Aggie Flashback with Jimmy Wright

Notes from Jimmy Wright interview

* At the beginning of the year, he had many conversations with people about going 6-6 or 7-5 with an outside shot to go 8-4 depending on how things shook out. He has been surprised like everyone else that A&M is sitting at 8-2 right now, but Coach Sumlin has the team playing together and playing tremendously well right now.

* The game of football is very entertaining for him to watch now because he has always been in favor of the forward pass. Being able to watch a game and know that your team is never out of it because of their ability to throw the ball makes the game that much more fun to watch. Johnny Manziel has evolved from a “chunker” to a “thrower” and finally to a “passer” and teams better defend the pass because of his accuracy and ability to put the ball where he wants it.

* Manziel has improved immensely since the Florida game at the beginning of the season. He looked like a true freshman during the second half of that game, but looking at what he was able to do against Mississippi State and Alabama shows his overall progress. Coach Sumlin and Coach Kingsbury deserve all the credit for pushing him to the point from a knowledge perspective where he knows how to handle all the audibles and to where he knows exactly how to execute the given plays.

* Manziel looked like a veteran on the field against Alabama on Saturday. A key to that is the confidence with which he is playing right now and the growth that has occurred between him and his teammates. The players know exactly what type of quarterback they have and that helps build the on-field chemistry needed to succeed.

* In the 26 years he coached, he only had one player, Condredge Holloway, who was as good of a scrambler and passer as Manziel. However, Holloway was not as good of a runner as Manziel is, and he is yet to see a player who can do the things Manziel can. Manziel’s ‘fumble to himself and throw for a touchdown’ play was something spectacular.

* The fire in this team is definitely there, and if you look at the offense, there are only two differences in the starters from last season (Manziel and Mike Evans). Most of the players on the defensive side of the ball were at A&M last year, and the success that the same groups of guys are having this year as compared to last is a testament to Coach Sumlin and his staff.

* Compared to how he called the game against Florida, Kliff Kingsbury has started to run the ball a little more which has helped A&M immensely.

* In the 1955 Rice game, A&M was down 12-0 and he was sitting on the bench because Coach Bryant didn’t like to throw the football. He was given the nod from Coach Bryant with 1:55 left on the clock and on his first play he led the team to a touchdown to close the gap on the Owls. They kicked an onside kick and recovered the ball just before he delivered a 50-yard strike downfield give A&M the go-ahead lead.

* The only time he was ever told he could really throw the football by Coach Bryant was against Texas Tech in 1956 after the Red Raiders had run the score up on him in 1954. Bryant told him before the game, “Jimmy, you’ve been wanting to throw the ball. We’ve got to beat this bunch by 33 points.” That’s the only time he ever through 12 passes in a game.