspective, has it been a media overreaction or is there some legitimate concern about where Manziel's focus is heading into 2013?
- It's our job to feed Manziel Mania, especially here in Aggieland. However, it's a no-win situation when those who love him can't get enough Manziel "news," while a couple ill-advised tweets have many wanting him to take a break from the national spotlight until football season. The bottom line is if he's as good or better than he was a year ago, who cares about the Summer of 2013; it will be the Fall of 2013 we remember. Though if A&M falls hard this fall, many will blame his summer of popularity.
2. From a purely on-field perspective, what can Manziel do to get better? What effect, if any, will the loss of Kingsbury have on the A&M offense?
- He'll need to be a better pocket passer because odds are teams will try to limit his mobility, though, good luck with that. I think Kingsbury helped in the maturity and growth of Manziel as a redshirt freshman. I don't think Kingsbury will be missed this fall because this is still Kevin Sumlin's team and offense.
3. What about the rest of the A&M offense? Walk us through the ongoing changes now that Ryan Swope and Luke Joeckel are gone.
- A&M's offense will be just as lethal IF wide receiver Mike Evans stays healthy. You have Jake Matthews, a sure-fire first-round NFL pick, moving out to left tackle to replace Luke Joeckel, who was a first-rounder. Talented little brother Mike Matthews moves into center to replace three-year starter Patrick Lewis and A&M shouldn't miss a beat, or the hurry-up offense could even beat faster. A&M has four tailbacks who could start - just like, say, Alabama. But the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Evans is the key. He will demand double teams and Manziel will still throw to him. Manziel can stay off Twitter, but he needs Evans.
4. Damontre Moore, one of the SEC's top defensive playmakers, is gone to the NFL and the Aggies struggled at times to slow their opponents in 2012. What's the concern level on that side of the ball heading into the season?
- Defensive coordinator Mark Snyder deserved a Heisman for what he did last year. It will be tough to replace Moore and linebacker Jonathan Stewart. There are concerns, as A&M might not start a senior in its back seven. But Snyder has three things going for him: 1, He has more talented players; 2, It's the second year the players have been in his system; 3, He doesn't have to face Johnny Manziel on Sept. 14.
5. Size of the anticipation level heading into the Sept. 14 matchup. In your time on the beat, has anything rivaled it? What's the optimism level among Texas A&M fans?
- I've been with the paper since 1974. It doesn't get any bigger than this. It would be pointless to even mention other games. This is the game. Life has been good for the Aggies since Sumlin came to town with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, not only saying the right things, but then doing them. It seems every day there's another magazine or Dot-com predicting Alabama to win the national championship, so much that I expect a few Aggies checked the schedule to make sure the Sept. 14 game is still at Kyle Field. A&M is confident, and why not? If Aggies do something twice, it's called a tradition. You can bet many expect to be celebrating a new tradition come Sept. 14.
http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2013/06/alabama_2013_schedule_beat_wri.html
- It's our job to feed Manziel Mania, especially here in Aggieland. However, it's a no-win situation when those who love him can't get enough Manziel "news," while a couple ill-advised tweets have many wanting him to take a break from the national spotlight until football season. The bottom line is if he's as good or better than he was a year ago, who cares about the Summer of 2013; it will be the Fall of 2013 we remember. Though if A&M falls hard this fall, many will blame his summer of popularity.
2. From a purely on-field perspective, what can Manziel do to get better? What effect, if any, will the loss of Kingsbury have on the A&M offense?
- He'll need to be a better pocket passer because odds are teams will try to limit his mobility, though, good luck with that. I think Kingsbury helped in the maturity and growth of Manziel as a redshirt freshman. I don't think Kingsbury will be missed this fall because this is still Kevin Sumlin's team and offense.
3. What about the rest of the A&M offense? Walk us through the ongoing changes now that Ryan Swope and Luke Joeckel are gone.
- A&M's offense will be just as lethal IF wide receiver Mike Evans stays healthy. You have Jake Matthews, a sure-fire first-round NFL pick, moving out to left tackle to replace Luke Joeckel, who was a first-rounder. Talented little brother Mike Matthews moves into center to replace three-year starter Patrick Lewis and A&M shouldn't miss a beat, or the hurry-up offense could even beat faster. A&M has four tailbacks who could start - just like, say, Alabama. But the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Evans is the key. He will demand double teams and Manziel will still throw to him. Manziel can stay off Twitter, but he needs Evans.
4. Damontre Moore, one of the SEC's top defensive playmakers, is gone to the NFL and the Aggies struggled at times to slow their opponents in 2012. What's the concern level on that side of the ball heading into the season?
- Defensive coordinator Mark Snyder deserved a Heisman for what he did last year. It will be tough to replace Moore and linebacker Jonathan Stewart. There are concerns, as A&M might not start a senior in its back seven. But Snyder has three things going for him: 1, He has more talented players; 2, It's the second year the players have been in his system; 3, He doesn't have to face Johnny Manziel on Sept. 14.
5. Size of the anticipation level heading into the Sept. 14 matchup. In your time on the beat, has anything rivaled it? What's the optimism level among Texas A&M fans?
- I've been with the paper since 1974. It doesn't get any bigger than this. It would be pointless to even mention other games. This is the game. Life has been good for the Aggies since Sumlin came to town with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, not only saying the right things, but then doing them. It seems every day there's another magazine or Dot-com predicting Alabama to win the national championship, so much that I expect a few Aggies checked the schedule to make sure the Sept. 14 game is still at Kyle Field. A&M is confident, and why not? If Aggies do something twice, it's called a tradition. You can bet many expect to be celebrating a new tradition come Sept. 14.
http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2013/06/alabama_2013_schedule_beat_wri.html
