During his career at Plano West High School, Todd Pegram became a hero on Friday nights because of his clutch kicks. But it was what he did on Saturdays, Sundays and practically every other day of the week that first won the admiration of his high school head coach, Mark Reeve.

No matter the time of day or the time of year, when Reeve looked out from the Plano West fieldhouse toward the practice field, he usually saw Pegram practicing on his own.

"Just for example, we work every Saturday during the season then let the kids go," Reeve said. "But Todd would stay late just to get in extra work on his own. And on Sundays when the coaches would be going over film of the next week’s opponent, we’d take a break and look out there, and Todd would be kicking.

"You know, some people find it hard to believe when I say this about a kicker, but Todd is probably the hardest worker I’ve ever coached. He made himself into a great kicker."

Pegram certainly produced some great high school numbers. He converted 9 of 12 field goal attempts last season, including a 42-yarder to beat Rockwall as time expired. He was also perfect on all 28 extra point attempts in 2001.

For his two-year varsity career at Plano West, Pegram was 18-of-23 on field goal attempts. He also played in the Army All-Star Game in San Antonio at the conclusion of the 2001 season and kicked a 36-yard field goal and was 3-of-3 on extra point attempts.

Many of those kicks also came under some intense pressure. In 2000, for example, he booted fields goals of 48 and 40 yards in both overtimes of Plano West’s double-OT victory over Allen. And he drilled a 48-yard field goal to put the Wolves ahead of Plano East late in the fourth quarter of that same season.

Reeve says his confidence in Pegram was probably similar to the assurance New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick had in Super Bowl XXXVI hero Adam Vinatieri.

"I know that is an awfully lofty comparison, but that’s how much confidence I had in Todd," Reeve said. "When our offense got to the 30-yard-line, I could just count on us at least getting three points out of it. Todd was remarkably accurate from 47 or 48 yards.

"That changes the way you can call plays, take chances and so forth on offense. It’s quite a luxury."

It’s also a luxury the Aggies didn’t have last year. Redshirt freshman place-kicker Chris Sims left A&M before the season started because of recurring back problems, forcing punter Cody Scates to handle both kicking chores. Scates did an admirable job as a place-kicker, hitting 8-of-16 field goal attempts.

But the Aggies are hopeful Pegram can immediately handle the place-kicking responsibilities, enabling Scates to focus on his punting.

Reeve says Pegram has at least one similarity with Scates in terms of his willingness to hit opponents.

"When he was a sophomore he was at (the feeder school to Plano West), and I invited him to be on the varsity as our kicker," Reeve said. "But he basically said he was having too much fun just as a wide receiver and strong safety just to come to the varsity level to be a kicker.

"When he got to (Plano West), we finally convinced him that he was too valuable as our kicker to risk being hurt as a defensive back or receiver. But he’s got good size, and he will knock you out on those kickoff returns. He’s not just a kicker. He’s a football player. I think those Texas A&M fans are really going to develop a lot of confidence in Todd, and I can see him making a big difference."

– Rusty Burson