Longhornfrenzy 🤘🏼 · @Longhornfrenzy1
18th Apr 2023 from TwitLonger
Chin Pubes podcast tldr
Texas A&M Football
Ask Liucci: Spring football takeaways, A&M's spring sports
By Billy LiucciApril 17, 2023
Spring football in Aggieland is officially in the rearview following Saturday's Maroon & White Game at Kyle Field. In the latest edition of Ask Liucci, Billy Liucci answers another round of subscriber questions covering his spring takeaways, NFL Draft thoughts and much more.
Dalton Hughes: Which players surprised the most during spring game?
Billy Liucci: Wait, here's Brandon. “I called you Billy, why didn't you answer? Oh shoot. I see you on the desk actually conducting content. Sorry, you guys.” If y'all only knew, right? You know. If they only knew.
Dalton Hughes: If they only knew.
Billy Liucci: Which players have surprised this spring? I'll tell you a couple of guys that have. Surprised is a tough word because I've talked about who's excelled. Some of the guys that have excelled, it's the first time we talk about them excelling, but it was kind of expected like Mark Nabou had a really good spring. Noah Thomas had an excellent spring. Shemar Turner, Shemar Stewart. Those are names that have come up a lot. Bryce Anderson, surprising springs. Tony Grimes made a strong first impression. If I'm talking surprise, I might go with maybe Theo because of how good he's looked and what he kind of offers the Aggies... Jake Johnson had a really good spring. That wasn't surprising. We saw it in flashes immediately last year. But Theo, maybe his progress from one year to the next has been a real pleasant surprise, and he looks ready to make a pretty significant contribution because he's such a unique weapon that it will allow them to do a lot more two-tight-end stuff with two really impactful receiving weapons, whether it's Theo, Jake, Donovan. Surprises, surprises, surprises, surprises. That reminds me of the guy, if you've ever been to Cabo Mango Deck, applauses, applauses, applauses. Surprises? The linebackers, Dalton. The freshman linebackers. I'm not saying they're ready to come in and start as true freshmen, and I hope that's not the case. But Taurean York and Daymion Sanford have looked better than you would expect for two true freshmen that are early enrollees. They're around the football. They make plays. You mentioned York in the spring game. These guys, they're smart. They're picking it up. They're very athletic. They fly around. I think they've both turned heads, and they've had people kind of on every level mentioning them to me when I asked. So those would be two that stand out. And then there's of course Chase Bisontis, who was one of the better players for the A&M offense. “Oh no, the offense sucks. They can't do anything. If a true freshman's one of the better players, we're in trouble.” It's not true.
Dalton Hughes: That was a great voice.
Billy Liucci: Bisontis looks really damn good. Well, I'm doing the people that yell at you on the boards and shout down any kind of positivity.
Dalton Hughes: Was that the tough questions guy?
Billy Liucci: No, that's tough question guy's son. He had a lot more energy. Tough question guy is really old.
No, Bisontis has been good. So good that you have to put him in a surprise because there's no way you could have expected a true freshman to perform like that. “Well Billy, what does that say about the D line?” Next question, Dalton.
Dalton Hughes: All right, next question.
Billy Liucci: That voice hurt my like... I need something to drink.
Dalton Hughes: Hey Billy, what are the Texans going to do on draft day? Trade the second pick if they can't get Bryce Young?
Billy Liucci: There's a strong sentiment there that they could do that. I do not want them... I damn sure don't want them to have Levis. If you're asking me to predict it, I predict that they take CJ Stroud still. I'm torn though. CJ Stroud is really good, but I'm like, "Is he the number two pick?" That to me is like you're putting your franchise on that. You're saying this guy is the future of our franchise, and if they didn't do it, I would not throw a fit. I would not say what a disaster that is. But I think ultimately that's what they end up doing. But it certainly has the momentum and feel that's kind of making you feel like they might not do that.
Dalton Hughes: Trade back is always great.
Billy Liucci: It's not always great.
Dalton Hughes: It can be.
Billy Liucci: It's not. It can be, yeah.
Dalton Hughes: It can be.
Billy Liucci: You can trade back and get bad players.
Dalton Hughes: If the quarterback you don't like is there, got to go.
Billy Liucci: Trade back. Oh, he picked up an extra third-round pick there, picked up. And then you know how many third-round picks are busts and worthless? I mean so it's a tough one.
Dalton Hughes: These are the kind of questions I like on Ask Liucci. Looch, better chance of happening: football with regular season double-digit wins, basketball makes the Elite Eight next year, or baseball wins a super regional this year?
Billy Liucci: I'm going to say basketball Elite Eight.
I think Jim Schlossnagle brings a national title or more to Texas A&M baseball. And they could advance to Omaha this year, but they don't seem right now, and they don't look anything close to having that pitching to get them there. But college baseball's funny. College baseball's funny. I mean there was a time last year when we were wondering about pitching. Nobody thought they'd go to Omaha maybe even at this point last year or midway through. Now, they looked better than they have right now I'd say by this point last year, but they were only a few weeks, a couple of weeks into that where we're going, "Okay." I wouldn't put anything past those guys, but if you're asking odds, the pitching concerns me too much for me to give them that one.
Football 10 wins, I think that's my high-end hope for this team. I'm not ready to make a pick. I've already said that I think 10 wins in any capacity, either 10-2 and go to a New Year’s Six obviously would be a major bounce-back season. I think 10-3, 9-3 with a bowl win would be ... I'm not going to say, "Oh, they're back. It's rolling now." But that is my cutoff to say that's a good season and we should be pleased with the progress back. If you go 9-3 on this schedule, you're going to have some important wins. You're probably going to have a quarterback of the future for the next couple of years. You're going to have... To get there, I think your offense will have had to take a big step forward and put some of the issues that have held this program back behind them. So I think to get to nine would be significant, but I think 10-2, everything goes well. You finish in that department.
Basketball to me, with what they're bringing back... Buzz Williams has been very active in the portal. I think he could have an active week this week in the portal, and he knows exactly what he wants. There was no fanfare last year outside of some diehard Aggie basketball fans for Dexter Dennis, Anderson Garcia and Julius Marble, and look what happened with those three. I mean that was really significant what those guys brought to the team this year. And I just think Aggie basketball's doing this and in that tournament, even though they were one-an-done this year, and I know the season ended with a thud, and it was unfortunate because, hell, they could have been in the Elite Eight last year. I mean I think not quite a coin flip against Texas. I think Texas, wire-to-wire was a better team, but had they knocked off Texas, I think they're playing Miami in an Elite Eight, and they could've knocked off Texas. With that said, I think basketball would have the best chance because I think they're going to return a team that's loaded for bear next year going into Buzz's fifth season.
Dalton Hughes: How bad do you think Bobby Petrino will want to whip Arkansas' ass now that he has another crack at them with a much more talented roster? Hog fans seem scared out of their minds about that possibility.
Billy Liucci: I'm going to tell you it's a much more talented roster, sure, but I'm going to tell you something. One of my concerns about this football team overall, and I saw it yesterday, and I saw it in a little bit this spring... I look at the personnel, I still worry a little bit about... Because those Arkansas teams, you know what they had? They had so much damn speed. I'm still a little worried about speed on this team. And from when Jimbo got here until now, a position where it's noticeable that I think they're a faster football team and twitchier is at receiver. I think they've really done that in that department. Those Arkansas teams, I don't know that this A&M team has more speed at receiver than they did in his heyday, like Jarius Wright and some of those cats they had. But Evan, Moose, Ainias, I mean don't think any of those guys are sub... I know they're not sub-4.4 guys. I don't know, a couple of them might not be sub-4.5 guys. Noah's a big outside guy who can run for a guy his size. But again, I think they've upgraded there. I don't think it's going to be one of the fastest receiving cores in the SEC. It might be one of the best receiving cores, might be. But outside of that, I'm looking. I love the D line, but unless Malick Sylla and Enai White really start playing a lot. And they might. They might push their way in there in year two, but there's not a lot. You look at end, and it's... I love Shemar Stewart. I love Shemar Turner being out there. I love what Fadil Diggs was doing before the end of the season. There's not a ton of twitch out there, that just rangy, twitchy, edgy, just... The only guy they've had really since Jimbo's been here that really provided that type stuff was Tyree Johnson, who was undersized but got to the quarterback a lot. Micheal Clemons was more power, brute force, and power and force of will there. Safeties, they've had the bigger safeties with Leon and Demani, who's still here. Antonio was a bit of an exception, but again, we saw him run. He wasn't running one of the top times at the combine, nor was Jaylon at corner. He's a bigger, longer corner. Tony Grimes is a bigger, longer corner. I just don't... They had Achane in the backfield, and they lose him. Amari's explosive, Rueben Owens is going to be explosive. But again, I don't think this is... You're going to say, "Well, who are the fastest teams in the SEC?" A&M wouldn't be on the list. And so that part of it is a little bit of a head-scratcher, and I see it, and I go, "Man, will that come back and get them?" Which goes back to... Petrino knows this, and Jimbo certainly knows it, you better play physical football. You better still whip people's asses in the trenches and win the war of attrition because that still wins in this league, and you can get enough speed. They can get enough speed out there, tight end, they'll be fast. But that is the one thing that has just kind of... I keep thinking about it this spring, and I'm like, "Man, I don't know." I need to see more guys like Edgerrin Cooper and Sylla and Enai White and let Bryce and Jacoby as they get more experience there at safety. I think they're not as big, but they're really fast and they need, I think, more of that. And so anyway, I don't even remember what that question was, but I just went on a tangent there.
I wanted to shoehorn that in since the radio show. That's what I was going to finish with, and then you came out with that, "Oh, I can't talk about it. I'm sorry."
Dalton Hughes: Billy, what's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Billy Liucci: Like I'm going to answer that on this show on the spot of my entire 40... What, I've completed... I don't even know how old I am.
Dalton Hughes: Trips around the sun, Billy, how many trips around the sun?
Billy Liucci: And I'm going to just boom. This is the best piece of... I don't know what it is. I'll be honest with you.
Dalton Hughes: I'm sure it was something from Hunter.
Billy Liucci: Yeah, I'm sure.
Dalton Hughes: Next.
Billy Liucci: Maybe my junior high English teacher that said, "You're a good writer. You should write." And I kind of laughed. So I'm like, "I don't want to be a writer." Kind of what I am. I don't know. Somebody once gave me advice that you should get up every morning, first thing in the morning, somebody that runs their own business and works from home. Get dressed like you're going to work in an office. Get dressed, have a cup of coffee, wake up, dress like you're going to work and go sit down and work. And get up very early and do that every day and act as if you're going to an office as a CEO for a 9-to-5. Probably some of the best advice I ever got. We didn't go that route. Sorry.
Dalton Hughes: That's great advice.
Billy Liucci: It really was. In hindsight, I'm like, "I wonder what could have happened, but we didn't do it."
Dalton Hughes: How many transfers do you think we get in the final push?
Billy Liucci: Four. One down, three to go. Four. It's a crap shoot. I said earlier, I just don't want them to get a lot of guys to go, "Oh, we got our scholarship numbers up. We got some special teams, and we got some depth." They need players too. It needs to be a combination of both. And by players, even if you get just two guys that are going to be very impactful on Saturdays this fall, starter or depth, namely at linebacker corner. Even if you just get a couple, but they got to play. You also need depth. I get that, but don't just get depth and go, "Hey, we're good up front. We're good starting out." Get a linebacker to push to start alongside Edgerrin Cooper. Push Martrell Harris in year two, push the true freshman, push Chris Russell who's a veteran. Get somebody in here. I saw the guy the other day, yesterday that entered the portal, transfer from Cincinnati. Now I haven't heard of A&M having any connection to him and, unfortunately, you got to assume this guy's already got a school picked out and NIL’d up and ready to go, but if he doesn't or if there's a way you can kind of throw a wrench into that, damn that would be a good addition. One of the better players on a really good defensive team that probably is a future NFL linebacker, and if you could get him, it changes a lot for you just like that.
Dalton Hughes: Liucci, who has more yards at the end of the season? Our leading rusher or our leading receiver?
Billy Liucci: Good question, because I think they're both going to be spread out. I'm going to say leading receiver though. I'm going to say our leading receiver. I think somebody gets close to a thousand, and I think the running back position will be, I think those three guys... Unless somebody were to get hurt and it's two running backs, then I would change it. But if it's three healthy, I think you see them run a lot of those three guys that we keep talking about.
Dalton Hughes: Liucci, any idea who will be the 12th Man this next season?
Billy Liucci: No, I'd have to... I'll look into that. Good question. Ask me that again next week. That's something I'll pursue asking about.
Dalton Hughes: Billy, what's it going to take to reignite the fire on the program? After the 2020 season, we were all pointing to this as the time to beat... This is our time to ascend to the college football stage, and we've slid back to the pack. LSU has reemerged. We can't beat the Mississippi schools. It's a big year for Jimbo and the entire staff.
Billy Liucci: No question about it. It's very important, and I've said before, and LSU has reemerged, and I think they're going to be really good under Brian Kelly, but I would also say tap the brakes. Let's see what they do in year two. I think he's really good, and I think LSU is built in such a way in that state that when they get it rolling, it's tough to stop because they're the only show in town, and there's so much damn talent. And I think kids in college football today in college, LSU has so much more of a lure, and just everyone gives them such the benefit of the doubt. They kind of do the same with Texas. I mean kids as in recruits, across all sports. It's a built-in advantage. And it just is what it is. For Texas, it's Austin. It's that so many of these parents grew up liking the Texas Longhorns, whether they went there or not. LSU, in that state, it's the same way. That's not a complaint. That's stating facts. There's just a built-in advantage and edge there. So when LSU gets rolling, they are tough to stop. Also, it's shocking that Texas can go that long without rolling. But, my god, Ed O won a national title there. Ed O recruited there. He's literally a rock-eating caveman and what he did.
So it is a really important season, Dalton. And I think when you look at it, I've said there are a couple of things that need to happen, and it guarantees you nothing because you could do all these things and accomplish nothing this year. They really need to go through September undefeated. That's hard. You got to go win at Miami against a veteran QB. You got to go win in Dallas against Arkansas and probably one of your top couple of returning quarterbacks in the SEC in K.J. Jefferson. That game's always close anyway, and you got to go win at home against Hugh Freeze, and you never know what they're going to do. Especially early against Auburn, a talented team that beat you last year when they had nothing. But they still had enough talent to... They had enough talent to match A&M talent for talent, and then the Aggies played terribly that day, and they won.
Those are three tough games. I don't think any of those three teams will be among the top 15 football teams in the country this year. So we need to go 3-0 and then the other thing that I think the Aggies have to do, people say Mississippi schools.
Yeah, I wanted them to beat Lane Kiffin's ass. I'd like to see Jimbo Fisher go across the field and physically kick the shit out of him, to be honest with you. It would be hard for me if I was Jimbo and I get his frustration to not physically... People say, "Oh, that's a weak thing to do." No, it's not when the guy in your profession verbally kind of goes after you when you haven't brought anything to the table for him. You're going about your business. In real life, sometimes those people get punched in the face. In 2023, you're protected from that. I don't believe it's an overreaction. I think if somebody's just sitting there doing that, unprompted lying about you, calling into question nationally your integrity and what it is you're about, the substance and all that, and then just consistently going after the offense. I'd love to see it. We don't see that in today's day and age enough, but I also think that it starts with needing to beat them on the field. And Ole Miss and Lane have beaten Jimbo and A&M twice in a row, and they have bragging rights. Bragging rights is one thing. What he's doing is really... It's really like schoolyard childish, and in the schoolyard, you get popped in the mouth occasionally. So I'd love to see them go into Oxford and beat Lane and the Rebels and Chris Marshall, and go beat those guys on the field.
But I'm going to say this, I don't think that falls into my must-win category. I think that falls into my really need to win and A&M needs to get to where... Everybody says, "Oh, go beat the Mississippi schools, go beat..." Those schools beat a lot of teams every year, good teams, but they're not at the top of the SEC. So you're saying... To me, if you want to say to get to the top, but those teams will beat LSU. They'll beat Florida. They'll win games like that. That's when those programs aren't at the top. They're not beating Georgia and Alabama. The Aggies have a long way to go to get into that category. We know that. They'll beat Tennessee. They'll beat South Carolina.
But we're talking about, when's A&M going to get there to Georgia and Alabama, right? Well, they're a long way off. To get there, you have to start beating them more consistently. I don't consider Oxford and A&M a must-win. I consider it a desperately wanted win. I think the must wins are the three I mentioned, and then I think that... Are you all right?
Dalton Hughes: Yeah.
Billy Liucci: Oh. I hope that face shows up. Let me see. It's not going to show up because you're tilted this way, so people aren't going to see what you just did with the side of your mouth. I thought something had happened.
I think you've got to win at home, Dalton, against Mississippi State in the first year under their new coach. I know he's been there as a DC, but the first year at Kyle Field, they've beaten you two in a row. That's a must-win for me when it's at home. I think South Carolina, he comes in here our last year, Shane Beamer, and they beat you, and you go up there and just lay an absolute stink bomb in Columbia, and you just crap the bed early in that one and still almost beat them. The worst start imaginable, and you still almost beat them. They're not that good. They're coming in here though, and they think they're going to have this breakthrough season. They think they're going to have a big win on the road at your expense. You've got to win those games.
Those are the five, Dalton. I think I don't see a successful season for the Aggies and that bounce back without winning those five because you still have at Ole Miss, at Tennessee, Alabama here, and at LSU. You can win those five and finish 8-4, and I don't think they've accomplished anything. But to get to that nine, 10...
Dalton Hughes: Have to win those five.
Billy Liucci: There you go.
Dalton Hughes: Let's see... Liucci, when you're on your phone, do you use the TexAgs app or your browser?
Billy Liucci: TexAgs App.
Dalton Hughes: Easy question.
Billy Liucci: Of course.
Dalton Hughes: I've talked to friends around the country from different schools about TexAgs, and they don't have anything what you guys do. Do you think TexAgs lead the industry or is there another company or two that you look to for ideas/to inspire you?
Billy Liucci: I think we're always looking for ideas, particularly this time of year. And Dalton, you're one of the ones that really does a good job of kind of saying, "Hey, I saw this here, I saw." There's been thought put in. I keep seeing coffee breath walking by and Lex Luther. They walk by, and I feel like they've always got eyes on what's going on elsewhere as well. I want to kind of empower and also kind of require more people here to start looking at other actual sites, whether it's Dalton Hughes, whether it's Brauny, Howell, Brandon on the ownership level, Stew Wade up there. Start looking even more because we can learn something from everybody. We could learn something that helps you guys as a subscriber or us as a company from a site with 2,000 subs.
But as far as an industry leader, yeah we are the industry leader, and I think what we've done, I think people around the country respect the hell out of it and appreciate it. I'd have to listen to these assclowns daily on social media that just, they don't... I want to just sit back and make them sit here and recognize what it is we've actually done here. They go, "Well it's just because you're telling people what they want here." No, it's just that we do this company, this business, this model, this fan site thing, this radio show thing, this breaking news thing... We do it better than anyone in the country. And our fans and our subscribers do it better than anyone in the country.
This is a model that everyone in this industry has looked to and patterned themselves after. In many, many ways we've been pioneers in what we've done in terms of exposure outside of just TexAgs. We've been trailblazers in that when it comes to SportsCenter and Finebaum and all these national guests on radio. We've really been at the forefront of that. Doing a radio show, did it again with Stacked, and we're always out there looking for that next step. And to me, the thing is, as much as smaller sites or upstart sites or ones that aspire to be like this one, as much as they look to us and go, "Man, we could learn a lot from them." When the day comes that we don't look to them and go, "We could learn a lot from some of these smaller growing sites," that's when we've failed.
Dalton Hughes: Billy, about how many texts do you get during football games?
Billy Liucci: I don't know. I don't know. Hundreds. Hundreds. And there are certain people that I've told don't ever text me during a game. It's affecting our friendship. I don't want to hear from you. And I'll be honest, a couple of them, y'all know who they are. One of them used to work here, and he was told as your boss and as someone that's one of the owners of the company is telling you in no uncertain terms, “Don't text me during a football game ever again." It was one drive-in like, “Billy, when are we going to fire this?” And it's like never again. And a close friend's wife that maybe you guys all know has been told I just can't with you. Just don't do it during games. I have my buddy who's probably listening to this, a good friend texted me during the Ole Miss game a few years ago, and he said, "You've got to get #5 out of there. He can't get to the outside. He's not fast enough. You got to get Trayveon Williams out of the game and put in Jashaun Corbin. Five doesn't have it. You got to get him out there." Fast forward to the end of the game. If you go look it up, the 2018 Ole Miss game, I think Trayveon Williams went for at least 180, if not over 200, and iced the game with a 45-yard touchdown run to end it. And I've never let him live down that text. He was just so confident in it. “Got to get him out of there. He can't get to the outside. He can't get it done.”
There's a lot of those that are fun too, and I try not to text people during games. I get more mad than anybody. I think like that. 7-0 to Rice, I remember that when Joe Cole was quarterbacking, I go, "This team's just running all over. It's like this is going to be a dog fight, and it's Rice." I'll do it, and sometimes I'm right about it, like the LA Tech game in 2012. Sometimes I'm wrong, and it's just a complete blowout, but it's why you don't text. Sometimes I'll tweet during games when I'm watching at home on those SEC road games. There's usually one a year, sometimes even two depending on how the season goes that I won't go to. And it's like the number of times where I'm like, "I wish I just wouldn't have tweeted during that game." And you know. I tell y'all that too, with the exception of whoever's running the Twitter account. Because you just... We're all fans, we're all hotheaded. We all ride the roller coaster of emotions, good and bad, and it's just like never works out good.
Dalton Hughes: Billy, what do you think of recruits being allowed unlimited official visits? How does it change recruiting?
Billy Liucci: Like everything they've done, it changes recruiting for the worst. So whatever. You can't say that because like, "Oh that's great for the kids. It's great for the process and the kids. You can't say anything negative about..." I think it's terrible for recruiting. I think it's too much, too many. It's going to just make a complicated process even more complicated. What was wrong with lobbying and jockeying to get one of the five official visits? That's like... All this recruiting that goes on leads to the cut. Why not bump it up to seven then if you want? Unlimited, and it puts pressure on I think the families, and yeah, it's official visits. They get paid, but a lot of it is they got to go to all these camps now, and every coach is trying to get them on their campus. I think it's too much. I get it because you've extended the window that they can take official visits. But now, I mean, it's just going to... Oh man, I just feel like it's just going to drag out the process so much more in terms of kids now waiting and waiting and waiting. I hate it. I hate everything they've done to recruiting. I don't like the lack of structure with NIL, all of it. And people just go, "It's good for the kids. They're finally getting there. The athletes are getting what..." Man, there was a different way to do it, in my opinion. And I don't know. I don't have that specific answer, but you had a lot of time, a lot of runway and a lot of buildup. There was a different way to do it that could have been much more structured and regulated, but those days...
It's too late. It's over. It is over. It is the wild west. It ain't going away. There's no way to fix it.
Dalton Hughes: April 17th, your prediction for the starting offensive line?
Billy Liucci: That's a good question. I think Fatheree, Robinson, Foster, Dewberry, Zuhn. but I think Chase Bisontis ends up starting at some point as a true freshman. And that doesn't.. Is it Zuhn? Is it Fatheree at left? Bisontis at right? Is it that somebody gets hurt, and he comes? I think Chase ends up finishing the year as one of your starting offensive linemen. I think he's too good. You'd love to let it be a few weeks in and he... Because remember how much certain guys struggled early in their freshman seasons. Fatheree, Foster, even Kenyon Green. A lot of these guys really... Luke Joeckel if you want to go back, but Jake Matthews came in and started like game six, game seven and didn't look nearly as lost as all those guys did early at the very beginning of their true freshman year.
So I think you start off and you go with what you know and then you start working guys in, but the two that I just could see ending up in there are Bisontis and Nabou.
Nabou you got really, he could play one of three spots. So there's a real thing of if somebody gets dinged up, there he goes. I think he's your next guy. So those two are the ones I'd say keep a close eye on them.
But I'll say this, Zuhn and Fatheree return at tackle, they've got to perform. And I know that'll surprise some people to say that. I'd said Deuce, but those two guys have to perform because I think they're... With Chase emerging and with I think Aki's ability to play out there as well. Crownover, I think there's still some development to do, but he's come a long way. But those guys, you'll have to hold off, particularly Chase. If Zuhn comes back, nobody talks about this, but Zuhn played hurt all year last year, and he is not out there right now. But people forget how high they were and still are on his potential and people just go and say, "Well, I saw him get whipped early last." Yeah, he did. He struggled mightily last year. It was his first year playing college football in games. He played left tackle all year. Yeah, he had some rough ones. He had some rough moments. But people that just say, "I don't see any talent there." you're completely wrong. You're completely wrong. Does that mean he's going to be an all-SEC or All-American or NFL? No, but he's got the physical gifts that are through the roof, and there's a reason why they thought he could handle it. And injuries hurt him, but also I think mentally, you know start struggling out there. That's tough. But he could end up skyrocketing in year two and then if he does and Bisontis then Fatheree has to step his level up. Same with Layden Robinson. Layden I thought struggled a lot last year, but he's a leader. He is a tough, competitive dude. He's strong as hell, he is powerful. He's coming back. He's got to perform because Nabou can play center or guard.
Even the returnees have to really step it up on that right side. So those two guys have to play well because there are options now, but I think they start off with those with the "same starting five." But the line doesn't have to struggle for it to not be status quo. I think it could be if one guy is not performing at enough of a level, you got some dudes waiting in the wings that they might want to give a look at.
Dalton Hughes: Billy, what's your favorite tailgate food? The one that when you're bouncing from tailgate to tailgate stops you in your tracks?
Billy Liucci: Well look, it used to be as simple as this. It used to be just great brisket. I mean if you could find me really good barbecue at one of these things. Because to me, sausage, there can be better jalapeno cheddar, and you can have... There's certain ones you go, "Man, that's better than the others." But that's just still to me too grouped up. You get a really good brisket, you find the right tailgate. A lot of people will try to do gumbo. A big pot of gumbo. I'm not a big fan of having to have a bowl, and you're having to use two hands on it. So I would say brisket to me. And what's the other one? Oh, man. Anything that you could put in bread and just kind of walk around with. So brisket tops my list the best. And the other thing are the bacon wrapped-
Dalton Hughes: Jalapenos.
Billy Liucci: ... the bacon and jalapeno wrapped chicken, what are those called? I don't know what we call them.
Dalton Hughes: Poppers.
Billy Liucci: Poppers whatever. But the poppers I think are just the jalapeno-
Dalton Hughes: Maybe.
Billy Liucci: ... with bacon and cream cheese. But it's one of those with a good big piece of chicken in there, I'll take that all day-
Dalton Hughes: Diablos.
Billy Liucci: ... yeah, another walk-around type deal.
Dalton Hughes: Billy, what are your thoughts on Josh Pate's comments on A&M and Jimbo this season, specifically about if it doesn't go well, that no buyout is too big?
Billy Liucci: I agree with 90 percent of what Pate says about everything and even A&M, which is why I respect him so much. I think he does such a good job, plus he's just such a nice guy. I agree with that to a level. And there was a deal this year when I was on. I did an interview with Dennis Dodd, and they were going to put it out before the LSU game I thought, but they put it out right before Signing Day, and it was when he was here with Josh Pate before LSU. My comment was what led off the article, and it was essentially if it weren't for the buyout last year, that Jimbo might lose his job. And I don't know if I said I didn't think he'd be coaching there or he might lose his job or he'd be on the hot, but it was essentially if it wasn't for that contract...
My point of it was that the contract might be what ends up keeping A&M from doing A&M things. Because if you look at A&M's history, that's what we do. And that's not just A&M. Right down the road in Austin, they do the same thing, but in this instance, the contract is prohibitive of that. So you're riding with it into year six. He put together that recruiting class. I know a handful of guys have left. There are a ton of them coming back that are going to play massive roles on this football team that are incredibly talented. You don't have a lot of depth at some spots, but your starting 22 is strong, and you do have depth at a lot of positions as well. We focus on the couple that they don't.
That buyout is still prohibitive next after this year as well.
Now to agree with Pate, is there a cutoff point where if they lose this many games they have to bite the bullet regardless of what the buyout is? Yeah, but I think that's lower than some people think. I don't think it's nonexistent though. There is a hit that you hit, but I'm more excited about them winning than I am scared about them losing this year, and I am worried about them. You could lose. We saw it last year. A&M lost a lot of close football games, but that was bad chemistry, bad injury team, and a very young team with all those kids we talked about. So they lost, it felt like, all the close games except Arkansas, right? Did they lose every close game except Arkansas?
Dalton Hughes: I believe so.
Billy Liucci: I mean, they beat LSU. That wasn't close. Miami and Arkansas were the two close games they won on back-to-back weeks. They lost so many of the close games.
You just get a little bit better, and you win those close games, and I think that's what A&M will do this year.
Do I think they'll be dominant? No. I feel better about them winning the majority of the close games and winning twice as many of those as they lose than I feel the inverse happening, if that makes sense. I lean towards the optimism, and it's not because I'm being optimistic. That's because I'm looking at the football team, and I'm telling you I believe in what they're doing offensively with Petrino. And people didn't understand these comments last time about the offensive line when Nuño and I did the podcast. Quite frankly, you've got jerks that come on. They're like, "Oh." And then there are the normal people that say, "Man, I just don't see it on the line. I got to see it to believe it." I'm with you. I just think what I've said was there's no excuse for it. With the talent you have and the experience coming back where you could go all five returning starters, you could go plug in some talented young guys like we talked about that come in. It's year two under Addazio. You've got an offensive wizard in Petrino. You've got Petrino. You've got Jim Chaney. You've got Jimbo Fisher. It's a lot, man. That's a lot of offensive... It's high offensive IQ in there. That's a lot of skins on the wall. If that O-line is not good, then there's a real problem. And I think it'd be an abject failure, and I'm not saying they have to be great. And then what I said was I expect them to be significantly improved. I didn't guarantee it, but I think by looking at them, looking what they have coming back. Well, a lot of those guys stunk last year and that... I know, and there are reasons why in some instances, true freshmen, first-year guys. Bryce right when he finally starts playing good because he was so slow to start off, he tears an ACL. Injuries, first year under Addazio, adjusting to his personality, which is night and day different than Josh Henson and the new offensive scheme. I think this O-line makes a big jump.
Dalton Hughes: Couple more?
Billy Liucci: Yep.
Dalton Hughes: Liucci, who will lead the team in sacks this season?
Billy Liucci: That's a good, really good one. I think, again, I wish I'd love to see A&M with a 12-14 sack guy like Myles Garrett did, like Von Miller. You go back like a guy like Keith Mitchell before him. These guys that just can flat-out get to the quarterback. I don't know that they'll... I think it'll be more of by a committee. I hope we have a handful of guys that are in that four to seven-sack range, and I think the team leader in sacks this year might be an 8-9 sack guy. And I'll go with the safe play on that one. I'll go with Fadil Diggs. He was really trending. He had four, I think Alabama and South Carolina in back-to-back weeks, and then tore his bicep and was lost for the year.
Dalton Hughes: Billy, how excited are you about Weigman in year two?
Billy Liucci: I'm really excited. I don't think it's guaranteed that he makes that jump from looking really good in two of his four starts. I'd say two or three. That UMass game, I thought he actually looked pretty good. Some of what he did with his legs and just being decisive. But in that game, you almost throw it away. In two of his three SEC starts, I thought he looked really damn good and just the poise he showed for a true freshman in those circumstances against that caliber football team and kind of so many possessions where you have to guide your team to points or to score and that he was able to do that, I think he has a chance to emerge as we go into 2024. And they're like Conner Weigman's a top-three returning quarterback in the conference. But that is a big jump from where he is. It's not a big jump in our heads of what we think he's going to be, but it's a big jump from where we are today and where he finished the season to that. So he's got to continue. He's got to be pushed by Max Johnson. He's got to be pushed by Fisher and Petrino. He's got to respond to that, and I think he will. And I think he's going to make that jump. I believe he's got that “it” factor. And I've always thought that about him since they started recruiting him at Bridgeland.
Dalton Hughes: Good one to end on here, especially after this weekend. Luicci, what/who are the three programs /coaches that you are most excited about their futures in Aggieland? Trishia Ford and Gerrod Chadwell. For their long-term future. Hard to leave Buzz off my shortlist, but I'm super stoked for Joni Taylor's long-term prospectus too.
Billy Liucci: Love how Joni Taylor's recruiting. I love just listening to her talk.
Yeah, man, that's a good question.
There's something really good with Trisha Ford and softball. They had a rough weekend this weekend up there, but man, they're trending. I mean before, by the way, Zane jinxed that. He's doing research on if they'll host a regional and stuff. He's texting us about it, man. But for a first year and they can do some damage still. Not just in the SEC, but in the postseason. So I think the culture she's brought over there and just the attitude of winning.
I think Chadwell and Weaver are going to win national titles at A&M in women's tennis and women's golf, and they both have a chance to do it this year. I would say they might be in no particular order, one and two on that list.
And then, I mean look, I said it earlier, I don't know if it was on radio or in this, but I think Schlossnagle brings a national title to A&M in baseball. He came so close at TCU, and I think he does it here, and I think they're going to do the right thing with that stadium eventually. Soon, but they got to figure out what the right thing is to do at Blue Bell Park in terms of renovations and making it bigger and making it the facility aspect of it for the players and the athletes and that whole thing to kind of get caught up with the rest of the SEC. They'll do it because you have a new coach and a Schlossnagle is a grinder. “Grinds-Nagle.” He's going to get it done. And he's got a lot of support from the right people here at A&M that understand the importance. I watched that Mississippi State series this weekend, part of it yesterday. Dalton, what was it? 17,000 people? 16 thousand, whatever it was. And going nuts. I know it's not the Egg Bowl, but it's Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State. But they do that a lot of weekends where they have weekends worth of sellouts. It is a party there.
We need to bring back the party atmosphere for A&M baseball like it was when I was in school with Aggie Alley, like it is for the regional and super regional where that is an event every weekend. And there've been great crowds, and there's been great support, but you see what happened with Reed Arena with Buzz and that buildup with the students. Baseball at A&M needs to become even more of a student deal where it's like on Friday and Saturdays, you're going over there before you go out. Yeah, that's like...
Dalton Hughes: The pre-game.
Billy Liucci: ... They call it appointment television. Yeah, it's the pre-game go. We go watch baseball. It's an SEC series. We go watch them play LSU. We go watch them play Texas. We go watch them play Mississippi State, and then we go hit the bars afterward, and that's our weekend. Man, we got that Friday and Saturday. And then maybe, if we feel like getting up in time Sunday, we do the same. But to do that I think the baseball stadium needs an overhaul and I think it's coming because again, I think the right people understand that. That's already in the works.
And by the way, the next step is I think A&M Athletics has got to figure out Reed Arena. You throw a lot of money around hearing a lot of different things. Reed's got to be next after that. And I don't know what the answer is there. That might take, they got all these little freaking surveys and groups that come in and analyze it. Populous and all this. We got to figure that out.
But baseball is on deck, no pun intended. And I think Schlossnagle wins a national title here. And I think that's why there's that sense of urgency to get all that stuff done now that they've finished the capital campaign.
12th Man did an amazing job. The people in charge, the donors, I was there this weekend at their champions council weekend, and what they did in one year to raise money for this capital campaign with the indoor facilities and the academic center and Bright, it's incredible. And because Aggies are so generous, it's like... And so giving, and they want championships so badly here. It's literally onto the next, and it just keeps going. It never stops. Now it probably stopped for football facilities for a while because they are at the top, the apex, which is where they need to be and where we should be. And now it's onto the next. And I think up next on deck baseball. I'd put him in that group.
And the fun thing is, yeah, Joni Taylor, Buzz Williams, Trishia Ford. But those are the three (Schlossnagle, Chadwell, Weaver) that I feel the best, the most confident about winning a national title at A&M. And as I said, two of them might do it in the next couple of weeks. They have both have a real chance to do it. If one of them could, it'd be incredible. They both went to Final Four last year, right? Yeah.
Dalton Hughes: Yeah. I don't know if women... Did women's tennis make the Final Four or was it-
Billy Liucci: Or did they go out in the eight?
Dalton Hughes: It might've been the eight, whatever. They were deep.
Billy Liucci: Well and they got forced indoors, or they would've smoked Oklahoma, who went on to play Texas for the championship. And they had a couple of key girls hurt during that. Golf went to the... Women went to the Final Four. Baseball went to the Final Four essentially in year one under Schlossnagle. Damn, I'm excited about Buzz. People just kind of that jumped on what went on at the end of that season. I saw somebody said like, "Oh, they lost their last two by 30." My God, they went 15-3 in conference. They need to have a better non-conference go of it this year. And I think they will because they returned so much and they're going to be so hungry.
But boy, by the way, I don't know what I can say or what I can't say yet, but I've got wind of what that non-conference schedule's going to look like. And to be honest with you, Dalton, I don't even know what's been out yet, but it's exciting. It's going to be a fun non-conference schedule, including the SEC-ACC Challenge now. So that'll be fascinating.
Anyway, a lot to be excited about moving forward. And I know it hasn't been the best A&M athletic year, but you're in the... Right now, this spring, you're in the midst of seeing a pretty significant uptick, so that'll be fun to watch