But what is that a product of? Positive thoughts off a 6 game winning streak to end the 2010 regular season? 19 starters returning off a 9-3 team? The belief in guys like Ryan Tannehill, Cyrus Gray, Jeff Fuller, Tony Jerod-Eddie and Coryell Judie? Maybe it's the lingering of the "Von Miller Effect" in which he captivated Aggieland for the better part of a year.
We are here to set you straight. Do the Aggies have what it takes to win a Big XII Championship and compete in a BCS Bowl Game or is it setting up for yet another over-hyped football team to disappoint? We have come up with a check list to which we think makes good teams championship caliber. Let's see how the Aggies stack up.
1) Talent -- You can't begin any discussion on whether or not a team is capable of winning a championship before you check the talent on the roster. Thanks to Coach Sherman's recruiting in his early years, this team is loaded. To keep it simple, here is a list of future NFL Draft picks on the team: QB Ryan Tannehill, RB Cyrus Gray, RB Christine Michael, WR Jeff Fuller, WR Ryan Swope, LT Luke Joeckel, C/G Patrick Lewis, RT Jake Matthews, DE Tony Jerod-Eddie, DE/NT Jerome Mathis, OLB Sean Porter, DB Coryell Judie, DB Steven Campbell. And that is not even counting the under classman behind them at their respective positions! If you look around the current NFL, you will find the last decade hasn't put many Aggies in the league. That will soon change as over half the starters on this 2011 squad could be playing on Sundays in an NFL stadium near you. We will check this one off.
2) Star Power -- To go along with top end talent, you have to have one or two players who are just out right stars in college football that the media falls in love with. Last year for Auburn it was QB Cam Newton and DT Nick Fairley. For Alabama in 2009, it was RB Mark Ingram. Florida in 2008? QB Tim Tebow. Last year's Big XII Champion Oklahoma Sooners had QB Landry Jones and OLB Travis Lewis (both of whom return by the way). The Aggies have several players who could fit that mold that was left void by the #2 overall draft pick in the NFL, Von Miller. It has to begin with Senior Cyrus Gray who burst onto the scene and was a catalyst for the Aggies 6 game winning streak to close out the regular season. In those 6 games, he rushed for over 100 yards in each (7 straight if you count the Cotton Bowl against LSU). That streak of 100 yard games hadn't been seen in Aggieland since 1988! QB Ryan Tannehill could also fill that role to the media and public. Ryan received plenty of publicity for his leadership during the turnaround in 2010 that the great Tom Rinaldi even did a piece on him in the week leading up to the Nebraska game for ESPN. On the defensive side of the ball, Tony Jerod-Eddie is setting himself up to have a break through season on the line much like Nick Fairley did last season for the champion Tigers. It's just so hard for a defensive lineman to earn and keep the spotlight. Coryell Judie could be the answer because he provides highlights, not just in the defensive secondary, but on special teams as well. Overall, there isn't just one guy we can point to like last season when we all would have said Von Miller; there is a multitude of players who could become the spotlight and lead the 2011 Aggie campaign. Another check mark goes here.
3) Experience -- This one is pretty simple. In order to win a championship on any level, you need a core group of older guys who have been there before and can lead a team down the stretch. Well, the Aggies will return 10 starters on offense (senior C Matt Allen is the only starter to depart the team) and 9 on defense (Von Miller, senior ILB Michael Hodges). That is about as good as you can get. Practically the entire offense returns that averaged 441.9 yards per game and 31.2 points per game. They've had an entire offseason to perfect the timing of Coach Sherman's West Coast offense and a year for young lineman Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews to improve. However this doesn't mean the Aggies are expected to light up the scoreboard even more in 2011; the offense can be better by being more efficient, not by scoring more points or putting up more yardage. Many will argue that Tim DeRutyer's defense lost it's heart and soul in Michael Hodges and Von Miller. That may be true, but they live on in defenders like Sean Porter, Garrick Williams, and Steven Campbell. While some star power was lost, Coach DeRutyer can now be even less predictable with his blitzes and perhaps better disguise his coverages. There isn't one single player an offense can key on anymore, and that may actually be a benefit to the Wrecking Crew. Again, we will put a check mark here. 4) Depth -- Here is something that gets overlooked a majority of the time. While the frontline starters will get most of the glory, it is the guys that play behind them that make up a solid football team. Your starters can't play 60 minutes; there will always be guys rotating in and you'll want your best players to be fresh in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. Plus, in a 12 game season there will always be injuries. It's football. For the first time in a long time the Aggies will have depth at nearly every position. Competition will be in full force once fall camp hits as some of the second string guys push the starters for their spots and valuable playing time. You can see depth at offensive line where guys like senior OG Evan Eike will fight to regain a starting spot, OT Cedric Ogbuehi who has filled out after a redshirt season and could be a starter on over half the teams in the Big XII, and OG Jarvis Harrison who has been inserted into the starting 5 a time or two by Coach Turner during the spring. There may not be another group on the team with more depth than in the secondary with guys like Dustin Harris, Toney Hurd Jr., Lionel Smith, and Steven Terrell showcasing their skills while starters Terrance Frederick, Coryell Judie and Steven Campbell sat out spring practice to recover from offseason surgery. Where depth questions loom is in the front seven of the defense. Rhontae Scales will start the season at NG with Eddie Brown and Kirby Ennis after 2011 signee LeMarc Strahan failed to qualify and redshirt freshman Brandon Jackson may not play again due to a heart issue. At inside linebacker, there are a lot of bodies but no one stepping up to fill the role of Michael Hodges. However, true freshman Donnie Baggs played like an upperclassman in the spring and JUCO transfer Steven Jenkins made strides toward the end of spring. Also, Kyle Mangan will fight for the job and Jonathan Stewart has the talent to fill the role. More concerning might be the JOKER position where former walk-on Caleb Russell locked down the position entering the fall, but DaMontre Moore has had off the field trouble and could face a short suspension as a consequence of his actions. That could force true freshman Shuan Ward and/or Brandon Alexander (who isn't 100% certain to be here) into critcal roles early. Even with those troubles, we will still check this one off.
5) Leadership -- This might be the most overlooked category when you diagnose the caliber of a football team. There has to be leaders. Period. During a 12 game season your team will experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. There has to be leaders who will level off emotions and keep a football team right down the middle, still focused on the task at hand and always hungry for success. That requires both players that lead by example and ones that are vocal in the lockerroom. But it also is the hardest category for any fan to gauge -- most of those moments occur on a practice field or inside the lockerroom, areas we aren't normally exposed to. The Aggies lost their two biggest leaders in seniors Von Miller and Michael Hodges. It will be tougher to replace what they brought as leaders than their play on the field, if you can wrap your mind around that. But luckily for the Aggies, there are more than a handful of guys who can step into their shoes. Cyrus Gray is one. Trent Hunter has been a leader on the defense since he was a true freshman. Ryan Tannehill has been leading summer workouts that has seen the best turnout in the Sherman era. Other players who lead by example are Terrance Frederick and Jeff Fuller. It won't be the actions of any single player in 2011, but it will be a combined effort by many guys. The lockerroom should be the most positive in all of the Big XII. Once again, another check mark. We've looked at 5 of the biggest categories on the list. Here are 5 others to round out our preview:
6) Coaching -- As talented as some teams are, they have to be put into the right schemes and right systems to excel and hide their flaws. Coach Sherman has been doing that at the highest level for years. Accompanying him on the offensive side of the ball is his right hand man Coach Rossley, the fiery Coach Turner and rising star Zac Taylor. On the defensive side, it's Coach DeRutyer who turned down a head coaching job to return to Aggieland and rising stars Coach Williams and Coach Toth, plus Aggie legend Coach Nguyen. What is more important is the coaching staff remains intact from last season. That is almost unheard of. Yep, another check mark.
7) QB Play -- Football today is a game of quarterbacks, and if you don't have one, you ain't winning. Period. The 2010 season is a perfect example of that. As much as we love Jerrod Johnson and respect him as a person, we have to be honest: his play coming off shoulder surgery was a large reason for a three game losing streak. You can argue that the Aggies might have played in the Big XII championship game at 10-2 or 11-1 if Ryan Tannehill was at the helm. Ryan showed down the stretch you don't have to be all-world and put up Heisman type numbers to lead a winning team; just be efficient in what you do and don't turn the ball over. Ryan should be even better this year with last season's experience and some are calling him the top pro prospect out of college football senior signal callers. We think that deserves a check mark.
8) Line Play -- In our opinion, this maybe should be higher. Games and championships are won in the trenches. Simple as that. A&M saw what a true championship team looks like when they lost to LSU 41-24 in the Cotton Bowl; LSU won the game because they were better up front. The Aggies feature future stars in Luke Joeckel and Jake Mathews at OT, and Brian Thomas and Patrick Lewis return as starters. Redshirt freshman Jarvis Harrison, sophomore Shep Klinke and senior Evan Eike will battle for the final spot. On defense Tony Jerod-Eddie, Jerome Mathis and Eddie Brown make up the best starting DL in Aggieland in the past decade. The true challenge will be quality depth behind the starters. Also don't forget both squads have spent an offseason with Coach Kennedy. Check. 9) The Schedule -- Great teams will find a way to win no matter who they play. But, it is always nice to catch a break every now and then. The Aggies have a favorable schedule in 2011. They will get Oklahoma State, Mizzou, Baylor, and Texas all at home. Arkansas is a neutral site game as always. Three contests catch your eye on the road: hostile Texas Tech in Lubbock, an away contest against biggest competitor Oklahoma where they haven't lost in years, and an upset minded Kansas State just a week after the big showdown in Norman. Potentially the biggest gripe about the schedule? The Aggies will have a week off after their opening game against SMU and then 11 straight weeks of football. That is tough for any team. And to close it out? A game against Kansas on Saturday and then come right back on Thursday against Texas. However, both games are at Kyle and the Aggies were able to beat Nebraska and Texas back-to-back last year. We'll take it. Check.
10) Motivation/Hunger -- It's been 3 long months since the Aggie Football Spring Game at Kyle Field, and we still have two weeks to go before players begin reporting for the month long fall camp. Every championship team has to have a drive and a passion to get them through these long months, getting better in the process without the coaches around. If offseason workouts have been any indication, this team isn't lacking in the focused and hungry department. As previously mentioned, these player organized gatherings have been the most attended in the Sherman era. I don't think anyone is satisfied with a Big XII South Championship trophy from last season. The final moments in Kyle Field last season showed the team just how passionate the 12th Man is for championship football once again. Every fan and student is behind and ready for the 2011 campaign. I'm sure every player is anxious for that first Mike Sherman pregame speech to which they can respond "HELL YEAH" and get to playing Aggie Football. Check.
We've looked at 10 check list items we think are the ingredients to a championship season. And the 2011 Aggies passed every single one. Some fans will say "well, its just another preseason hype machine, prepare to be disappointed once again". But, that is not the reality. The 2011 Aggies truly are a Top 15 team heading into the season and are real contenders with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State for a Big XII crown and BCS Bowl birth. The time is now. Are you ready?
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