THE WORD IS OUT It's no secret: Slocum set out to land McNeal, fill TE needs By Homer Jacobs

Credit R.C. Slocum for being able to keep a secret, keeping things as much hush-hush and on the QT as he possibly could. But even the veteran Texas A&M coach couldn’t take it anymore.

He had to – and finally could – tell someone about the coup of landing Lufkin quarterback Reggie McNeal. Before a crowded Burkhardt Auditorium underneath Kyle Field for his National Signing Day press conference, Slocum could break the silence mandated by the NCAA and let the adjectives fly when describing one of the nation’s top high school prospects.

"He’s displayed some pretty good qualities up to this point," said Slocum, obviously beaming about landing his No. 1 target for almost two years. "I look forward to getting him here and seeing how quickly he can develop in our system. He brings a lot of qualities, in terms of athletics and his sheer physical qualities – as well as some character things that I think are real important at that position."

McNeal, who led Lufkin to the Class 5A Division II state championship in an unbelievable playoff run, has shown the rare combination of speed, arm strength and field savvy. His total package seems enough to convince Slocum to open up the quarterback derby more than normal heading into the fall.

"We’ll bring Reggie in this fall, and we’ll give him every opportunity to step out there and see how far along he is and how quickly he can pick up our system and see how quickly he can play," Slocum added. "I would not be at all opposed to playing a freshman quarterback. It would be a matter of bringing him in and seeing how quickly he can adapt. I won’t try to force the issue. If it happens, that will be fine. If it doesn’t and if he needs a little more time to develop, that will be fine, too. We’re just delighted he’s coming here."

McNeal may have signed with a future favorite target, as well, as Crockett’s L’Tydrick Riley drew rave reviews from Slocum. Riley played quarterback for Class 3A Crockett, but his 6-3, 210-pound frame will be utilized at wide receiver.

Could Riley be the next Robert Ferguson? Only time will tell, but his physical stature suggests an ongoing nightmare for opposing defensive backs.

Riley, who scored 31 points in a basketball game just a few weeks ago, rushed for 952 yards and passed for 765 more as a senior. And the nephew of former A&M basketball great Claude Riley turned several heads during his performance at the state’s 7-on-7 passing tournament held on the A&M campus in July.

"Another guy who I think is really good is L’Tydrick Riley," Slocum said. "He’s a guy that had he elected, he could have been recruited by everyone in America. He’s a big-time football player.

"You couldn’t call him a sleeper. He’s not in the national limelight because he’s from Crockett, Texas, and he elected to commit early and stayed with his commitment. That kid will be a good football player."

The Aggies signed 23 players altogether on Feb. 6, including two players – defensive lineman Johnny Jolly and offensive lineman Brandon Flanagan – who have already enrolled in school as mid-term transfers. Jolly, an athletic defensive end from Houston Forest Brook, signed with A&M last year, but did not qualify academically. He sat out the fall, reached his academic requirements and will have four years of eligibility with the Aggies.

Flanagan, an offensive lineman from Houghton, La., graduated early from high school and is projected as an offensive tackle as he begins spring drills in March.

But A&M’s focus in landing the other 21 players was to shore up huge holes at the tight end, kicker and inside linebacker positions.

The linebacker duo of Nurahda Manning and Archie McDaniel followed in the footsteps of Byron Jones (above), leaving Bay City for Texas A&M.

Yes, Thomas Carriger will have some new faces in the meeting rooms with tight ends coach Tam Hollingshead. A&M signed three tight ends, including Quinlin Germany of Fort Worth All Saints Episcopal, Taylor Schuster of Mission Sharyland and Patrick Fleming of Colleyville Heritage. Slocum said all three might see the field in 2002.

"They probably have a little more experience playing tight end than (Carriger) had," Slocum said. "We’ll need for them to play this year. We’re planning on these freshmen playing for us. We’re about out of guys here, so the answers have got to come from these freshmen."

While A&M lost some key prospects to rival schools, a major switch in the final week of the recruiting season filled a pressing need and added luster to a solid class ranked as high as 15th by one national recruiting outlet.

Indeed, the Bay City connection is still strong, with inside linebackers Archie McDaniel and his partner, Nurahda Manning, joining the Aggie linebacking corps. Manning committed first to the Aggies, but McDaniel changed his commitment from LSU to A&M after finally lining up a late January official visit to College Station.

McDaniel and Manning are two huge pieces to this recruiting puzzle, as the Aggies have been depleted of depth at the inside linebacker position after the graduations of Harold Robertson and Amon Simon. It also didn’t hurt that both Bay City players were considered two of the state’s top inside ’backers on a team that finished as runner-up to Ennis in the Class 4A state championship.

"I think the switch in commitment of Archie McDaniel really helped," Slocum said. "Once we got Archie to take an official visit to A&M, he really liked it. He went home and felt so good about it, that his family came by the next week and they liked it. To me, that was one of the key guys we got in this class because he added to this class where we really had a need."

Just like the recent pipelines A&M has created with La Marque and Lufkin, the road between Bay City and Aggieland has become a well-traveled one for a quartet of Black Cats in the last two years.

Last year, the Aggies signed wide receiver John Roberson and cornerback Byron Jones. While Roberson is a promising young redshirt, Jones went on to cap his freshman season with Most Valuable Player honors in the galleryfurniture.com Bowl.

"We had two young men who we brought into our program last year from Bay City," Slocum said. "If those players had not felt good about how they were being treated and the atmosphere at Texas A&M, you can rest assure that we would not have been able to go back to Bay City and recruit some good players."

A&M’s final main target was to be at the kicking position, as Cody Scates had to handle double duty this fall as a punter and place-kicker. The dual role hampered Scates, who had to deal with two different kicking motions for each position.

The kicker A&M pinpointed this recruiting season was Todd Pegram from Plano West High School. Pegram made 9 of 12 field goals as a senior, connecting on a season-long 48-yarder. He was considered the No. 2 kicker in the country per Rivals100.com.

The Aggies signed one of their most athletic classes in recent years, and Slocum hopes he can find five or six players to emulate what some of his freshmen did a year ago… and that was save A&M in several instances.

"I talked to our team (on Feb. 5) and said our team is going to get a lot better in the morning," Slocum said. "I really think that and am hoping that we have guys who can come in here and make the same kind of impact that some of the freshmen did for us last year. I just hope it’s not because of injuries.

"This time next year, we’ll have a new football facility that we’re starting on construction in a few weeks. Next year, we’ll be well on our way to building a facility that we plan on being the nicest one in college football. That will enhance our recruiting, so I see very positive things about the direction of our program."

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