He just knew. Then his perspective changed after all of one day of practice on the A&M campus.

"I'll be honest with you, when I first came out of high school, there was that feeling that all these people think I'm good, so that must mean I'm good," said Valletta, a fourth-year junior starting at left guard. "Within a day, I found out that I was not good. That's all it took. It just took one day being around the varsity and guys who have been there. From a strength standpoint, I wasn't even close. Mentally, I wasn't even close. I wasn't ready. And I'm glad, because right now I feel that I am ready."

Valletta battled the bulge for a few years and the fact that a veteran like Cameron Spikes was playing ahead of him on the depth chart. But, in retrospect, Valletta has traveled the charted course into the lineup. Offensive linemen, if the coaches had their way, wouldn't even sniff the field until their redshirt junior years.

Still, Valletta had to rededicate himself in the weight room to prepare himself for the rigors along the line. He was one of the first players to report for early-morning winter workouts, and he trimmed his body into a lean 295 pounds, down from his top weight that pushed 310 pounds.

"When I came here, he was really too heavy," said second-year offensive line coach J.B. Grimes. "He had not learned how to be a good offensive lineman yet. He really had to do some growing up. He had to dedicate himself, and that's what he's done.

"The thing I respect about Chris is he didn't sit around and gripe and moan because he wasn't the starter. He tried to get better. He did everything I asked him to do. I really feel good about him."

But to describe Chris Valletta requires more than listing playing weights and bench press marks. Call him Texas A&M's student-athlete poster boy.

He recently attended the prestigious NCAA Leadership Foundation Conference in Orlando, a conference that invited 300 select athletes from all sports at all collegiate levels. He already is a member of the student-athlete advisory board at A&M, and he literally is the Voice of the Aggie football team.

During the summer, Valletta is a disc jockey for Bryan/Colleg Station's

103.9 KHLR, an alternative music station commonly known as "The X."

Indeed, Valletta is a talker both on and off the field.

"That's something I just really enjoy doing," Valletta said. "I just take a hiatus during the season and do that in the offseason. It's a fun job, and I really enjoy doing it. I never had any experience, but I told the (employer) it was something that I really wanted to do. Just give me a chance. They just threw me on the air, and that was it. I never really talk about football on the air; I just wanted to keep it me, the DJ."

It's a job his fellow teammates have teased him about, often using their deepest Dave South radio voices to say, "Hey, man, we heard you on the radio.'

Could Valletta become a real shock jock when his football career is over? Well, he'd rather pursue broadcasting where people can actually see his mug.

"I don't think (radio) is something I want to get into, but the more and more I watch ESPN, I would love to do broadcasting and get into the TV part of it," he added. "But everyone keeps telling me that I have a face for radio, especially Coach Grimes."

Grimes has been especially instrumental in the Valletta's development as an offensive lineman. Although this is Valletta's third offensive line coach in four years, Grimes already has become the most popular coach Valletta has played for.

R.C. Slocum calls Grimes just an "ol' ball coach,' while the linemen talk about him in reverent tones.

"He's great, and he is so well-respected by us," Valletta said. "I've had three offensive line coaches since I've been here. He leaves everything on the field. He can get on you one second on the field, and his arm is around your shoulder the next minute. He's that kind of guy, and that really means a lot to this offensive line. He's just a really great coach to play for, and it makes playing football a lot more fun when you have someone like that to play for."

The A&M offensive line had to replace its left side this fall, after Cameron Spikes and left tackle Rex Tucker landed NFL contracts. And the left tackle spot was still up for grabs after fall camp, with Shea Holder and Tango McCauley both to see playing time this year.

But Valletta grabbed the left guard spot quickly last spring, and he is showing all the signs of being a productive two-year starter at the grueling position.

Too bad most fans in the stands won't know if Valletta has made strides in his game.

"Before I played football, I didn't watch the offensive line," said Valletta, who played for Pinkerton Academy in New Hampshire before his all-state career at Plano. "I watched the running back, the quarterback and the receivers. It seems the only time the fans would watch the offensive line is if there were a big sack in the backfield, but that's fine. That's totally understandable. It's definitely a grueling position. We have to know fronts and calls. We're talking to each other while we're up there on the line.

"It's mentally a tough position, and physically it's tough because you're pushing on 300 pound guys all the time. I hope the fans understand (how hard it is)."

Valletta's traveling fan club - several family members dressed in their standard No. 71 jerseys - are just now beginning to recognize the finer points of the cut and drive block.

"I know my mother (Michaela) watches me every single play," Valletta said. "I think my dad (John) just does a combination. I'm the first one to play football in my family, so not a lot of people really understand the game in my family, but they're coming along. My dad one time came up to me and said, 'Hey, Chris, you need to stay in that 3-technique longer.' I was taken aback and said, 'What?' I came to find out Coach Grimes had told my dad to tell me to stay in the 3-technique longer, so that was pretty funny."

Grimes lights up when he talks about the multi-talented person that Valletta has become. And just like any coach, Grimes takes personal satisfaction in watching a once overweight, struggling underclassman move deservedly into a starting role. Just like the coaching manual says.

"He's doing well, and he's ready," Grimes added. "When you talk about the learning curve for an offensive lineman, he's right at where the learning curve is supposed to be."

Valletta said he's almost overwhelmed that he is starting for the Texas Aggies. He now is one of the big men on campus, not a recruit merely thinking he's one.

"It's definitely been worth the wait," Valletta said. "We had our first yell practice (All University Night), and you just get a tiny feeling of what it's going to be like when the whole stadium is full. That's what makes it worth the wait.