September 4, 2026 • 11 mins
Mark Passwaters from AggieHudle.com joined The Dan Mathews Show and shared his outlook for the Aggies' season, what to expect in the season opener against Missouri State, and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
My good buddy, Mark Passwaters, AggieHuddle.com. And Mark, we'll talk
a lot about the team as a whole this season,
but I understand a nice little honor unveiled earlier today
to an Aggie legend.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Yeah, R.C.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Slocum got a statue at Kyle Field, and I think
that it's well-deserved, not just for what he did as
a coach, and obviously he has probably the best record
of success at A & M. I know some people
will argue about Jackie Sherrill, but in terms of consistent
(00:36):
long-term success, nobody beats RC. And it's not just for
the success that he had as a coach, but what
he did for the university. You're talking about a guy
who came out of retirement twice to serve as an
interim AD when they went searching for Ross Bjork eventually,
and now Trev Alberts.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And this is a man who was fighting cancer at
one point.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So, you know, he was literally, you know, to say
he put his life on the line for the university,
maybe a bit much, but not a ton. And, you know,
he's just a genuinely good man. I met him for
the first time when I was a nobody schmo kid
at A & M in 2000. And we've been in
touch since then, you know, yearly at the very least.
(01:22):
And he's always been kind and generous with his time. So,
you know, round of applause to him. He deserves it.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
No question about it. And, I mean, it is also, too,
I mean, something I was thinking about when talking about
this with you is that isn't it kind of the
age-old tale of be careful what you wish for because
you just might get it? I mean, when they whizzed
him away as the head coach the first time, it
was obviously people who were, oh, we can do better here.
And then you find A & M for about 25
years wasn't doing better.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I mean... he was at a point, you know, uh, fair,
fair or not, where it was a generational change. And
a lot of that change was being driven by Mack
Brown in Austin and the support that that athletic department
had for the football program. And a lot of RC's
(02:10):
problems were not just, you know, the, the unwillingness to
adapt or, you know, kind of almost Jimbo ish. Uh, but, uh,
He got no support from Wally Groff and.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
The athletic department.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
And that put A & M behind the eight ball
because Texas poured a ton of money into their football
program around the turn of the century. And A &
M just couldn't keep pace. And then they made one
bad decision after another, starting with Dennis Franchione instead of
some guy who was.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Coaching A & M.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
And doing really well at Bowling Green and then took
a year in, in, at Utah and was really good too.
So a guy named urban Meyer, who was the other,
the other guy they looked at allegedly when, when RC.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Was, was removed, but you know, the guy could have
had all the.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Hostility in the world because Franchione treated him like garbage.
He was kind of pushed to the side, but he
has shown loyalty and love to A & M and,
when he didn't have to. And I think that he
deserves the honor and the credit that he's getting today.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Again, Mark Passwater, zaggy huddle.com hopping on with us, talk
some Texas A & M here as they get ready
for the season. And that season gets underway tomorrow night
over there in Kyle field, taking on Missouri States. Just,
you know, kind of broad view with this team. Everybody
looks for strengths. Where is the strength of this team?
Where do you think they're going to really show up
the most this year?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You know, honestly, and this is very strange to say
in this day and age, I really think it's death.
You take a look at the two deep of just
about any team. They may have outstanding talent starting, but
there's a fall off when they, you know, those guys
come to the sideline to relax or.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
You know, get out of the heat. A & M.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Probably has the most complete team, I think, this year
that they've had, shoot, I don't know, maybe going back
to R.C., And there's just not a whole lot of holes.
There aren't a lot of guys that people know about yet,
but they're probably going to know about here pretty quickly.
They made some really good moves in the transfer portal,
(04:20):
loaded up on the defensive line. If the offensive line,
which appeared to really start to come together in the
summer is good. They've got a ton of weapons for
Marcel Reed. I think the running backs are good. You know,
there's just not a whole lot of places where you
can sit there and say, oh, geez, if they have
an injury, they're in serious trouble at this position.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And I mean, you kind of led me right into
the next question. I mean, is the majority of this
roster turnover from the transfer portal or do they have
a pretty good amount of retention on this roster?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Actually, they have a very good amount of retention on
the roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
They lost Casey Concepcion, but outside of that, a lot
of the guys that put up numbers are still there.
And honestly, I might probably just give the defense short
shrift because if you take a look at what they
bring back defensively, three of their top four tacklers are back.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Damian Sanford, a Katie guy.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Marcus Radcliffe and Dalton Brooks, the two safeties, those guys
are two, three.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
And four behind Tori and York and tackles last year.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
And York got replaced by the guy who had the
most solo tackles in the country and Ray Coney.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
But they still have DJ Hicks.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
They have Marco Jones, who I think is somebody people
are going to learn about real fast.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
This guy's a defensive end and he's a freak of nature.
He's good.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
He's really impressive. And you know, you got Des Ricks
and Julio Humphrey at corner. You bring in Ricky Gibson
from Tennessee. They've just got a lot of real capable guys.
And I think that Mike Elko and his staff, they
haven't necessarily gone after the headliners like Jimbo did, but
they've got guys that fit in their system. And I
(06:07):
think that's probably the better course of action.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And I mean, speaking of Elko, I mean, you know, Mark,
you were there, obviously, when there were the reports out
there that they were going to go after Mark Stoops.
And of course, the fan base wasn't so excited about that.
And then Elko was a guy that seemingly had a
lot of people become huge fans of him when he
was Jimbo's DC.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
But.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Is there a feeling like he finally is the guy
that was able to create a culture and something that
is stable as opposed to trying to get those great results,
trying to have those great teams and not necessarily having
the program wide success?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, I mean, I don't like to boast about stuff,
but I was actually the one who broke the Stoops
thing on Twitter, and I've never seen a nuclear fallout
like that. And for them to go back and get Elko,
you know, it's kind of like they were saved from themselves.
Elko is extremely intelligent. He's always got a plan laid out.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
The amount of buy-in that he gets is impressive. He's
always here.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Everybody has a plan. Everybody has an idea of what
they're going to do, and they talk about the culture
of the program.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
But then you.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Take a look at how Elko has done it. That
locker room was a disaster under Fisher. And you haven't
heard a thing about anything going on in there since
Elko got there. And I think that's a credit for
him not only looking for talent but for character and
having a closer grip on what's going on in that
(07:42):
locker room. So, yeah, I think people– you know this
as well as anybody. There's always angst amongst the 12th man.
There's always something worried about this is going to go wrong,
this is going to go wrong, battered Aggie syndrome. I
think with respect to Elko, this is probably the calmest
(08:02):
I've seen this fan base probably since 2012.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Well, and getting the college football playoff definitely helps out
with that for sure. Again, he's Mark Passwater's AggieHuddle.com as
the Aggies try to get back to that point even
beyond this season. And obviously a guy that a lot
of people want to know how he can be able
to bounce back from last season, Marcel Reed. I mean,
the last time we saw Marcel Reed was an interception
(08:27):
in the end zone to end the season. But how
has he been able to bounce back from that? And
what do you expect to see out of him this year?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Well, I think the first thing that stands out about
his recovery is his willingness to take responsibility. I mean,
he sat there and he looked at the film. He
swallowed his pride and made the harsh statements of himself that, yeah,
I've got to play better. And he went out and
he worked offseason very diligently. with Ray Christensen, one of
(08:58):
the better independent quarterback coaches. He's the one who works
with Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes. He's got a good rapport
with the new quarterback's coach, Joey Lynch. And one thing
that has stuck out.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
To me is the consistency of his mechanics.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And this is one thing, you know, you can blame
my dad for this, but I'm always into mechanics, you know,
be it baseball or football and the consistency of his
motion looks so much better this year than it has
in past years.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
It's repetitive.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
And, you know, you hear people talking about the accuracy
has improved. Well, if your mechanics are consistent, then yes,
your accuracy is going to improve. And if he takes
a step from season two to season three, the way
he did from season one to season two, this is
one of the best, better quarterbacks, not just in the sec,
but maybe more than that. So I'm excited to see
what he can do and whether or not that repetition
(09:57):
continues once the lights come on.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
And I mean, this is a schedule too that, I mean,
it starts off a little softer with, I mean, this one,
we'll see what Arizona State is next week. Then Kentucky
comes in, but then LSU kind of starts to ramp
this thing up. But Mark, I mean, I look at November.
It doesn't seem like that the SEC did the Aggies
any favors with that November slate. How do you think
this team's going to look once they reach that four-game stretch?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
That's a good question.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I think record-wise, they're going to be in good shape.
Will that depth be tested? That's the big question. Because
if the depth is tested and it succeeds, then they're fine.
If they don't have to press that depth, if they're
still healthy, then they can go into that uh that
november stretch it would add ou uh with tennessee texas
(10:49):
they can go in there with a lot of confidence
because one they'll know they've got their guys and two
if they're at that point and they've got the same
fellows out there and they're not hurt or there hadn't
been injuries then they're in good shape because they picked
the right guys to begin with.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Mark Passwaters again from AggieHuddle.com, talking Texas A & M,
getting ready for the college football season. They fire things
up again tomorrow over there in College Station, taking on
Missouri State. Mark, it's always great to catch up with you, buddy.
I mean, at least the Astros. I know you're a
big Astros fan, too. They're starting to play better baseball.
So it's that time of the year where we get
(11:25):
this cross-section of sports. You can't beat it.
My good buddy, Mark Passwaters, AggieHuddle.com. And Mark, we'll talk
a lot about the team as a whole this season,
but I understand a nice little honor unveiled earlier today
to an Aggie legend.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Yeah, R.C.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Slocum got a statue at Kyle Field, and I think
that it's well-deserved, not just for what he did as
a coach, and obviously he has probably the best record
of success at A & M. I know some people
will argue about Jackie Sherrill, but in terms of consistent
(00:36):
long-term success, nobody beats RC. And it's not just for
the success that he had as a coach, but what
he did for the university. You're talking about a guy
who came out of retirement twice to serve as an
interim AD when they went searching for Ross Bjork eventually,
and now Trev Alberts.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And this is a man who was fighting cancer at
one point.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So, you know, he was literally, you know, to say
he put his life on the line for the university,
maybe a bit much, but not a ton. And, you know,
he's just a genuinely good man. I met him for
the first time when I was a nobody schmo kid
at A & M in 2000. And we've been in
touch since then, you know, yearly at the very least.
(01:22):
And he's always been kind and generous with his time. So,
you know, round of applause to him. He deserves it.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
No question about it. And, I mean, it is also, too,
I mean, something I was thinking about when talking about
this with you is that isn't it kind of the
age-old tale of be careful what you wish for because
you just might get it? I mean, when they whizzed
him away as the head coach the first time, it
was obviously people who were, oh, we can do better here.
And then you find A & M for about 25
years wasn't doing better.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, I mean... he was at a point, you know, uh, fair,
fair or not, where it was a generational change. And
a lot of that change was being driven by Mack
Brown in Austin and the support that that athletic department
had for the football program. And a lot of RC's
(02:10):
problems were not just, you know, the, the unwillingness to
adapt or, you know, kind of almost Jimbo ish. Uh, but, uh,
He got no support from Wally Groff and.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
The athletic department.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
And that put A & M behind the eight ball
because Texas poured a ton of money into their football
program around the turn of the century. And A &
M just couldn't keep pace. And then they made one
bad decision after another, starting with Dennis Franchione instead of
some guy who was.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Coaching A & M.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
And doing really well at Bowling Green and then took
a year in, in, at Utah and was really good too.
So a guy named urban Meyer, who was the other,
the other guy they looked at allegedly when, when RC.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Was, was removed, but you know, the guy could have
had all the.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Hostility in the world because Franchione treated him like garbage.
He was kind of pushed to the side, but he
has shown loyalty and love to A & M and,
when he didn't have to. And I think that he
deserves the honor and the credit that he's getting today.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Again, Mark Passwater, zaggy huddle.com hopping on with us, talk
some Texas A & M here as they get ready
for the season. And that season gets underway tomorrow night
over there in Kyle field, taking on Missouri States. Just,
you know, kind of broad view with this team. Everybody
looks for strengths. Where is the strength of this team?
Where do you think they're going to really show up
the most this year?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You know, honestly, and this is very strange to say
in this day and age, I really think it's death.
You take a look at the two deep of just
about any team. They may have outstanding talent starting, but
there's a fall off when they, you know, those guys
come to the sideline to relax or.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
You know, get out of the heat. A & M.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Probably has the most complete team, I think, this year
that they've had, shoot, I don't know, maybe going back
to R.C., And there's just not a whole lot of holes.
There aren't a lot of guys that people know about yet,
but they're probably going to know about here pretty quickly.
They made some really good moves in the transfer portal,
(04:20):
loaded up on the defensive line. If the offensive line,
which appeared to really start to come together in the
summer is good. They've got a ton of weapons for
Marcel Reed. I think the running backs are good. You know,
there's just not a whole lot of places where you
can sit there and say, oh, geez, if they have
an injury, they're in serious trouble at this position.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And I mean, you kind of led me right into
the next question. I mean, is the majority of this
roster turnover from the transfer portal or do they have
a pretty good amount of retention on this roster?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Actually, they have a very good amount of retention on
the roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
They lost Casey Concepcion, but outside of that, a lot
of the guys that put up numbers are still there.
And honestly, I might probably just give the defense short
shrift because if you take a look at what they
bring back defensively, three of their top four tacklers are back.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Damian Sanford, a Katie guy.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Marcus Radcliffe and Dalton Brooks, the two safeties, those guys
are two, three.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
And four behind Tori and York and tackles last year.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
And York got replaced by the guy who had the
most solo tackles in the country and Ray Coney.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
But they still have DJ Hicks.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
They have Marco Jones, who I think is somebody people
are going to learn about real fast.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
This guy's a defensive end and he's a freak of nature.
He's good.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
He's really impressive. And you know, you got Des Ricks
and Julio Humphrey at corner. You bring in Ricky Gibson
from Tennessee. They've just got a lot of real capable guys.
And I think that Mike Elko and his staff, they
haven't necessarily gone after the headliners like Jimbo did, but
they've got guys that fit in their system. And I
(06:07):
think that's probably the better course of action.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
And I mean, speaking of Elko, I mean, you know, Mark,
you were there, obviously, when there were the reports out
there that they were going to go after Mark Stoops.
And of course, the fan base wasn't so excited about that.
And then Elko was a guy that seemingly had a
lot of people become huge fans of him when he
was Jimbo's DC.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
But.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Is there a feeling like he finally is the guy
that was able to create a culture and something that
is stable as opposed to trying to get those great results,
trying to have those great teams and not necessarily having
the program wide success?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, I mean, I don't like to boast about stuff,
but I was actually the one who broke the Stoops
thing on Twitter, and I've never seen a nuclear fallout
like that. And for them to go back and get Elko,
you know, it's kind of like they were saved from themselves.
Elko is extremely intelligent. He's always got a plan laid out.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
The amount of buy-in that he gets is impressive. He's
always here.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Everybody has a plan. Everybody has an idea of what
they're going to do, and they talk about the culture
of the program.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
But then you.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Take a look at how Elko has done it. That
locker room was a disaster under Fisher. And you haven't
heard a thing about anything going on in there since
Elko got there. And I think that's a credit for
him not only looking for talent but for character and
having a closer grip on what's going on in that
(07:42):
locker room. So, yeah, I think people– you know this
as well as anybody. There's always angst amongst the 12th man.
There's always something worried about this is going to go wrong,
this is going to go wrong, battered Aggie syndrome. I
think with respect to Elko, this is probably the calmest
(08:02):
I've seen this fan base probably since 2012.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Well, and getting the college football playoff definitely helps out
with that for sure. Again, he's Mark Passwater's AggieHuddle.com as
the Aggies try to get back to that point even
beyond this season. And obviously a guy that a lot
of people want to know how he can be able
to bounce back from last season, Marcel Reed. I mean,
the last time we saw Marcel Reed was an interception
(08:27):
in the end zone to end the season. But how
has he been able to bounce back from that? And
what do you expect to see out of him this year?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Well, I think the first thing that stands out about
his recovery is his willingness to take responsibility. I mean,
he sat there and he looked at the film. He
swallowed his pride and made the harsh statements of himself that, yeah,
I've got to play better. And he went out and
he worked offseason very diligently. with Ray Christensen, one of
(08:58):
the better independent quarterback coaches. He's the one who works
with Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes. He's got a good rapport
with the new quarterback's coach, Joey Lynch. And one thing
that has stuck out.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
To me is the consistency of his mechanics.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And this is one thing, you know, you can blame
my dad for this, but I'm always into mechanics, you know,
be it baseball or football and the consistency of his
motion looks so much better this year than it has
in past years.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
It's repetitive.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
And, you know, you hear people talking about the accuracy
has improved. Well, if your mechanics are consistent, then yes,
your accuracy is going to improve. And if he takes
a step from season two to season three, the way
he did from season one to season two, this is
one of the best, better quarterbacks, not just in the sec,
but maybe more than that. So I'm excited to see
what he can do and whether or not that repetition
(09:57):
continues once the lights come on.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
And I mean, this is a schedule too that, I mean,
it starts off a little softer with, I mean, this one,
we'll see what Arizona State is next week. Then Kentucky
comes in, but then LSU kind of starts to ramp
this thing up. But Mark, I mean, I look at November.
It doesn't seem like that the SEC did the Aggies
any favors with that November slate. How do you think
this team's going to look once they reach that four-game stretch?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
That's a good question.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
I think record-wise, they're going to be in good shape.
Will that depth be tested? That's the big question. Because
if the depth is tested and it succeeds, then they're fine.
If they don't have to press that depth, if they're
still healthy, then they can go into that uh that
november stretch it would add ou uh with tennessee texas
(10:49):
they can go in there with a lot of confidence
because one they'll know they've got their guys and two
if they're at that point and they've got the same
fellows out there and they're not hurt or there hadn't
been injuries then they're in good shape because they picked
the right guys to begin with.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Mark Passwaters again from AggieHuddle.com, talking Texas A & M,
getting ready for the college football season. They fire things
up again tomorrow over there in College Station, taking on
Missouri State. Mark, it's always great to catch up with you, buddy.
I mean, at least the Astros. I know you're a
big Astros fan, too. They're starting to play better baseball.
So it's that time of the year where we get
(11:25):
this cross-section of sports. You can't beat it.
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