TexAgs Live - Billy Liucci : 08.10.26

Summary

TexAgs Live - Billy Liucci: 08.10.26

Date: August 10, 2026
Host: David Nuño (with Billy Liucci and TexAgs crew)
Topic: In-depth discussion on Aggie Football – early fall camp insights, roster strengths, pundit rankings, and player breakdowns.

---

Overview

This TexAgs Live episode, hosted by David Nuño and featuring Billy Liucci and crew, covers key developments from Texas A&M’s first week of fall camp. The team analyzes position group strengths and depth, scrutinizes national pundit quarterback rankings (in particular, rankings that undervalue A&M’s Marcel Reed), highlights emerging young offensive talent, and deep-dives into the development of returning defensive end TJ Searcy. The show maintains its signature blend of insightful, humor-laced discussion and candid, behind-the-scenes perspective.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

---

1. Camp Luchador: Early Fall Camp Outlook

Timestamps: 00:02–01:22

• Camp Update: A luchador segment is teased—TexAgs’ periodic deep-dive on position groups and roster questions.
• Emerging Questions:
  • Main uncertainties going into camp revolve around the offensive line's ability to gel (“biggest thing is how they work together” [00:52]).
  • Other areas for the camp deep-dive: balancing “unknowns vs. doubts” in various position groups.

---

2. Roster Strength: Is Depth Texas A&M’s Secret Weapon?

Timestamps: 01:22–03:59

• Depth as a Differentiator: David posits that A&M’s real strength might be the overall depth, not just star power at individual positions.
• Wide Receiver Room:
  • Several contributors identified: Terry Bussey, ABR (Ashton Bethel-Roman), Isaiah Horton, Mario Craver, Aaron Gregory, TK Norman, Kelshawn Johnson (“You can't just turn your focus on one player…next player is just going to do something even better.” [03:59]).
• Strategic Implication:
  • Depth across the roster means “no drop off in game through injury, through competition” – a huge competitive advantage late in the season, especially in November.

---

3. National Punditry & The Marcel Reed Discourse

Timestamps: 04:23–13:00

• Ranking Controversies:
  • Bud Elliott is called out for omitting Marcel Reed from his top 8 SEC QBs.
  • Discussion around national pundits using "rage-bait" tactics and lack of deep evaluation (“I just try to not pay attention to [him]…he rage-baits Texas fans and they rage-bait me back.” – Billy, [05:32]).
• Billy’s Take:
  • “Is it ridiculous to not have Marcel as a top eight quarterback in the SEC today?” – “First of all, yes, it is.” – Billy Liucci, [05:30].
  • Points out inconsistent criteria: Others on pundit lists are given more “benefit of the doubt” than Reed (“He will have outperformed multiple people on that list over an entire season last year.” [07:03]).
• Detailed QB Rankings Breakdown:
  • Billy doesn’t mind Arch Manning or Trinidad Chambliss at the top, but is skeptical of Sam Levitt at #3 (“He has had some real stinkers…some of his worst games are really bad” [08:44]).
  • Critical of “Alabama QB” slotting without a named starter (“…you’re reaching.” [15:32]).
  • Disputes Fison Brandon and John Mateer being ranked above Reed without stronger season resumes.
• Notable Quote:
  • “To leave him out of the top eight, to not even know who Alabama’s guy is? That to me is where you’re reaching.” – Billy Liucci [15:32]

---

4. Stat Showdown: Marcel Reed vs. Lenore Sellers

Timestamps: 16:55–19:28

• Stat Comparison:
  • Reed (2025): 3,169 yds, 25 TD, 12 INT, 62.1% comp, 493 rush yds/6 TD
  • Sellers (2024): 2,534 yds, 18 TD, 7 INT, 65.6% comp, 674 rush yds/7 TD
• Context & Value:
  • Billy asserts Reed’s season was better due to “magical moments” and a better record (“they were 11-0...beat a top 10 team on the road” [17:44]).
  • Sellers’ past performance is being overvalued despite a down year, while Reed is held to higher scrutiny for two rough games.

---

5. 25 in 25 Player Deep-Dive: TJ Searcy, the Underrated Defensive End

Timestamps: 20:44–31:17

• Profile:
  • Searcy is identified as one of the most experienced SEC defensive linemen on the roster (“he started at two SEC schools…played more SEC football than anyone on this roster” [22:10]).
  • Described as “long and athletic,” plays with good leverage, notably improved in second half last year.
  • Physically transformed – up to 6'5", 260+ lbs after a strong offseason in the Tommy Moffat weight room.
• Role & Outlook:
  • Started all 13 games last year for A&M (quick stat check at [28:39]).
  • Not as flashy in numbers but offers high consistency, run defense, and veteran presence.
  • Billy sees him as an NFL-caliber player who could have a “breakout” senior year.
• Notable Quote:
  • “People are sleeping on TJ maybe as much as… I think it might be Searcy…” [27:05]

---

6. Young Running Backs: New Talent Emerging

Timestamps: 32:16–37:26

• RB Room Rundown:
  • KJ Edwards: “Shows that five-star stuff, next level… it’s eye-catching.” [32:29]
  • Tiger Riding: Underrated, coming off injury, “star” at DeSoto noted for “getting yards every time.”
  • Carson Baker: Big, physically impressive true freshman.
• Depth Chart Dynamics:
  • Likely scenario: 3–4 backs get regular work, as last year.
  • Ruben Owens and Jamari Morrow noted for pass-catching ability and explosive run potential.
• X-Factor:
  • “Owens was a really solid SEC back last year… can he take the next step up to be like a top-tier SEC back? One of those two or the combo has to be that for A&M to get back to the playoffs.” – Billy Liucci [36:52]

---

7. The Offensive Line – Trust in the Process, Even After Turnover

Timestamps: 37:26–42:43

• A&M's OL Identity:
  • Nuño and Billy review the rapid improvement from 2023 to 2024 under coach Adam Cushing, despite frequent personnel changes.
  • Trust that Cushing can “get the O-line right,” though replacing four NFL linemen is daunting.
• Portal Impact:
  • The portal allows reloading with experienced talent from elsewhere—possible to field five seasoned starters even if they haven't played together before.
• Reality Check:
  • It's fair to question A&M in preseason picks after the loss of NFL talent in both trenches.
  • “Seven out of nine in the trenches. And it’s a line of scrimmage league and it still is.” [41:55]
  • Some teams nationally are ranked ahead of A&M — but Billy points out that's partly due to last year's “all-SEC” O-line.
• Player Development Highlight:
  • “Backups that have bided their time…in year two and year three on campus…can start in year two or three and be really good college football and SEC offensive linemen.” [42:11]

---

8. Final Notes: Practice Access & Media Coverage

Timestamps: 43:09–45:12

• Practice Access:
  • Open practices continue under Mike Elko, with specific guidelines (“It’s kind of like an NFL camp set up…here’s what comes with that.” [43:53])
  • Transparency benefits fans, but no detailed depth charts are shared to avoid player/parent discontent.
  • Value of TexAgs’ coverage: More genuine storylines vs. the overly corporate approach feared in national media deals (“people like Playfly understand where we factor in our side of the storytelling, and Elko and his staff open that up.” [44:56])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Is it ridiculous to not have Marcel as a top eight quarterback in the SEC today? Is that not a ridiculous…”
  “First of all, yes, it is.”
  — David Nuño & Billy Liucci [05:23–05:31]

• “He will have outperformed multiple people on that list over an entire season last year, and it won’t even be up for debate.”
  — Billy Liucci [07:03]

• “To leave him out of the top eight, to not even know who Alabama’s guy is? That to me is where you’re reaching.”
  — Billy Liucci [15:32]

• “People are sleeping on TJ maybe as much as… I think it might be Searcy, because… he is a returning starter at end.”
  — Billy Liucci [27:05]

• “…there’s a period of adjustment there…he’s a guy that’s played a lot of SEC football…if he takes that next step, I think he can be a really good defensive end in this league.”
  — Billy Liucci on TJ Searcy [22:10–24:10]

• “Owens was a really solid SEC back last year… can he take the next step up to be like a top-tier SEC back? One of those two or the combo has to be that for A&M to get back to the playoffs.”
  — Billy Liucci on Ruben Owens/Jamari Morrow [36:52]

---

Segment Timestamps

• 00:02–01:22 – Show intro, fall camp update, camp questions
• 01:22–03:59 – ‘Depth as Strength’ wide receiver/roster group breakdown
• 04:23–13:00 – National pundit discussion, QB rankings, defense of Marcel Reed
• 16:55–19:28 – Reed vs. Sellers stat comparison/analysis
• 20:44–31:17 – 25 in 25: TJ Searcy deep-dive
• 32:16–37:26 – Young RBs and running back room insight
• 37:26–42:43 – Offensive line turnover, trust in Cushing, portal usage
• 43:09–45:12 – Practice access/media transparency; closing thoughts

---

Conclusion

This episode provides an honest, passionate assessment of the state of Aggie football after the first week of camp—emphasizing the team’s deep roster, scrutinizing flawed national opinions on A&M’s QB situation, and giving measured optimism about both proven and emerging talent. The TexAgs crew’s seasoned, sometimes irreverent analysis shines through as they prepare listeners for a season where depth, development, and savvy coaching may be as decisive as pure star power.

Transcript

[David Gardner]

Tech Sacks Live. We are presented by David Gardner's Jewelers. We are in the Rollo Insurance studio. A lot to get into this hour when Billy joins us. And I believe a luchador could be on tap here, if not today, in the next couple of days. So just be on the lookout for a camp edition. A week into camp edition. Luchador.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Very nice.

[David Gardner]

And what, what kind of questions would we want for that luchador? You typically we go through position group and he, Billy will go in this early fall camp edition. Then we'll do one usually at the end of fall camp. But you know, he. I do think that some of the things we've talked about in today's show, when we're going through like the unknowns versus the doubts, those will be tackled in a different way. But we'll certainly go through position group and kind of analyze that.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Well, I think one of the biggest questions that we've been talking about is the offensive line. And seeing it up, you know, close and personal is different than, you know, just hearing about what's going on. So I think it'll be interesting just, you know, since Billy has been at practice, just seeing how the offensive line is gelling together, I think that's the biggest thing because there are many new faces with experience, but the biggest thing is how they work together. So I think that could be a really good question.

[David Gardner]

So one of the things, and I hear some commotion out there, so it could be Billy, could be something else. One of the things I want to get into with Billy is what if A&M's biggest strength this year? Let me ask you, what do you think is A and M's biggest strength?

[Co-host/Analyst]

Biggest strength I think is the wide wide receiver position group. I think that's our biggest strength this year.

[David Gardner]

And I'm not going to disagree with you. But what if I kind of phrase the question like this? What if A and M's biggest strength is its depth?

[Co-host/Analyst]

I think that would do wonders for A and M. I think A and M does have really deep position groups. And you could point out and say maybe there's not one specific position group that is better than the other, but the depth is there and that's what makes this team so good.

[David Gardner]

So let me. And the reason I bring it up as a topic is if we are to assume that A and M has got elite talent across the board, just like all these teams that are being flirted with as postseason contenders, right. If there's no drop off in game through injury, through competition, then what does that say? About a team in November because by the time you get to November, you're tired. Sometimes you have to play guys more than you would have because you just don't trust what's behind them. Young guys develop at a quicker rate when they're having to play more, but also not having to be lean on the entire way. So what like if you talk about the depth of the secondary where, you know, there was times that in years past that a guy would go out because he gets injured, whatever, and then they would pick on that, that DB that comes in. What if the strength of A and M is how strong their depth is? Wide receivers. Yeah, we always talk about that being the deepest room and maybe the best room on the team. But I mean if, if Terry Bussey, if ABR become like this, a one style receiver to go along with Horton and Mario Craver, AB and oh, by the way, some of the young players that, you know, Aaron Gregory shined. The few practices I've gone to, he is absolutely shined. So the options that you have, who are you going to double in that scenario? Right. Where are you going to put your attention? Okay, you've got your elite DB and he's getting help on Mario and you got this guy covering this guy like okay, great. Then you get a linebacker who probably isn't ready to cover Terry Bussey.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Yeah. I mean there's so much strength in every single player on in the wide receiver room especially. I want to point out, you know, TK Norman, Kelshawn Johnson, Aaron Gregory, those players that are learning from Mario Craver, abr, Isaiah Horton. You can't just turn your focus on one player on the field because the next player is just going to do something even better.

[David Gardner]

Yeah, yeah. And this is a good one from AG Exadp. He goes before Texact discusses pundit predictions. I'd like for them to research how they have fared in previous years. Most will not be worth a bucket of warm spit. And this is because who was it was? It wasn't. It was Bud Elliot. Oh, yes, and I'll tell Billy about Bud here in a second. But it's because Bud didn't have Marcel in his top eight quarterbacks entering SEC this year. So with that, Billy Lucci with us. Hi, Billy.

[Billy Lucci]

Hello, David.

[David Gardner]

What's up? How are you? I saw your face of a disgust. I don't know if it was the way I phrased it or wasn't with you. Was it the.

[Billy Lucci]

The topic Never disgusted with you. That's. See that's just.

[David Gardner]

I think You've been disgusted? You've been disgusted. You've told me.

[Kiana]

Yeah.

[Billy Lucci]

How many times? Over years. I mean. Yeah. Jokingly disgusted.

[David Gardner]

Often. Often.

[Billy Lucci]

Legitimately disgusted? Rare.

[David Gardner]

Never.

[Billy Lucci]

Well, I don't know when, but I'm sure.

[David Gardner]

Is it ridiculous to not have Marcel as a top eight quarterback in the SEC today? Is that not a ridiculous. Can I read you?

[Billy Lucci]

First of all, yes, it is.

[David Gardner]

Okay.

[Billy Lucci]

Second of all, I have it still. I try, like, I try to not pay attention to Scud Elliott. I really do. I just try to not. I mean, I just, I'm not a fan of. I just think, you know, just the, you know, I'll kind of rage bait Texas fans and they rage bait me back. It's kind of. It's like a thing. Sometimes LSU and OU get in there and it's like.

[David Gardner]

But

[Billy Lucci]

to do it from, like to host a major podcast in college football and to do it to an entire league and I feel like A and M's way. A and M has been the recipient of his for a while and I think it goes back to Jimbo leaving, you know, while he covered Florida State, much like we do A and M. When I see stuff like that, I just, I just discount it. And like, what Joel Clatt does is just to position himself and Canel, who I actually really like, but they just position themselves as the anti sec, SEC and build a brand off. It's fine. Except you're covering the sport. I think you are. That's what you're presenting, is that you cover the sport, but then you're doing this spin off brand as. I'm going to hate the sec. I'm going to hate certain teams. Now, if that's your opinion that he's the eighth best.

[David Gardner]

He didn't even make the eighth.

[Billy Lucci]

Oh, well, that's. Well, I mean.

[David Gardner]

Can I read them to you?

[Billy Lucci]

Yeah, but here's my thing with that. I bet you're going to read a lot of names that individually I might really vehemently oppose a couple of them, but individually you could say, all right, yeah. I mean, either could go either way. But what's going to happen with this list before I see it is you're giving a bunch of people a lot of benefit of the doubt that you're not going to give Marcel. And he's. He will have outperformed multiple people on that list over an entire season last year, and it won't really even be up for debate.

[David Gardner]

Number one, Arch Manning.

[Billy Lucci]

It's fine. I mean, I'd have Arch in the top three I would. I would. I would probably say I'd have it Ben and dad number one.

[David Gardner]

I would do.

[Billy Lucci]

I think anyone else that doesn't. It's just based on, you know. And that's fine. You're projecting out, but I still think you're looking to. You are making too much of the last few games there. I really believe that. Again, I would challenge anyone to go watch his throws against Texas A and M in a game that I've given him all the credit in the world for like gutting through and being the best quarterback on the field, being one of the best players on the field. But he was not. He didn't do it with accurate passing. That's my only question is like, how accurate is he going to be with the football? Because he had some absolutely dreadful misses last year from the first quarter of the first game against Ohio State all the way through the season and some bad games.

[David Gardner]

Yep.

[Billy Lucci]

So. But I don't. I wouldn't fight you over him being one. Certainly would agree with two or three.

[David Gardner]

I think Trinidad's one baseball player.

[Billy Lucci]

I think he deserves it.

[David Gardner]

Arch. 1. Trinidad 2 Sam Levitt 3.

[Billy Lucci]

I personally have a. I. Levitt is one. I would rate lower. I could see him having a disastrous season or I could see him being a second team all sec. Like the throwing of the football, the running ability which people sleep on. How is his foot? And I'm just telling you, no one wants to do this. If you go study his career, he has had some real stinkers and go compare his worst games to Marcel or Trinidad chant like, go look at some of his worst games. They're really bad against bad competition with superior talent around him. So I do have questions. I think people are just doing this. Levitt's arm mixed with Lane Kiffin's offense and LSU skill, talent. And I get it. Three Feels a little high for me.

[David Gardner]

Four. It says Alabama quarterback.

[Billy Lucci]

See, and that's. That's where you're starting to get. Yeah, again. Oh, he was a five star. Oh, well then in that case, let's put him above the guy that already did it. Has shredded several SEC defenses along with Notre Dame because we didn't like the way he looked against Texas and Miami. That got after his ass because they had no running game and they had great pass rushers.

[David Gardner]

Number five. I don't have a problem with five. Lenore Sellers. I think Marcel had a better year, obviously, but I don't have a problem.

[Billy Lucci]

But again, again, you're going back two years ago to Lenore Sellers. You're ignoring how poorly he played last season and you're holding Marcel to two games that turned you off last year, but you're going to conveniently ignore an entire season of Sellers. And by the way, I don't know what those numbers look like of Lenore Sellers 2 years ago versus Marcel Reed this past year. Can you look those up for us while we talk? Just Lenora Sellers, 20, 24 stats, passing yards, touchdowns, interceptions, rushing yards versus Marcel

[David Gardner]

this past season, then Gunner Stockton at number six.

[Billy Lucci]

I think that might be a little too low. I think. I think Stockton is a winner. He's a dog. And I think people forget what he did. You know, Trinidad was the star of the show in that playoff game, but Stockton was making some damn plays too. Now, I think he grew up a lot in that game. You look at his playoff performance that year versus the year before and gun, I think people are sleeping on Gunner a little bit this season.

[David Gardner]

Number seven, John Mateer.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay. I mean, yeah, like, again, like Stockton, Matier, Marcel Levitt, like, I understand, like that grouping that. That doesn't. I don't. I wouldn't put Sellers in there knowing that he may end up shooting up the list. So that's what he's predicting. That's fine. But like Sellers, I think deserves to be held back for the season he had last year. But Matier, Levitt, Marcel, and who else do we say?

[David Gardner]

Let me. Well, let me give you number eight.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay, so the Bama ones I think is ridiculous.

[David Gardner]

Fison Brandon at number eight.

[Billy Lucci]

I mean, so you want to put the guy based solely on. This is a guy that covers recruiting is what it is. Again, if I sat down and had a real discussion, somebody said, well, listen, I have more confidence in Josh Hyper in his offense than I do Holman Wiggins. And that's why then I would say, I understand your thoughts. I think I'm assuming Mike Elko disagrees or he wouldn't have made that move that made that Everything hinges on him being right about this. But if that's what he wanted to say and said, hey, man, I can't. Like, I don't trust him taking another step when he's not even got continuity. If that's your reasoning, I think you go, okay, I understand that. I disagree. I think it's going to work. But that if that's what you're basing baking into this.

[David Gardner]

Yeah.

[Billy Lucci]

And. But then if you go, well, I don't trust his own line. I would say, well, you trust Oklahoma's O line. Like, they sucked last Year. I know they're coming back. They were horrific. You're bringing back a lot of guys that got their asses whipped every Saturday in SEC play. Do I think they can make a jump up? Yes. Who? They sucked. So you're going to give that the benefit of the doubt from a tier you say, well, Marcel threw too many interceptions. Well, Mattier threw one less and had. Didn't have as good a season. Well, he had a hand injury. Okay, I get that. Hand injury didn't make him throw pick six, you know, in game 13 against Alabama at home to blow a 17 nothing lead. Hold that against him the same way you do Marcel, you know, in the 35 mile an hour win against the two best pass rushers in college football. Two of the three best, if you want to say Alabama, I would say. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What, what about their offensive line that these two quarterbacks are playing behind? What about them? Well, they got weapons at receiver. Well, have you studied A and M's weapons versus Alabama's? Like at minimum. At a minimum. I think they're pretty even minimum. You know, like I. So I, I can't get with him being outside of that. But I do understand there's about four or five of them that you could. Yeah, like I get champ. I think everyone should have chambless at 1. Unless you just say, hey, this is where I think it's going to end up. Which I tried to do with the rankings the other day. I got slaughtered for it. Even though I was right. It's like you can be Texas can be a top five team, but finish fourth in the SEC at like 10 and 2 or maybe 9 and 3 with a loss to Ohio State. What I mean by that is, yeah, I think they should be ranked on paper ahead of A and M. Oklahoma in the sec. What if it's not a big enough gap? Because A and m say is 8, Oklahoma 7 or 9, Texas is 4, but you're playing both of those games away from DKR and you lose a close one in Dallas to Oklahoma and you lose on the road at A and M loos to off State, bam, you're nine and three and I picked you fourth in the league. That to me, if you want to say that about quarterbacks, say, hey, this is where I think they're going to end up. What are you basing on? Just what I think. Okay, I'm okay. But to me, Chambliss won. If you want to have Arch too, I do give some. I'm not totally crapping on the way he finished the season. I do think it was doing this. I just don't think it was a straight up. This is a no brainer. This guy's going to light up at a college football world this year and certain people down the road get offended by that. Which is wild to me considering what they say on the other side of their neck about Marcel Reed every second. You know, just the complete. They can even be nice about it, but it's so dismissive and when you look at the two seasons, it's like it's crazy to me. I thought it was crazy last summer how sensitive they were about it. I think it turned out that I was spot ass on and I think I will be this year too. I think he's going to be really good. I just don't think it's like this no brainer rocket ship. If he's really good, he's going to throw the ball a hell of a lot better than he did in the second half of last season. Including Georgia, including Kentucky, including Mississippi State and including in the win over A and M. All those games are in the second half of the season and also in the second half against Vandy where they hardly scored a point. So to me again, one, two and then I think there's a bunch a group of like five. So I understand however you want to put them in there. But to leave him out of the top eight to not even know who Alabama's guy is, that to me is where you're reaching.

[David Gardner]

You have those numbers.

[Co-host/Analyst]

Yeah. So this is Lenora Sellers 2024 vs Marcel Reed stats last season. So starting with Lenore Seller. Lenore Sellers in 2024 he was 196 for 299, which is 65.6 completion percentage. He passed for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions. His rushing stats, he, he had 166 carries for 674 yards with seven rushing touchdowns. Now Marcel Reed in 2025 he had a 62.1 completion percentage. So just a little bit lower. He had 3,169 yards, over 500 yards passing more. He had 25 interceptions or 25 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and then rushing. He had 104 carries, 493 yards with six rushing touchdowns.

[Billy Lucci]

So very similar season. Very similar. And then I would ask you like Sellers, he had, I guess Sellers had a big win over A and M and Clemson and that might have been it. He was very close though with Alabama and lsu. But then no one's going well, Marcel was really close against Miami and Miami and you know, like I think Marcel Reed's season this past year was so much better than Lenores the year before just simply because they won. They were 11. And oh and he had some truly magical moments and he did go beat a top 10 team on the road, not at home. Like I if you really want to split hairs, Marcel season this year was better than Lenora's last year and in between you've mixed in a pretty, pretty pissed poor year from Lenore's last season. And it's like they're, they're ignoring that and they're just saying Manning but he was so great, whatever in 24 and we think he gets that back. Well then if he gets that back he can match what Marcel did this past year like and I'm one that thinks he is going to be good this year. I think the Kendall Briles matchup with him is scary. Yeah, it should be scary for teams on South Carolina schedule because I saw what he did with K.J. jefferson, a similar like very big, very difficult to tackle quarterback and Lenores is five times the better runner. You know, Lenoris is a real weapon in the run game. I think much more so than K.J. jefferson ever was and probably more accurate passer too I think at this stage of his career.

[David Gardner]

All right, let's hit a break. We'll come back with more with Billy. We'll do 25 and 25. Great teams don't chase quick wins. They build for long term success. And that same philosophy applies to your financial life and your business. And at Aggie Owned and operated Paragon Financial Advisors, the focus isn't on chasing headlines or reacting to every market move. It is about building a thoughtful financial plan that helps you pursue your goals for many years to come. That means that helping families prepare for retirement grinding business owners as they grow successful companies and and helping them prepare for the day that they're ready to sell or the transition of that business they've been working so hard to build. If you're ready to take that long view, visit paragon-adv.com to learn more. It is Paragon Financial Advisors Aggie owned independent serving clients nationwide.

[Billy Lucci]

The Money Machine is open now. Two ways to enter each week. Oh come on. Don't keep us in suspense. Zone1150.com and the zone newsletter.

[David Gardner]

Thank you and we are back. It is Tech Sags Live. We are presented by David Gardner's Jewelers Rollo Insurance Studio Time for 25 and 25 presented by Paragon Financial Advisors and Aggie owned independent fee only fiduciary, serving families and business owners nationwide. Visit paragon-adv.com do you know who it is?

[Billy Lucci]

These are three musketeers. You know, we've got another one of the three musketeers. Is that. Was that a hint there?

[David Gardner]

No, it wasn't. I was just doing it to bring it back.

[Billy Lucci]

Give me a hint. I don't know.

[David Gardner]

I don't really have a good hint for this one. Acronym.

[Billy Lucci]

Ash and Bethel Roman. That's not an acronym.

[David Gardner]

Initials.

[Billy Lucci]

That's Ash and Bethel Roman.

[David Gardner]

That's not how I'm talking.

[Billy Lucci]

It's not D.J. hicks or Ashton. They'll both be higher than that.

[David Gardner]

When you go to San Diego, sometimes you go party at these two letters.

[Billy Lucci]

You don't really party in La Jolla. That would be lj.

[David Gardner]

You go a little south and you party in this little.

[Billy Lucci]

Tijuana.

[David Gardner]

Tijuana. Tijuana.

[Billy Lucci]

Tj.

[David Gardner]

Tj.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay, tj. Cersei. Yeah, there you go. Do people call it tj? Do they call it Tijuana? I never knew that. I'm not, I'm not.

[David Gardner]

I used to live there.

[Billy Lucci]

Yeah. Yeah, I'll say. I'm not familiar with that.

[David Gardner]

Yeah, let's go DJ and get drunk. And for.

[Billy Lucci]

You know, I'm not familiar with that vernacular. And I did not know you at a time in your life where you were actually fine and would go to Tijuana.

[David Gardner]

I went quite a bit. Honestly, it was great.

[Billy Lucci]

I'm sure. You know, I've never been.

[David Gardner]

Fish tacos.

[Billy Lucci]

And I love San Diego and I haven't been there in 10 years. I love San Diego. La Jolla, Petco beach, the beaches.

[David Gardner]

I lived in La Jolla for a little bit.

[Billy Lucci]

I love that the best.

[David Gardner]

Yep.

[Billy Lucci]

Aggie. Aggie wide receiver Jason Carter was the head football coach down there for a while.

[David Gardner]

That's right. That's right.

[Billy Lucci]

So, all right, T.J. serci. I've been talking about him as a guy we overlook. I'm not making the Cash's Howell comparison. I think they're different players. I don't think he comes out and is an SEC defensive player of the year or gets double digit sacks. But I do think TJ Searcy is a guy who makes a significant jump in year two playing out of the Portal. And I think he's a like quality SEC defensive end. I think the dude's really good. And he caught my eye down the stretch last year as someone that was really improving on the field and looked like, you know, there's a period of adjustment there. You know, like to me, I started watching him make play. Maybe it was around the floor. It was like around mid season where I started to notice him more. Now you had two defensive ends there ahead of, you know, you had Cassius Howell going on to the NFL. They had two other starters. But seriously, as the season went on, like there he is against the lsu see second half of the season at Florida I mentioned he started to really catch my eye maybe around Arkansas. So really you're almost going back now to SEC play, but I think Arkansas was the first time I said, man, if they can start getting that out of this guy. He's long and athletic. He is. I think he does really well against the run. I just think he plays with good leverage and stuff. And he's, he came in here this off season, I was like, man, he has been one of the guys that has really benefited from this Tommy Moffat weight room during the off season. And he said he was 6, 5, 260 and looked every bit of it. That's why I asked the question because like, man, he is, I wouldn't say transformed his body because he's always been that NFL looking defensive end type, but he added good weight and he added muscle and he's up to over 260 now. And he's a guy that's played a lot of SEC football and honestly he's played more SEC football probably than anyone on this roster. Experienced DNS. You've got Ryan Henderson who was at San Diego State. You've got Marco Jones who got his feet wet last season, kind of like Searcy. They played significant amount, but they weren't starter or Searcy. Cersei did start though a lot of games last year, you know, so. So he started at two SEC schools and then you've got, you know, soccer is very experienced, but he did it at Northwestern in the Big Ten. So again, this is your most, I guess behind D.J. hicks. He's your most experienced SEC defensive lineman. And it, I thought it showed at times down, not at times. I think he was pretty consistently solid last year. If he takes that next step, I think he can be a really good defensive end in this league. And we don't talk about him because I think Marco Jones is a guy that ultimately is going to be a really high NFL draft pick maybe in two more years like this year and next. He can be that good. And we always like the new guys, so we always like to talk about and I think we should be talking about Anto Saka and even Ryan Henderson, who. Who came with less hype than Saka did. But I. So we want to focus on, hey, what's new coming in. And then I think part of it is you're focusing on, you know, how do they replace what. What left. So when you combine all those things, because he didn't put up big numbers last year, TJ gets kind of lost in the shuffle. But I don't think he should because I think he's got a great chance to be a starting DN this year. And if he doesn't, then it's like. Because you're just going to see a lot of all three of those guys. Right. Which is fine. I mean, like, that probably benefits them all in the long run. But he's got a great shot to start, be a senior starter up front, and he and DJ Hicks can give you a lot of that veteran presence. C.J. mims has played a ton of football. That Angelo McCollum, you have some veterans in there, but those two would be your veteran guys in the program in Mike Elko's defense, in that locker room. And I think people are sleeping on TJ maybe as much as, I mean, somebody asked today on Tech tags, is DEZ Ricks the most slept on player in the program? And I don't think so. I think people. I hope people recognize, acknowledge them.

[David Gardner]

Yeah.

[Billy Lucci]

And DEZ is going to be a huge part of their past defense this year. But I think if you're asking me, I think it might be seriously, because you think about Hicks and Sanford and you got the two captains at safety and then you're talking about Des Ricks. I mean, the guys coming back, I think all get talked about a lot more than. And then tj and he is technically, he is, you know, not technically. He's a returning starter at end. How many starts did he have last year, by the way?

[David Gardner]

Look it up.

[Billy Lucci]

Y' all have that in his.

[David Gardner]

I don't know. Is there a graphic that we have

[Billy Lucci]

for the 30 for 30 bio?

[David Gardner]

I don't have that in front of me, but I'm looking at it.

[Billy Lucci]

All right. So anyway, there we go. He had a few starts and. And you know, it was. It was him and. And Dayon Hayes kind of were for a while. They're kind of splitting time. I guess we're gonna just go.

[David Gardner]

I can't find it.

[Billy Lucci]

I can't find it.

[David Gardner]

Well, I went to here and it didn't have. It doesn't. This is really good radio doesn't say

[Billy Lucci]

how many games he started. Nick somebody, for God's sake, pull up how many starts this guy had. Tj, Seriously, we have no one. I'm gonna sit here and you're gonna change the subject and give us something.

[David Gardner]

But I'm like, no, I. I want to continue.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay, ask me another question about him, then.

[David Gardner]

Well, if I would have said while

[Billy Lucci]

somebody hopefully looks up how many damn starts, I. I'm gonna rely more on our listeners. Somebody's gonna text.

[David Gardner]

Well, if I were to have said the Cersei Lannister, would you've been. Been able to.

[Billy Lucci]

Yeah, that would have been a good hint.

[David Gardner]

All 13 games he started.

[Billy Lucci]

There you go.

[David Gardner]

According to the Texas A and M, he started in 13 games. Billy.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay, that makes sense because it wasn't. Unless you slid in Dan Hayes, who he, you know, he would split in some time with. Because you're thinking about it, Rylan Kennedy wasn't a starter and you had Cassius. But tj Again, like I said, I thought he had a good year. That was a lot. A lot more noticeable in the second half of the season when you're watching Texas A and M play in that second half. So he started every game on a. On a. I wouldn't say it was an elite SEC defense last year because they just gave up a little too much in big plays, but it was a top half of the league defense last season and cut his teeth at Florida on some pretty, I think, pretty good defensive teams, at least one of them there. That. That wasn't so much their issue, I think, as it was their offense. But again, I think he's an NFL player now. What can he play his way into the draft? I haven't had the, you know, when my NFL people come through and I'm talking to them, a lot of them talk about. A lot of them talk about DJ Hicks, they mentioned Sanford, and they start talking about some of those guys in the secondary. And again, like, they'll be talking about Marco a year from now. Hopefully they'll be talking about Noah McHale a year from now. But when they're talking about the upperclassmen, I haven't heard him talked about a lot, but I've seen plenty of Dean Lyman in my day in 15 years now in the SEC. And I think he's a guy that could play his way into. Into that position, much like an Albert Regis did. You know, when you're just like, he's a grown man now at defensive end, he's kind of seen and faced everything and he's going to have some games where I think he's just going to outclass younger defensive linemen, where it's just going to be a mismatch because of snaps played and football played at this level to understand it. So I, I could see him getting off to a good start to the season. When you're looking at like Arizona State, Kentucky, lsu, like, keep an eye on him in those games, particularly if he's going against some inexperienced, unseasoned guys. Now LSU has Seton from Colorado and Kentucky's got Trey Lance from Tennessee. So I don't know, those are two pretty good tackles. So I guess in that case you want to make some money, do some stuff against those guys so he'll be tested earlier. Early on.

[David Gardner]

When you're craving authentic Italian food, there's one place that's going to bring all that tradition and all the flavor and the family together. That's Fratella Italian Cafe. They're a family owned restaurant that serves up fresh homemade dishes every day using recipes passed down through generations. Like the signature fratella, fried to golden perfection, stuffed with marinara, mozzarella and your choice of fillings. They have lasagna, they have beef cannolone, they have fettuccine Alfredo. They have crispy pizza from that Fratella Copper dome pizza oven. Stop in for daily lunch specials or specials. Excuse me. Or let Fratella cater your next event. It is Fratella Italian Cafe on South Texas Avenue in Bryan. More than a meal, it's a tradition.

[Billy Lucci]

Aggie football sounds even better online. Check it [e-mail] we're back here on Texas Live.

[David Gardner]

We're presented by David Gardner's jeweler's Rollo Insurance studio. So back in 90.

[Billy Lucci]

Yeah.

[David Gardner]

Professor named Finney Coleman.

[Billy Lucci]

Finney Coleman, Yeah.

[David Gardner]

The best. We stayed close over the years. He's in New Mexico now.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay.

[David Gardner]

He's listening to the show.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay.

[David Gardner]

Shot me a text. He goes, billy's in the zone. Any chance you guys can spend a minute on these young backs? Yeah, I wasn't sure if he was talking about running backs or DBs. I assume he's talking running back.

[Billy Lucci]

I think he's talking running back.

[David Gardner]

So let's, let's get into it.

[Billy Lucci]

Well, I mean, Saturday, KJ Edwards caught my eye and he popped one that. You know, it's always hard to tell when you're not tackling to the ground and you're not really even attempting to do anything close to that. But just the vision through the hole and the acceleration to get to that second level. I think he'd house called it had it been a game. I mean there's some real burst and explosive ability there in twitch to KJ Edwards. You can see why he was at 5 that he shows that 5 star stuff, you know, like it's, it's next level. That was exciting to see because we didn't see a lot of them in spring. He got banged up and missed a good chunk of spring. So we didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked to have seen because during the spring off season he was definitely turning heads and people were talking to me a lot about him and just his agility and quickness and just kind of like, yeah, it's eye catching when you watch him even amongst his Aggie teammates, the guy that I think people don't talk about at all, it seems there's two of them. It's Tiger Riding and Carson Baker and those. Carson, Carson Baker, Big, good looking freshman running back like he is. He looks like he's been in college a couple years. And I think between he and Tiger Riding, who I've talked about, who I think people forget what a machine he was at just getting yards at DeSoto, just getting yards every time they give him the ball. 3, 5, 6, 7, 10 yards. Like Tiger Riding was a star there, you know, and he was out this time last year he had had the unfortunate like a car accident that kept him out most of all of fall camp than most of the season. Now you got a healthy riding and people forget like during last spring there was a lot of talk about two guys, Morrow, Jamari, Morrow and Tiger Riding. So I think there's a little more depth there than people think. And how many running backs did A and M play regularly last year with Trooper Taylor? Four, at least three. Amari Daniels, as the season went on, saw less and less. Well, no, that was still four because it was Amari. Then it was kind of. It went from kind of Amari to EJ, right. But it was, it was Le'Veon, it was Ruben, it was Morrow, it was EJ and Amari. There was five that played, but it was typically around three to four.

[David Gardner]

Right.

[Billy Lucci]

And so if it's, if it's that this year, if it's three that regularly play, which I could absolutely see, somebody out of that group that I just mentioned is going to be up there and I think you're going to have because your two bigger backs there are the younger guys you might see them even in addition be Role guys. But Edwards really excites me, period. Like, I just think he's going to be a superstar. And Jamari Amaro, he still has. As you watch him here against Florida, he still has that or that's Ruben.

[David Gardner]

Sorry.

[Billy Lucci]

He still has that juice where you watch them practice and you go, damn. Like when he gets the handoff to where he gets past the linebackers, it is so fast and he's so sudden with his. With that explosion, you know, through the wash, that it's different. And I think Morrow's gonna have a ton of. He's going to be this guy that you blink and he's going 20 plus on you because when he gets that second level, he's past it, I think before people can really respond to it. He's got a different gear than most. And again, he and Ruben Owens are really good at catching the football, making plays that way. Ruben had a big catch in the Saturday practice. He had a wheel route that would have been a touchdown. I think it was seven on seven, but it's still. It was such a good route, good throw and Reuben showed good speed. We know he's got great hands. He made some huge catches for the Aggies last season. And Ruben's bigger man. Like, we gotta see how it translates. I've said it a million times. I don't want to spend too much time on it. Ruben Owens was a really solid SEC back last year. Solid. Can he take the next step up to be like a top tier SEC back? One of those. Either one of those two or the combo has to be that for A and M to get back to the playoffs. I'm sorry. Like they. It's a lot to put on those two and who knows, maybe KJ Edwards becomes this freshman sensation. But I think it's a lot to put on those two. But they need to do it. Like the combo of Owens and Morrow needs to be highly productive starting in September and carrying all the way through the season.

[David Gardner]

Question for you, that came up earlier in the show. Would. Would you say the 20, 24 offensive line for Texas A and M was pretty good?

[Billy Lucci]

Yeah, it was really good.

[David Gardner]

Okay. The reason I'm bringing that up is it's different than the 23 line, correct? 23, if I remember.

[Billy Lucci]

Shoot.

[David Gardner]

I don't even Bryce Foster, cam Dewberry from 23 to 24 was a different offensive line is basically my point for sure. And the reason I'm bringing that up is there's so much.

[Billy Lucci]

Was it even Foster? Was it Naboo? Like, I don't even. Oh, Naboo got hurt in the first or no, that was the move.

[David Gardner]

Got hurt at 44 and then Foley took over.

[Billy Lucci]

Yeah, it was definitely improved O line for sure.

[David Gardner]

Right. But it was a brand new offensive line group.

[Billy Lucci]

Yeah.

[David Gardner]

Which is why I'm bringing up this one. There's these questions about how good can this offensive line be. And we have seen in the Adam Cushing era at Texas A and M, him take new pieces and mold it into what is a really good offensive line. I'm just saying that if we're looking for history of him redoing an offensive line, we've kind of already seen it here.

[Billy Lucci]

I got a lot of faith in Adam Cushing to get the O line right, but I also know how difficult a task it is to replace four NFL linemen. I mean, that just period, like, forget about, you know, it's easier now because you can go portal. In the past you were going to rely on everybody that's here and you would have had a bunch of guys that haven't played. Now you can mix and match and see. You could go, you go five experienced guys in the sec. If that's how it pans out, you could go Formby, Eccles, Naboo Ball and Adams and just say here a bunch of experience. Never played together, but a bunch of experience. And they went through spring together, they went through spring ball together, they went through summer off season together and they went through fall camp together. I think they'd be all right. I mean like, all right as in continuity and cohesion would be fine. It wouldn't be what you had last year that was. Look, there's got to be some like honesty in your year to year assessment in that. And this is where I think why I don't have a. Like people think like, oh, we should have a problem. Josh Pate isn't as high on A and M this year and this and you know, whoever from SEC network doesn't seem as high on the Aggies. And these people nationally aren't picking them like they were. And I think too much of the focus is on Marcel with these, some of these people that are doing that, like, like Brandon Walker, there's too much focus on like they're almost like dismissiveness of Marcel, which I think is bold. But I get it when you look at. It's a line of scrimmage league and the Aggies loss three draft picks on the D line out of. Out of four out of four for starters. And they lost four draft picks out of five on the O line. So they lost what, seven in the trenches? Seven out of nine. Seven out of nine in the trenches. And it's a line of scrimmage league and it still is. So if the reason all those people picked A and M last year had so much to do with, man, they return as experienced in offensive line as they're in this in college football. And even last summer they weren't even realizing what I knew. And I said, which is they'll have four drafted. And I said they'll have 10 plus drafted. And Elko said it all summer. And people rolled their eyes and thought that was crazy. That's exactly what happened. Again, check my freaking track record. Like that O line without people even knowing that four of them were NFL boundaries was still hyped up because they returned to X number of starts. And they had continuity and they had cohesion and they had experience. Right. That didn't even count the fact that Fathery and Coley were backups. You know, when people were looking at the O line, we played a ton of football. So if that matters and that gets you picked high, then it is something that they can hold against you. And it's fair to say I don't know about this, this line and I don't think we know. I'm confident from watching them. And I know this. I know Cushing and Elko picked these guys. I know. Like, if you'd have listed, hey, who are your 1 through 10, they didn't get 1, 2, 3 and 4. But there are some guys that other people are hyping up and happy about at other schools in this league that A and M said no to. A couple of them as players and then a couple of them in terms of the price tag, just got too out of whack. It's TBD how it pans out. But I trust, I trust Cushing and I love the fact that I heard you say something from the one minute I heard this morning, there are backups that have bided their time that you didn't lose that are in year two and year three on campus. We're in another time. Those guys can start in year two or three and be really good college football and SEC offensive linemen. So I think somebody out of that group is going to break into there as well.

[David Gardner]

We'll hit a break. Final segment. Try for about two minutes. It's Texas. Alright, final segment of the program. We got about 220 left here on the show. And Billy, we've got kind of a busy couple things going on, we've got. We might shoot something, you and I, a little bit later. We are an offensive version of the Luchador, and then later on in the week, maybe a defensive version to get you set up after the first week of fall camp. And we're going to go to practice

[Billy Lucci]

later on today and have some notes on that, you know, following. So that should be eventful. Another open one. So, you know, it's. It's. It's nice to be able to watch the team perform. I don't know how many Elkos got for. I don't. I don't keep count, but they've opened it up to a level. I think it's just nice what they get. And, you know, they've got their rules and guidelines and, you know, people want to see depth, you know, depth charts and stuff. But what Elko understands is two things. You're going to start doing that, and everybody wants to see that. Well, then the reason that that's part of their kind of. It's kind of like an NFL camp set up, or, hey, you can be out here. But here's what comes with that.

[David Gardner]

Yep.

[Billy Lucci]

So part of that is there is no, like. So one player doesn't get mentioned in there, and the parents see it or the kids going, well, this keeps saying that I'm not a starter, you know, and so it gets. It gets.

[David Gardner]

It's.

[Billy Lucci]

It. The negatives outweigh the positives of people being out there. So you go out there with. With those things in place, but you watch, and you're really watching individuals. You're watching sides of the ball.

[David Gardner]

Yeah.

[Billy Lucci]

Okay. Defense dominated today. Offense did this, or the receivers stood out or the tight ends or Marcel had a great day or. I really like what, you know, Brady Hart's progression as the number two quarterback. You know, however you talk about those things. But it just gives everyone a better feel, I think, for the football team through us, through our lens, and we can go talk about it. Look, there's a day and age where these. These media rights partners are going to try, and it won't work out the way they think they're going to try to take over, like, all of the coverage of these college teams, make it very corporate, and I think there'd be something lacking. The good thing about this place is what we've built. I think, like, people like Playfly understand where we factor in our side of the storytelling, and Elko and his staff open that up. Not only us, but everyone that helps the fans out more than they, you know.

[David Gardner]

Thank you Billy. That's gonna do it for tech. Sags live here on a Monday. We'll see you guys manana.

[Kiana]

I'm Kiana. And I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day, I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop. Stop. I'm addicted. Start your free trial at Shopify. Com.