The Big 12 is a defensive football league. In 2001, five of the nation’s top 10 units came from the conference, including Texas A&M, which finished 10th. Physical, punishing defenses are the rule, not the exception.

However, speed still kills. Just ask Nebraska and Colorado, two Big 12 powerhouses that were drilled in BCS bowls by opponents with superior across-the-board team speed. The Aggies are in the middle of making a conscious effort to upgrade the size at the linebacker position, but R.C. Slocum and the Aggies will never pass up the chance to sign a linebacker with 4.4 speed and tremendous closing ability.

So, when Dallas Kimball star Kelvin Flood signed with Texas A&M last week, turning down offers from Notre Dame, Penn State, Maryland, Missouri and Georgia Tech, you can imagine the excitement felt by defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz and his defensive staff.

Without speed at the outside linebacker position, the Wrecking Crew would be in serious trouble. The entire scheme is based on having a pair of outside ’backers with the ability to get around 300-pound tackles and routinely drop into zone coverage.

With legit 4.4 speed, 18 sacks over the past two seasons, and a high school background that includes some running back, safety, defensive end and with his stint as a linebacker, Flood has all of the qualities that the Aggies could ask for in an incoming outside linebacker recruit. Without question, the 6-2, 210-pounder looks like the perfect fit in Texas A&M’s defense.

Not only does Flood look the part, he does an excellent job of getting the most out of his talent on the field.

"Kelvin Flood plays with tremendous effort… what we coaches call a non-stop motor," said Aggie assistant head coach Kevin Sumlin, who recruited Flood out of Kimball. "When you combine that kind of effort with his athleticism and speed, it makes for a very good prospect."

As a junior, Flood used that speed and effort to rack up 83 tackles and six sacks en route to all-district honors. This fall, teams generally ran away from "Special K," but they couldn’t hide.

"Even though he was playing out of position (with his hand on the ground) at defensive end, teams still ran away from him," explained Sumlin. "But guess what, Kelvin was plenty fast enough to chase people down from behind."

Following a senior campaign in which he registered 141 stops, 27 tackles for loss, a dozen sacks, and forced nine fumbles, Kelvin earned first-team 5A All-State honors, not to mention being a first-team member of the Dallas Morning News’ first-team all-area squad.

Yes, the name of Flood’s game is speed, but he is far from one-dimensional. The District 12-5A Most Valuable Player also has nine career blocked kicks to his credit and, though he was undersized for a defensive end, managed to manhandle opposing linemen when teams tried to run straight at him.

Flood should have no problem adjusting to OLB in the Aggies’ scheme. In fact, his transition could be smoother than it was for some of the recent A&M signees at the position. Kelvin covers 100-meters in 10.6 seconds and is as quick or quicker than most safeties, so covering backs and receivers won’t be nearly the problem that it is for most high school defensive ends.

According to Slocum, Kelvin Flood is "a tremendous playmaker who really runs to the ball well and has great speed."

In his Signing Day press conference, Slocum went on to say that Kelvin "may be the fastest linebacker coming out of high school this year."

And the head coach did not mean coming out of the Lone Star State, he meant the entire country.

Just like Kelvin chasing down opposing quarterbacks, it won't take long for Aggie fans to realize that "Flash Flood" warnings at Kyle Field are a good thing.

–Billy Liucci