As a bear I never followed A&M as closely beyond the W/L record when I was little. I was just curious about a few things as an outsider.

I have heard that a few years back A&M claimed the title of "Linebacker U" for themselves.

1- Who were your best LBs?
2- Were they inside linebackers like I know Dat Nguyen or Coryatt were or did they line up outside like Jason Glenn?
3- What did they do in the pros?

And not linebacker specific questions
4- Best A&M D in the modern era?
5- Best aggie team of modern era?
6- Best individual player you saw play for A&M

[This message has been edited by Sam84 (edited 7/20/2010 2:33p).]

One of my favorites was Warrick Holdman. He played at the same time as Dat, so he didn't get as much attention, but he was still a big contributor.

I've heard a lot of people say that 1994 was probably our best team of the modern era. Too bad we were in the middle of a bowl/TV blackout...

-Havoc '05

agree face. warrick goes widely unrecognized, because he played alongside dat.

great LB.

Then he got shadowed playing next to Urlacher

I started at A&M the last year Roper and Wallace manned the OLB spots together. They were the best tandem I have seen since. There have been a lot of great LBs for the Ags through the years

Reggie Brown- 17th overall pick by the Lions, looked like a player before getting paralyzed.

Quentin Coryatt- 2nd overall pick by Colts. Disappointing NFL career.

Dat Nguyen- Cowboys Third round pick. Productive 7 year veteran.

Dana Batiste- 9th Round Miami. Special Teams player.

Warrick Holdman- 4th Round pick by Bears. Average NFL career.

Jarrod Penright. Jets/Vikings.

Jason Glenn.- Played for the vikings

Marcus Buckley- played for the Giants. Famous for the Hit.

Keith Mitchell- went undrafted but played for Saints for 5 years.



[This message has been edited by AggieBob03 (edited 7/20/2010 3:11p).]

Modern Era All American Aggie Linebackers

Billy Hobbs 66-68 (hardest hitter we have ever had)
Ed Simonini 72-75
Robert Jackson 74-75 (2nd Hardest Hitter we ever had)
Dat Nguyen (always in on the play)
Quentin "The Hit" Coryatt
Reggie Brown
Johnny Holland
William Thomas
Keith Mitchell
John Roper
Aaron Wallace

Best linebackers were mid 70s and late 80s

William Thomas and Aaron Wallace played for awhile in the pros. Roper could have played longer. Johnny Holland played for awhile in the pros.

The early 90s teams had consistent talent but inconsistent offensive schemes. We never transitioned from a heavy run team which dominated the conference and most non conference but could not cross the threshold.

I started keeping up with the Ags when Wallace and Roper were here, and I have yet to see their level duplicated--unreal (of course, I was in the 4th grade, so I probably wasn't the best judge).

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Marcus Buckley- played for the Giants. Famous for the Hit.

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This will not end well for you.

Thomas & Mitchell were Pro Bowlers & made AP All NFL teams. Dat was AP All NFL one year too.

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Marcus Buckley- played for the Giants. Famous for the Hit.

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Isn't there a whole thread dedicated to this?

I will not get sucked into this.I will not get sucked into this.I will not get sucked into this.I will not get sucked into this.

if we're just talking about the 1990's, my starting four:

OLB: Marcus Buckley
ILB: Dat
ILB: Coryatt
OLB: Antonio Armstrong

if both the 80's and 90's, then:

OLB: Marcus Buckley
ILB: Dat
ILB: Johnny Holland
OLB: John Roper

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and the reason A&M was linebacker U...some of the LB's that had the best NFL careers like W.Thomas, K.Mitchell, A.Wallace, W.Holdman...don't even make my all decade team.

also something to think about...who were the great Baylor or Texas linebackers during the period (1985-2000) of great A&M linebackers?

BU: James Francis, Ray Berry, ?
Texas: Britt Hager, ?

Frankly, there were not enough good ones to go around in that time period because Miami, FSU, CU, OU, and NU were taking them out of state.

Buckley almost killed that kid from SMU.

THE BEST College Football Power Rankings..DanTanna.com

Ed Simonini and Garth Ten Naple have to also be in the conversation if you want to go back to the beginning of "Linebacker U".

Roylin Bradley was on his way till his neck? injury. Dat was on the ball constantly, he would be tops for me.

i dont remember roylin having a neck injury...

Best team IMO was 1991 with 2 losses ... bad loss to Tulsa on the road and Florida State in Cotton Bowl (I've never seen an A&M team out-play their opponent that bad and still lose).

[This message has been edited by czar_iv (edited 7/20/2010 8:31p).]

I remember him being carted off of the field, spine or neck I dont remember, but he wasnt the same.

quote:

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Modern Era All American Aggie Linebackers

Billy Hobbs 66-68 (hardest hitter we have ever had)
Ed Simonini 72-75
Robert Jackson 74-75 (2nd Hardest Hitter we ever had)
Dat Nguyen (always in on the play)
Quentin "The Hit" Coryatt
Reggie Brown
Johnny Holland
William Thomas
Keith Mitchell
John Roper
Aaron Wallace

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I could've sworn Jason Atkinson was an AA too??


Now the thing that I call livin' is just bein' satisfied with knowin' I got no one left to blame

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6- Best individual player you saw play for A&M

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Ray Childress

quote:

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Marcus Buckley- played for the Giants. Famous for the Hit.

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"Aggies don't lie, cheat, or steal, nor do they tolerate those who do!" - Aggie Code of Honor

quote:

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Best team IMO was 1991 with 2 losses ... bad loss to Tulsa on the road and Florida State in Cotton Bowl (I've never seen an A&M team out-play their opponent that bad and still lose).

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I would agree with that...led Tulsa 28-0 at halftime and lost 35-28...completly outplayed Florida State but 8 turnovers and some bad calls by the refs(Crooms never stepped out of bounds on the would of been pick 6) prevented the win..but that was our best team IMO

John Roper was an absolute beast who was probably the best athelete on the field any given week. His partner, Aaron Wallace, was no slouch either. They were called the Blitz Brothers.

Ed Simonini, Garth Ten Naple, and Robert Jackson played linebacker together for one season in the 70's. All had at least one All American honor in their career. That's 3 AA linebackers in the same lineup.

Dat, Johnny Holland, John Roper wow! A lot of great linebackers.

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Roylin Bradley was on his way till his neck? injury. Dat was on the ball constantly, he would be tops for me.

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It was his knee. He injured it and then re-injured it during practice.

He still holds the #6 spot on our All-Time Sack list.

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I always thought the Bradley-Anthony-Gamble trio (circa 1999-2001) kind of took the quality of A&M linebackers down a notch. They were 3 and 4-year starters that made minimal if any impact in the NFL/NFL draft; and were the first group in the Big 12 era that were not as good as their OU and Texas counterparts. They began the era of undersized and slow LB's that A&M is still trying to recover from.

They were good players for the Ags, but not the playmakers/game-changers that A&M had a few years prior (with the exception of Jason Glenn).

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Buckley almost killed that kid from SMU.

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I love it when we get to sort the TexAgs regulars out from the new kids.

People who don't get the Buckley/The Hit schtik are funny.

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People who don't get the Buckley/The Hit schtik are funny.

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What schtik? Buckley demolished that guy. They show the clip every game.

OK, I'll jump in - it's because Coryatt made the hit - hence the "debate" about it. The vid clearly shows #44.

No love for Solari?