A&M quarterback Max Johnson ready for first fall in College Station

After transferring from Louisiana State, Max Johnson is locked in a three-man race to be the starting quarterback for Jimbo Fisher's Texas A&M Aggies this fall. Before camp officially begins, Johnson joined Billy Liucci for an exclusive interview.

Editor’s Note: Due to a technical malfunction, the final 6:37 of Max’s interview with Billy are available only in the following transcript form. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Billy Liucci: There’s so many things that I could sit here and talk to you about. One of them is D.J. Durkin. You’ve played against him, so you’ve seen him. It was a wild shootout that first year. I believe y’all both scored in the 40s and 50s, and that was one of your big games. This past year, it was a much improved Ole Miss defense, so facing them two years in a row, you can kind of speak to the turnaround Durkin did there in Oxford.

Max Johnson: Talking to all the defensive guys here, they say he brings a lot of energy. He’s very energetic. He’s very into what he does. I think he’ll go out there and start running stuff, running drills. He’ll be out there moving and stuff. All our guys are excited. I think he does a great job of some four-down and three-down fronts. You know, playing both is kind of cool, kind of learning from my past and going against it every day is going to help us as well.

Liucci: It makes it tougher on you guys.

Max: Definitely. One-hundred percent. Definitely.

Liucci: The quarterback room. And I’ve talked to Haynes (King) about this, and I think it’s always so important, especially in today’s college football because there’s so much coming and going, right? How close are you guys as a group, with two new faces and Haynes?

Max: I’d say we’ve definitely gotten closer over these seven months that we’ve all been here together. Conner (Weigman) come in early, and then I came in January, so we’ve kind of meshed as a quarterback group. We’ll all come together and throw with the receivers together. It has been good kind of bonding with everyone, but it’s competitive. It’s competitiveness on the field, but it has been good to get to know these guys.

Liucci: What do y’all do with these workouts when you’re out there to get better? Besides just being out there and competing, as a QB, are you trying to stay really technical? What is it that you do during this time to get better or is it just the reps?

Max: It’s everything. Building chemistry with the new receivers, the receivers that have been here. It’s maintaining your body and making sure you’re coming into fall camp at the right weight. Staying mentally focused. Working on the running game and the passing game. Meeting with the coaches, working with the guys. It’s about being prepared and staying prepared the whole time.

Liucci: You guys have a quarterback battle that will take place this month that everybody is anticipating. When you guys come out of it, how excited... Or do you not even pay attention to it: You know the QBs on the schedule. You’ve played against the majority of them. You’ll see Van Dyke at Miami, KJ (Jefferson), (Will Rogers), the Heisman Trophy winner (Bryce Young). As a quarterback, how fired up do you get when you say, “Yeah, I want to win the job so I can do battle with these guys every week”?

Max: Exactly. Being the best I can be every single day is how I’m going to go about this competition. There are a lot of great quarterbacks everywhere. I think being the best and being where your feet are is what you can do to control your attitude and your effort. There’s a lot of great quarterbacks in this league, the SEC especially, but going to the Manning Passing Academy really put it in perspective: There’s a lot of great quarterbacks out there. It was really fun talking to all of those guys and all those other quarterbacks, and I’m looking forward to doing that again.

Liucci: Is that a highlight for you to go out there just to measure yourself?

Max: I would say so, 100 percent. Measuring up to those guys and just seeing where can I stand was kind of special to me. Learning from Peyton and Eli was really cool, especially getting those one-on-one talks with them was really cool, and then talking to other quarterbacks, whether it was on the field or back in the dorm room, was kind of special as well.

Liucci: It sounds like you did really well. Was that your take? Did you walk away thinking that way of your showing of yourself?

Max: Yes sir. I felt like I was ready for it. I had fun coaching the kids, and I felt like I performed well as well.

Liucci: Was there anyone, in particular, you bonded with?

Max: It was kind of cool getting back with Myles (Brennan) and talking to him about what’s been going on at LSU the last seven months. He has been asking me. I talked to some other guys, but it was cool though.

Liucci: That could be another one of those wild matchups. We could sit here and really have you handicap the LSU quarterback battle and send that to everybody in Baton Rouge, but I’ll pass. That sounds like another one that could be really interesting.

Max: I think it’s going to come down to the wire. I know all of those guys except Jayden (Daniels). I think he’s known as a really good runner. I think Brian Kelly and their staff will make their best decision.

Liucci: Let’s have a little bit of fun before you go, and I want to ask you; you’re not a freshman but you came in with 11 other guys. I think you had 19 more that showed up about a month ago. Is there anything about them since you’ve been here from that group as a whole that stands out? It’s the No. 1 class of all time, and your brother is a part of it. Are there certain things that jump out at you?

Max: There’s a lot. I think there are a lot of big dudes. A lot of O-linemen and D-linemen are big. They’re coming in hungry to play. Everyone is coming in hungry, chomping at the bit. Everyone is pushing each other. This freshman class is pretty special. I think bonding with the wideouts has been one of my things and bonding with the O-linemen.

Liucci: I was going to say... Those wideouts and those tight ends are some dudes that can go up and get the football.

Max: Definitely. I’m not sure, but I think the average height might be 6-foot-3. We’ve got some dudes. Chris Marshall, Noah (Thomas), Evan (Stewart). Some dudes with the tight ends on the field, including Jake (Johnson). We’ve got some studs. It’s going to be fun playing with all of these guys.

Liucci: I think it’s going to be a fun, not only season but a fun fall camp...

Max: I agree.

Liucci: I know you’re fired up. I was fired up to sit down with you today, and I look forward to doing it again soon.

Max: Yes sir. Awesome. Thank you.

Liucci: Alright, he’s Max Johnson. I’m Billy Liucci. This is TexAgs Stacked.