R.C. Slocum on being named to CFP selection committee, Jimbo's first year

Key notes from R.C. Slocum interview

• Well I was called not long ago abut the possibility and I was really honored when they called me and asked if I'd consider being on the committee. Then, they have to go through quite an extensive vetting process, so it has been going on for awhile. I know it's a lot of work, there's no doubt about that. This game has meant so much to me and I often wonder what my life would be like without the game of football. This is an opportunity that presented itself. I think the Playoff is a very important thing in the game of football now. Back in the early 90s, I was at a meeting with coaches that included guys like Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, and it was brought up about a college football playoff system. We were asked if we would be in favor of it. At that time, there was a considerable number of the coaches there that were in favor of a playoff, not knowing the format.
   
• I think in light of my recent appointment, I probably should not speculate on what I like and what I don't like about the College Football Playoff. I'm anxious and excited to get into the committee to see how everything goes. I'll withhold my personal bias and go in with an open mind. I've seen people talk about two teams again like Saban, I've seen people talk about keeping four or changing it to six, eight, or even 16. It's not as simple as people think it is. You've got television considerations, bowl game considerations and probably a lot more than I can even think about it.
   
• One of the things I always did, back when I was coaching, we had a coaches poll. Many coaches would pass it off to the SID and ask them to send in for them. I never did that. Saturday night, I'd watch games and scores. I also did poll myself and tried to have reasoning for what I did. After I was a coach, I did the Harris Poll.
   
• I was really pleased with the season for A&M. If you looked at it objectively, we really made great strides as a team. I thought Kellen Mond improved more than anyone on the team. Part of it is an age thing. People look at Kyler Murray's improvement at Oklahoma, and part of it is because he's older. It's a combination of age and being coached. I saw some really good things out of Kellen Mond this season. He's not there yet, but if he can grow this next season like he did last season, we're going have a pretty good quarterback.
   
• As I look at the future of Texas A&M, we're in the best league in college football. As I look at A&M from the Chancellor, to the Athletic Director, to the coaches, we have all our ducks in a row. We've got more stars in alignment than we ever have. We've had some good players and good coaches, but we've never had it all there at the same time.
   
• I think Mike Elko has done a great job. We've not been as good in the secondary. We've been a little thin back there, and we're not quite as talented as we need to be there. We made great strides. Our guys played really hard and we stepped up in really big moments. I would have loved to see another year with the linebackers we had. The challenge now for our program is to take it up a notch. I know that Jimbo feels the same way. Everybody has to turn it up a notch because we're not where we want to be yet.