Aggie flashback with former A&M OL Andre Brooks

Key quotes from Andre Brooks interview

“The Andre Shuffle took many years to perfect. Basically, our offensive line coach at the time was J.B. Grimes. He was a big stickler, wanting us to sprint down the field on every pass. As an offensive lineman, you’re playing 70 or 80 snaps and not coming out of the game. You get pretty tired, and you’re trying to save as much energy as possible. So I came up with the Andre Shuffle for the offensive line. It was a way –when you watch film -- to make it look like you were sprinting down the field even though you might only be moving two miles an hour.”

“Now I’m actually coaching out at Spring Branch. I’m a teacher. I just finished up my principle certification, so I’m doing that. I’m a realtor. I’ve been a realtor for the last three-and-a-half years. It’s a little job I do on the side. You have to make your degrees work for you. It’s very easy to sit and not do anything. You see that in the world every day. Now that I have a wife and two kids, I have to support my family and teach my kids about a work ethic and what it takes in life.”

“The excitement (surrounding the A&M football program) is top-notch. I keep up with it as much as possible. I’m not a guru like some of the guys on TexAgs that I hear about, but I try to keep up with it as much as I can.”

“(A&M’s atmosphere helped me with my commitment). When I came out, I had originally committed to go to Colorado, and during that time, Coach Neuheisel left to go to Washington. A&M was always my #1 or #2. I could never decide on which one I wanted to go to. I felt when I turned – I was 17 when I actually got to A&M. I was one of those kids that wanted to move as far away from home as possible. I wanted to be a grown-up and this and that. As the time got closer to signing day, I started to realize that I really didn’t want to leave home and that I wanted my parents to be able to watch me play and come see every game that I played in. Coach (Alan) Weddell was always down in my hometown and knew the area. It was just a no-brainer. I had so many people from where I’m from that were big Aggies. It was just a no-brainer that it was the place for me to call home for the next four or five years.”

“Coach Weddell was actually coaching at my former high school with Coach De Atley. I think De Atley was his former offensive coordinator when he was at La Marque. He was coaching out there. It’s home. Like I say, when he came into my home town, my parents really loved him. He had all these good things to say, and as a former high school coach, he had several state championships. He knew what it took to win.”

“When you’ve got the head coach – when they come see you it’s a big deal. When a guy like R.C. Slocum comes and meets you and meets the family, words can’t explain it. He’s an icon in the state of Texas. You feel like you’re a bigtime player and like you’re a stud, but when the head coaches start coming in and start talking to you and your family, it’s just – when you’re a sixteen or seventeen year-old kid, it’s just like, ‘Wow. This guy is really in my house, and he’s really talking to me.’ After I met with Coach Slocum, it was a no-brainer. It was time to become an Aggie.”

“The Bonfire game in ’99 was very sentimental after we had the deaths of those Aggies. One of the games that really sticks out in my mind is the Oklahoma State game in 2001 with the Red, White and Blue Out. The camaraderie that the fans had and the way the city came together for the game – it was just remarkable. I guess the other big game was in 2000 when we played Oklahoma, because that was the first start of my career. That one was, I think, the most memorable and the one that hurt the most. We had that game almost sewn up, and we lost there at the end. When they play the game on TV, I still see the block in the back from Rocky Calmus on Mark Farris. It’s crazy, because the picture that they always show from the game shows the block in the back. It’s blatant. It’s neither here nor there. We had other plays we should have made. I still think about the three passes that we threw at the goal line in that game."

"That’s been our biggest thing. We’re one play away. You talk about it in sports all the time, but even when I played and still today, we’re always just that one play away. Once we can get over that hump, I think we’ll be an exceptional team. Coach Sumlin has done a magnificent job with the team and rebuilding our program. I played for Coach Sumlin. He was there when I was there. I tell people all the time that he was the guy that made players feel like running through a brick wall was a good idea. He was a player’s coach. We, as players, believed in him one-hundred percent."

"Dino Babers was our offensive coordinator. When they switched the helm and gave Coach Sumlin the offensive coordinator spot, we almost doubled our average points scored in a game. He was a guy you could always go talk to. He’s just an exceptional guy. I think he’s got us pointed in the right direction. It took us a long time coming out of that Franchione era, and I think that set us back for a while. I believe wholeheartedly in Coach Sumlin. Finally, the Aggies are back.”

“Whenever you have a guy that players actually want to play for and you actually believe in what they’re saying, it’s just like a business. When a boss makes his employees feel like they’re an asset to the company, they perform at a high level. That’s the type of person that Coach Sumlin is. That’s the type of person that Coach Slocum is. It’s proven. Everywhere Coach Sumlin has gone, he’s had success. Why not at the best university in the country? It’s definitely the best school in the state of Texas.”