Aggie Flashback w/ Reggie McNeal

Notes from Reggie McNeal interview

* He bounced around Canada for a couple of years while playing football in the CFL until his back injury ended his career a little early. He’s now back at A&M finishing up his degree and has about a year left. Once he gets done, he plans on coaching and trying to get onboard with the A&M coaching staff to some degree. He’s currently commuting to and from College Station on Tuesdays and Thursdays to come to class, however, he is looking for a place in B/CS to move into.

* After being the honorary captain at last week’s game against South Carolina State, he felt like he was ready to suit up again. It was a wonderful feeling to know that the support for him is still there and that the whole school still loves him.

* Johnny Manziel is a great athlete who has a lot of upside to his game. Watching Manziel play, he was reminded of himself back in his heyday. However, if Manziel, himself and Usain Bolt were to line up for the 40 yard dash, Manziel would come in third with Bolt coming in first and himself in second. However, if the race was run while he was in college, he believes that he could take Bolt in the 40.

* Going into the game against top-ranked ranked Oklahoma, he wasn’t nervous at all because he didn’t have to start. During that game, it seemed as if the field would just open up anytime he threw the ball. That could possibly be contributed to the man who was calling the plays for A&M that day, Mr. Kevin Sumlin himself. That game against Oklahoma, along with playing against Colorado his junior year, were a couple of his favorite memories of his time at A&M.

* When Coach Franchione switched the offensive scheme to the option before his senior year, it set him back a lot. He never looked at himself as an option quarterback and instead saw himself as a passer first and a runner second.

* He would love to play in the offense Sumlin is running at A&M right now because it’s so wide open and a bunch of weapons out wide to use to your advantage.

* He thinks everyday about how his career would have been different if R.C. Slocum would have never left A&M and he would have been able to spend four years with Sumlin as his offensive coordinator. He hears comparisons to current quarterbacks such as Robert Griffin III that make him think about what could have been and how great of a career he could have had. He truly believes that if he would have come out of high school a few years later that he could have been a top-5 pick in the NFL draft.

* About a year ago, one of his cousins showed him the play that sent his Lufkin team to the state championship on YouTube. He remembers that game being ridiculously crazy because it was pouring down rain the entire game. They were losing 20-0 at halftime and ended up going ahead with 36 seconds left in the game.

* He came to A&M because he wanted to play for Coach Slocum because of the great relationship the two of them had. He always loved being an Aggie, and that fact contributed a great deal to him staying at A&M after Franchione was hired. However, once Franchione was hired he got on the phone with the University of Miami about a possible transfer to the Florida school. Miami had a scholarship waiting for him if he wanted it, but after being told by Franchione that the offense was not going to change, he decided to finish out his collegiate career at A&M. Coming out of high school, Franchione tried recruiting him to play at Alabama, but he wanted no part of that because he didn’t want to run the option. He doesn’t regret staying at A&M because of what he has now, but if he was able to redo it, he probably would have left to further his football career.