← Zone 1150 - TexAgs Live
Zone 1150 - TexAgs Live
TexAgs Live - John Harris + Bobby Shuttleworth : 08.12.26
00:45:05
Houston Texans sideline reporter John Harris gets us ready for NFL preseason and tells us where he ranks Marcel Reed among SEC quarterbacks + Aggie Women's Soccer head coach Bobby Shuttleworth joins the show ahead of his first season at the helm!
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- [00:00]
John Harris
All right, we are back.
- [00:01]
David Gardner
Texas Live, presented by David Gardner's Jewelers Rollo Insurance studio. Let's go to the Bupes catering and bartending hotline. John Harris of Footballtakeover.com and the Texans sideline reporter and my dear friend joining the program. Johnny, what's up, man? No, Johnny, try one more. Oh, he's on the phone line. That's why. John, you there, buddy?
- [00:25]
John Harris
I am here, David. How are you?
- [00:27]
David Gardner
I'm good, man. What's going on in your world?
- [00:30]
John Harris
You know, been, been away for a little bit. A little Texas training camp kind of doesn't allow me to hop off at nine o'clock on a Wednesday. So this is the first Wednesday that I've had open. They'll be open hopefully the rest of the year. We could talk about Aggies, we talked about sec and obviously we talked about the Texans. But it's good to be back on got preseason game tomorrow. Yours truly will be calling the game on TV with Andy Kalou and Kevin Coogler. So looking forward to that. So first one for the Texans and pretty excited.
- [01:01]
David Gardner
Well, let's, let's actually start with the Texans. What have you seen from them this training camp? How do they look compared to maybe what your expectations were?
- [01:10]
John Harris
Yeah, it's hard to know exactly what the expectations were offensively. Just, you know, the second year of Nick Cayley's off coordinator, second year of everybody sort of learning the system, kind of like, all right, well, we'll see what it looks like. Fortunately for them, they've got to go against the number one defense of the league every day. But it's been, and I said this a few times last year it was capital defense, little offense, you know, defense on all caps, offense in lowercase. This year it's been offense defense, you know, good sparring on both sides, pretty even. There have been, there's been a day or two where the defense has kind of done its thing where they just said, you know, today we want to be great. And they just shut it all down because they are that good. But this is an offense that's getting better and that's a good thing. And C.J. stroud has come back. I don't think it was a vengeance or anything like that, but you can tell that things weren't quite right last year for a lot of reasons. But now he's got and gonna have a running game. The offensive line is much improved. Keelan Rutledge was the exact right pick in the first round. They've got competition on the offensive line. With good players, not just, well, whoever doesn't lose the battle will be the guy that starts. It's going to be a better offensive line, it's going to be a better offense. And what have we said for, you know, the last two years? Hey, look, the offense doesn't have to be the, the greatest show on turf. It just has to be effective and it can't turn a ball over. It's actually okay to punt with this defense, but I think they're going to do more than that. And if they do more than that, then we got an opportunity to do some special things this year. This is by far the most talented team I've seen in Houston, and it's not even close. And I go back to those Oiler squads in the early 90s when they had 8, 9, 10 pro bowlers on the team. Now those teams couldn't get over the divisional playoff round just like the Texans, and that's where it's going to come to. But we got to put ourselves in position to be able to play that divisional playoff round game at home. And then we got a shot to go to the AFC Championship game. Then you've done something that nobody else has done and then hopefully you can get the super bowl and win a Super Bowl. This is a Super bowl caliber team. When the offense shows up and just does what it's been doing in camp and that I can live with, they get knocked off in an upset, whatever. But I think this team is going to be really tough to tangle with as long as the health and you're not going to keep everybody healthy. But if you can keep guys, your core relatively healthy, this team's got a shot to play on into February.
- [03:49]
David Gardner
Johnny, I was with you back in, what was it, the 2013, 2014 combine when Jadavian Clowney and Johnny Manzo and all those guys were going through. And now to see Clowney back with the Texans as the aging vet who still has some game. And I heard the other day he was just killing it.
- [04:09]
John Harris
Yeah, he's been ridiculous. I mean, if you walked out to camp and he's got his helmet on and you just said, oh, there's Clowney, you'd say, oh, he's a draft pick. No, no, no, no, no. He's a draft pick in 2014. He looks spry, his body is Ben. I mean, he's put together. He talked with me and Mark about, you know, how he's taking care of his body, how he's changed, how he's matured, and it's pretty incredible to see. And he told Will and Danil, he's like, look, when you guys come off the field, I don't want there to be a drop off. And right now, there is no drop off. And he made a comment, and I can't remember who he said this to, but he talked to us about the Cowboys. And I say this because I know you got a lot of Cowboys fans. And he basically said, the Cowboys are kind of like, yeah, you know, we kind of know how you are. We'll get back to you around training camp. And JD Was like, nah, I don't. I don't want to do that. And so he picked up the phone, he called d' Amico and got a good conversation with d' Ameco and talked it over with Nick. Thought it sounded like a good deal. It's a really good financial deal for the Texans, and I think it's a good deal for Jadevion, too. So he's got an opportunity. He lives in Houston. He looks spry, looks like he's in his early 20s, but he's got the maturity now of a father with three kids, one that he works out with and one that keeps him accountable. He told a story about how when he went to the Cowboys the first week last year, he got knocked on his wallet on a play. And he said his son was giving him grief back at home. He's like, son, look, I promise you, that ain't gonna happen again. So it hasn't happened thus far. He has been just dominating the Twos. There's so much they can do with Clowney, but he doesn't even like David. He looks like the day he was. He looks even better than the day he was drafted, which is amazing. And he's been able to do all that. And with all the nonsense that swirled around Clowney early in his career, it feels like he's playing free and easy. And he doesn't have the pressure of being Jadavion Clown. He just gets to be J.D. the guy that plays next to Will and Daniel and Will wreck shot. When given the opportunity.
- [06:21]
David Gardner
He. I don't know if he took a shot at ob. The other ob not our ob. Sorry, Bill o'. Brien. But he kind of smiled when he was asked about the prior regime, right?
- [06:31]
John Harris
Oh, yeah, he took a shot at him. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, and I don't even know if he took a shot at him. He just was pointing out that he didn't really have beef with anybody in Houston other than Bill o'. Brien. And I Mean, honestly, when I heard it, he kind of chuckled. But when I heard it, I was like, I mean, yeah, and sky's blue and water is wet. And then I was like, JD get in line. Because you weren't the only one at that point. I think OB Had a run in with everybody, including Toro, and Toro doesn't even talk. So from that standpoint, yeah, it was, you know, he. He outlined it. He said, look, you know, I. He didn't have beef with anybody. What I thought was interesting has been the reaction to people that are still in the building from when he was here, because there was like, hey, are we sure we want to do this? Like, there was some immature moments when he was here. We sure we want to do this? I talked to a few of those people, and they're like, man, he's different. He just much more mature. You know, having kids change him. And I asked him, I said, what was kind of the turning point for you, J.D. in our interview? And he said, when I got traded from Houston, he said, that's when I started realizing, hey, I need to start taking care of myself, need to start taking care of my body. I need to be more accountable. And he's a different dude. He's grown up. And I say this because I know there are a lot of guys that are out there, a lot of male and female athletes that grow up, and they don't have a father, they don't have a mother, they don't have that sort of parental figure in their life. And JD didn't have a dad. He said to us in the interview, he said, my dad was incarcerated. I didn't have a father figure. I didn't really know how to go about things. And he goes, now, I am a father. I've had to learn, you know, how to do those things and what's important and why. All those coaches were on my case, and while those coaches were pushing me, all the trainers pushing me to rehab and all that, he goes, I get it now. And I think it's changed him for sure. But, yeah, he just pointed out what everybody already knew, and that was he and Bill o' Brien did not see eye to eye for whatever reason, but it might be the best thing for the 2026 Texans that they had that little tay date back in the day, because he's a much, I think, more complete player now than he ever was back when he was younger.
- [08:45]
David Gardner
Talking to John Harris here on Texacts Live. Johnny, let's. So there's a lot of lists coming out and you know, Aggies, we get our feelings hurt quite easily, but, you know, sometimes with, you know, we've got good reason. Yeah, I'm not trying to put you in the crossfire here. I'm just curious. Where would you rank Marcel Reed and SEC quarterbacks, like, in. If you had to do a 1 through 16, where do you think? I'm not asking to give me the exact list, but where do you think Marcel would. Would end up?
- [09:14]
John Harris
I think behind Trinidad Chambla, but ahead of Gunner Stockton. So I don't know how, you know, I'd slide everybody in. I mean, look, nobody knows what Sam Levitt's gonna do. I mean, he's, you know, he can run all over Baton Rouge. That might not work for Lane Kiffin, so we'll see. I mean, I feel like Sam Levitt's gonna either be number one or number 14 at LSU. I don't know there's really any in between, if I'm being honest there, you know, look, you know, Arch has been very, very good at times, but, you know, is. He hasn't been great all the time, but now he's got a tremendous weapon in camp. Coleman. You know, Ryan Wingo's tremendous. So, you know, Arch is going to lean on those receivers. He's going to have guys. You have dudes, you know, Marcel's got dudes, too. Mario Kramer is one of the better receivers in college football. So, you know, look, they. I don't think. And my guess is just depending on the list, my guess is most analysts, medium, whatever, are putting him 10 or below. My guess, somewhere, some. That's. That's what I'm thinking. Just because of how the last couple games of the year went. Again, we talked about this before. The. The similarities between CJ Stroud's finish to his 25 season and Marcel Reeds. And it's so funny to read tweets, you know, when. When Billy Lucci, like, retweets, you know, he's having kind of a, you know, an X or a Twitter battle with somebody, and they bring up those two. Those last two games, I'm like, man, it feels like you could take Billy Lucci's name out, put somebody from the Texans in there, and they're talking about C.J. stroud instead of Marcel. But I think Trinidad Chambliss pretty am good. I think Arch. I think Arch, all things considered. I mean, I think he's going to be better than he was last year. I think Sam Levitt you got to put up there. But again, it. I just don't know if he's going to run hot or cold. I'm just trying to think other guys, you know, Gunner Stockton is one that I look at and think, okay, that's it. He's a gamer. He's tough. But I still want Marcel over him because I think Marcel throws the ball better than Gunner Stockton does. Overall, Gunner Stockton is maybe a little more fearless, and that can lead to some injury stuff, but I kind of feel like Marcel should be ahead of Gunner Stockton. You know, what are you going to get from, you know, whoever takes over at court, you know, what's his name? Kenny Glitchy from Kentucky. What are you going to get from him? You know, Missouri, Willie Simmons, like we saw a little bit last year, Ole Miss, but what really is he. I don't know. So I think he should probably be in the top, probably top six, but just not real. Knowing him off top of my head, that's probably where I would put him. Behind Trinidad Chambliss, but ahead of Gunner Stockton.
- [12:02]
David Gardner
Yeah, it's. It's interesting, Johnny. I, I think there's a few spots that I can. You can make an argument for this guy above this guy. I would probably put Marcel above some of those dudes. The one that I think most people are having a hard time with is our good friend Josh Pate. Had him at eight, which a lot of our, our fans hate that because they had Keelan Russell or Austin Mack ahead of Marcel. And I guess that's the hard thing. How do you project a guy that really hasn't played in college? Right. I mean, Keelan Russell's got very limited experience at the collegiate level. You're just really projecting based on the what? And I think that's where more people have some of the issues.
- [12:38]
John Harris
Well, Josh Pate had DJ Lagway as the number one quarterback in the country last year. So, you know, you take it. You take it with a little bit of a grain of salt from that standpoint. And I'm poking at Josh. I think he's done a tremendous job and telling the story of college football. I mean, his brand has been tremendous. But again, that's. That's the hard thing, you know, when you're forecasting. That's the tough part, and that's. That's part of what I do is, you know, forecast what these guys can be going to the NFL level. And if I just were to do that, you know, just forecast the NFL level, I feel like I could get a pretty good ranking, you know, 1 through 16 or whatever. The Case might be. But look, Keelan Russell, do you know. Okay, well, yeah, he did it in high school. Yeah, so did DJ Lagway, you know, so did Brock Berlin way back in the day. There are a lot of guys that have done it in high school, you know, but that's got to translate. And everybody, like I said, everybody thought Lagway, including Josh Pay, was going to blow the world. You know, blow the world up last year when Lightway was at Florida, and that didn't turn out the way that they thought it was going to, and Florida fans didn't think it was. It was going to. So it's really tough when you're trying to forecast this whole thing with guys. The last time they played significant amounts of football were playing on Friday night and not Saturday afternoons. So, yeah, you can look good in a scrimmage, but, you know, in a spring scrimmage, great for as many DJI Lagways, you might have a Cam Newton and Keelan Russell could be either, but you just don't know. So at that point, I don't know how you forecast all that. I, you know, I'm different. I don't get. When I see the. When I see lists like that and they put a, you know, a highfalutin freshman in front of a guy who started for three years, I'm kind of like, you don't know? You really don't know. Look, I think, I think both Austin Mack, I mean, look, Jared Curtis could be better than both of them at Vanderbilt, who knows? Could step in the offense, might fit, right. Keith Russell might not be the right fit at Alabama. He might not be the right fit for Kaylin DeBoer, but I think those guys are going to be good quarterbacks. But I don't know how you can make a case in front of Marcel Reed. But then again, these lists really don't become talking points. Oh, well, all Josh did was list all the veteran quarterbacks and then put all the rookies down there. Well, yeah, in a sense, it's kind of what you got to do. You kind of have to do that because how is the guy going to react to being a starter in the sec? I mean, sometimes it works out for Shane Matthews, sometimes it doesn't work out for a guy like DJ Lagway. You never know. And Florida fans know both sides of that coin that I just mentioned, so I don't know that I can make that case. I mean, I love Keelan Russell in high school. It's great. But what does that mean? Honestly, what does it mean in this, you know, you know, nil college football world where you've got a lot of veteran quarterbacks playing across the country. I don't know, I think Keith Russell will be fun to watch, but I'm not putting in front of Marcel Reed right now.
- [15:40]
David Gardner
Johnny, let's do this exercise that I did with Olin earlier. Okay, so if I were to tell you that Marcel cuts his interceptions down to five or six. Okay, call it six. And the A&M defense, who only had three interceptions last year, and that was one from the secondary, by the way, let's say they get the double digits. Let's say they get the 10. If you just have that information based on what you already think about A and M, what does that tell you about the kind of year that they have?
- [16:07]
John Harris
Well, I mean you're talking about extra possessions, you know, if you're not throwing interceptions and you're going and getting interceptions, I mean, just think about it. So. But you know, whatever he has, I should, I can't remember number. Say it's 12. Okay, 12. So cut that in half. Cut it to six. Okay. That's six additional possessions throughout a year, which more than likely going to happen in, in SEC games. Now let's say that the defense goes and gets seven more. That's a total of 13 more possessions. So if it's just SEC games, you're talking about, you know, one and a half more possessions per game than what you had last year, that should pan out, right? I mean it really should. Now I do think the schedule is a little tougher, but just do, just do the math. So if on those possessions, you know, how much, you know, what, what did you score last year? Like 30 plus points a game and they probably had, I don't know. Let's do it easy. 30 points a game, 15 possessions, that's two points per possession. Now take one and a half more possessions. That's three more points per game that you could have over the course of a year in which you're going to need it. So yeah, just, just that alone, David, just the math should, should work out on that. And to your point, that's something that should happen. Marcel should reduce his interceptions. The defense should. The defense having three interceptions is making mind boggling. Like they should have, they should have three in the first game of the year. So that, yeah, it's kind of, it's funny. Aaron Glenn went out and got how many of them in a season. Then his New York jets had zero last year. It's kind of Mind boggling to think a defense doesn't come up with more interceptions than that. But if you just did that math, as I just did quickly. So you got to double check and carry the ones and all that kind of stuff, that's just more possessions for an offense that is probably going to need them early on, but I think once they find a little bit of a groove, they're going to be okay. If you're giving a team, you know, almost two possessions more a game over what you've got, you got an opportunity to put some teams in the dust and that should be double digits wins, that should be putting you in the playoff with an opportunity to go in the SEC championship game, which I don't know if that's the most important thing nowadays, because you get in that game, you get somebody hurt. You know, you never know what happens at that point whether you get into the playoff or not. But you just got to get in the playoff and see what happens. Last year you ran into a tough Miami team. Maybe this year it's the reverse. Maybe A and M is that tough Miami team for some team on the road, who knows? But if you are adding a possession and a half or two per game, you should win 10 or 11 games this year.
- [18:56]
David Gardner
Johnny, just a couple of quick notes. Of his 12 interceptions last year for those in the red zone and, and one of them occurred in the out zone, so the coming out zone. So that just tells you how missed. What's the word I'm looking for? Just the timing of them was horrendous.
- [19:16]
John Harris
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, it's, it's like home runner strikeout in a sense. It's like, you know, if you're going to make it out, I'd like to have a line out to center field, you know, as opposed to, you know, taking a third, you know, strike looking. But when you throw those interceptions in red zone, and I go back to this, you know, we're talking about Bill o'. Brien. One thing he told us many, many years ago when talking with Tom Brady, he said that Brady told him the last thing as a quarterback that he had to master was the red zone and low red zone. He said that was the last thing to come along. He said he mastered everything else. Hurry up offense, two minute off all stuff. But he said the red zone and low red zone was the hardest thing that he had to do as a quarterback. And he said it took him years to be able to do it. So a young quarterback struggling in the red zone, okay, that's understandable, but what you don't want is. Let's not kill the drive right here. We got three up on the board. Think about it. He threw how many in the red zone? Four. That's 12 points. That's 12 points in whatever game you know that you're taking off the board. So I'm not saying you can't be aggressive in the red zone, but you just. You can't do that because that's going to. That's either taking points away from you or leading to points if you're coming out to another team. So the timing is. You're right about that. The timing is awful, but it's understandable to struggle in the red zone. But you just can't turn a ball over in the red zone. Those. Those are season killers when you're doing that in the red zone. Four, five, six times a year.
- [20:47]
David Gardner
By the way, it was the season killer for A and M, as the last pass Marcel threw last year was in the red zone against Miami. That ended the game. Johnny, I just want to make one quick comment about SEC championship game because I 100% agree with you. Like, now there's the thinking, like, how important is it to play in it, especially if you are a healthy team trying to stay healthy for the playoffs. But I feel like for a team like A and M, we got to get there, man. Like, you know, I understand if you're Georgia wanting to miss, but if you're A and M, you want to play in that game.
- [21:17]
John Harris
Oh, I don't disagree with you on that. I think that's. I think that is well said. Until A and M is 12 and oh, and then it's like, oh, crap, we can lose our. We can lose the number one. And again, if they're 12 and oh, they're going into the playoff whether they win that thing or lose that thing with 12 teams, you know, so at that point. Yeah. Do you want to take another opportunity? Yeah, maybe they could get a buy, you know, and so maybe playing the game and then having a couple weeks before you have to play a game. Okay. But I don't know. I. I love the SEC championship game, David. You know that. I love that game. Absolutely love it. So I don't want to see teams, you know, go through the motions, if you will, just because they have to be. They have to play that game knowing that a playoff birth has become that much more important than anything else. You know, the old guard, us having been around the SEC championship was that important. It's lost its importance. The championship games have lost their importance to a degree. Not totally, but to a degree. But I understand your point. You want to go to Atlanta. You want to see your team in that game because it's been out there, that carrot's been out there for 14 years to go to the SEC championship game and haven't done it. So, yeah, I could see that. I'll tell you this. You and I'll have that discussion when they're 12 and oh, it'll be like, man, do we want A and M playing in this game? And my answer probably at that point would be no, let's just go into the playoff as the number one seed.
- [22:41]
David Gardner
Johnny, great stuff as always, my friend. We'll talk to you next week.
- [22:44]
John Harris
All right, brother love, man. Have a listen. Bye.
- [22:47]
David Gardner
Later, my guy, my brother, Johnny Harris. We'll hit a break. We'll come back open segment followed by our interview with Bobby Shuttleworth as they get ready for Rice later on today. Aggie soccer getting it started right now. If you're looking for real peace of mind when it comes to your money, check out AGY own Paragon Financial Advisors. They're an independent fiduciary serving clients all across Texas. No sales pitches, no commissions, just honest financial planning and investment management. And what sets them apart is the over nine CFPs, the CFA and the CPA all on their staff. And they take their credentials seriously and they work tirelessly to help you build a future that you can feel good about. Go to paragon-adv.com or give them a call 979-693-3907 to schedule your free consultation. Today it is Paragon Financial Advisors. Integrity, expertise and trust. Paragon Financial Advisors, Scott Clinton and all.
- [23:35]
Willie
Willie Wednesday is a sports talk tradition. Wednesday afternoons at 4:30 on the Zone, 11:50am and Willie's favorite station, 93.7 FM.
- [23:45]
David Gardner
It's all about commitment here on Tech Sags Live. We're presented by David Gardner's Jewelers Rollo Insurance studio hour number two of the program. Volleyball, Maroon and White game yesterday. Kay Nagley had a lot of great reporting on it. And Natalie Martin at the Angry Elephant News and Social center is going to bring us up to speed on some of the happenings there at the Maroon and White game.
- [24:06]
Natalie Martin
Yeah, I was at the game. It was great to see the squad back in action, especially after such a historic run last year, of course, winning the national championship. My takeaways as a former volleyball player myself, I saw a lot of.
- [24:22]
David Gardner
Oh, you went to the game?
- [24:23]
Natalie Martin
I did okay.
- [24:24]
Unidentified Caller
Cool.
- [24:24]
Natalie Martin
I was there. Yeah.
- [24:25]
Unidentified Caller
Awesome.
- [24:25]
Natalie Martin
Live and in color. Yeah, I saw a lot of aggression out of system, which I think is really important and in line with the brand of volleyball that Jamie really pushes. So it was good to see that continue off of last year because that was a big key in their game. I also saw, which was a pleasant surprise, just an overall sense of maturity from the team. And I think that that comes a lot from some of the transfers that they brought in who are coming from, you know, important roles in their prior programs. So having that come to blend in with returning starters, which they only have a few of, was great to see. And then something that I think is great for the future of the program is some power from some freshmen. I want to shout out Brooke Lacewell. She. She has an arm. She was letting it rip. She was not afraid to take a big swing, even if she got blocked a few times by some seasoned vets. She was going out there and she was fiery. So, yeah, overall, I think we're really excited to see kind of what this team's identity is. And I know they've been emphasizing writing their own story this year, coming off of last year's run.
- [25:37]
David Gardner
So you've seen volleyball at the highest level. You probably watched a lot of the championships last year or the championship run that A and M had last year. I know they're trying to write their own story. Do they seem like a team that, you know, and again, a scrimmage against each other is hard to really tell. But do they seem like a team that's in the same, maybe not the same spot as last year, but what they've been the last couple years?
- [26:00]
Natalie Martin
I would say, and I believe Jamie Morrison said something similar, that their starting point this year is actually better than last year. And in past years, they seemed extremely locked in. And I think something that's common to see in, you know, preseason scrimmages is kind of confusion, some timidness, and I really didn't see any of that last night. I saw aggression, confidence, and I also saw a lot of intentionality. I saw, you know, Kendall Stowers working on two hand tips. I saw some sharp angle shots being taken by the outsides, and just a lot of stuff where you can tell that they are working on specific things that they know are going to make them better, which I think is a sign of a championship caliber team.
- [26:44]
David Gardner
Good stuff there. Natalie, thank you very much. We'll hit a break. We'll come back. Bobby Shuttleworth, talk a little Aggie soccer. The debut is later on today, as they take on Arias, we'll chit chat with Bobby about all the great things happening with the program. Right now we're talking about heritage films. And if you have not considered, I know I was talking to somebody the other day, like, you know what, I'm bringing it up to my dad. You should bring it up to your dad to get a documentary done on his story or your mom or your grandmother or whoever, right? Like your boss, your CEO, your uncle, your coach from growing up, whoever. Everybody's got a story. And the beauty of a heritage film is that you'll get a documentary like you'll see on Netflix without the murders and all the other scandal stuff. You can just get a real good story told by chance McClane and his team. He's a good old boy. He's done everything. Like he's a different kind of good old boy because he's done Broadway musicals, he started radio stations and, and now he does heritage films. He's been doing it for the last six years. And they are just a place that is like a cinematic time capsule for your family. And I think it's something that the future generations are going to absolutely love. And when you watch it with your family together, it'll be a very empowering moment. The website YourHeritageFilm.com YourHeritishFilm.com Call them up. 713-893-8341 it is Heritage Films.
- [27:56]
John Harris
Listen up, class.
- [27:57]
Willie
The money machine is open now. Make sure to enter. Each week, everyone comes out a winner. Zone1150.com or through the Zone newsletter to win to win $5,000,
- [28:09]
David Gardner
we've got Bobby Shuttleworth here in studio as Wednesday night the season begins, the debut of the regular season taking on rice. Bobby, thank you for coming in.
- [28:18]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Happy to be here.
- [28:19]
David Gardner
So let's, let's talk about your nerves. And I know you probably don't have nerves, but it's here. It's finally here. Your thoughts on it?
- [28:27]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah, excitement obviously got here in January and, you know, quickly tried to build the relationships with the players and kind of get a plan for how we were going to play. So, you know, it's a young group, a lot of new players again, but excitement and ready to, ready to get it going.
- [28:46]
David Gardner
Would you say that to play for Bobby Shuttleworth, is it a mindset or is it a style of play or is it both?
- [28:53]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah, I think, you know, the biggest thing that we are preaching to our players is just we have to be intentful with what we're Doing all the time and mentally present and ready to make decisions and dialed in and ready to be aggressive. And we talk a lot about just being animals and being physical. So I think that all has to do with things that are completely controllable at all moments. And we've been talking a lot recently about that. Like, let's control the things that we can control, because you're not always gonna be good with the soccer, but the things we can control are the things that we can control, and let's do that.
- [29:27]
David Gardner
So when you're recruiting, I assume that you're looking for a particular style of mindset, but you really don't know till you get them on campus, Right? You can ask coaches questions and clubs questions, but, like, until you see them under your scrutiny, you don't know. Am I right about that?
- [29:40]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah. I mean, you don't really know a player until you know a player and until you get to work with them every single day. Obviously, we go to watch a player and you can tell in their attention to detail, their physicality, the way they run, the way they react, like, that'll tell you a lot about their mentality. So a lot of things that we are looking at when we go to look for players and things that we preach to our team all the time, right? Like immediate reactions in transition, using your arms and being physical. So I think a lot of those things are, like you said, a mindset. Right. A mentality and something that we're trying to bring to this program. Very much so.
- [30:12]
David Gardner
In the competitors. I've spoken even to myself sometimes when I'm preparing for something, I feel like there's never enough time. Right. I'm getting ready for a triathlon. I wish I had another week. I wish I had another month. Do you wish you had more time, or do you feel like you guys have done enough?
- [30:23]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah. It's funny, like, we have two more weeks in this preseason, and I feel like we've almost had less time. It always feels like there's more things we need to go over, we need to cover. But I think it's important for us. Like, we went to Texas, and we had a tough result in Texas, but I said to our team, this is exactly what we needed, right? We needed to feel this. We have a young team to go on the road against a good opponent in a tough environment and have those experiences. We're going to be better for that when we go to Rice on Wednesday. So I think we're prepared. I think we're ready.
- [30:55]
David Gardner
As for the Texas game, I would assume one of the things that you were happy about was you saw some things you wanted to fix and then you diagnosed it and you guys went out and tried to fix it.
- [31:05]
Bobby Shuttleworth
And I thought, you know, like, I thought the UIW game was a good first step for us. You know, I thought walking away from that game, there are things that obviously we need to continue to work on, but there was a lot of positivity in that. In that game. I thought we struggled in the first half against Texas, but I thought we had a really good response in the second half. So, like I said, I think that that game was exactly what we needed, you know, in our last preseason game to now prepare us to step into the regular season.
- [31:31]
David Gardner
So we've kind of covered the mindset. How's this team going to score? What kind of offense does a Bobby Shuttleworth team have? Does it depend on the talent you have on the, on the pitch or is there a mentality offensively as well?
- [31:43]
Bobby Shuttleworth
I mean, it's always players, you know, you need, you need good players to score goals and to win games.
- [31:49]
Natalie Martin
So.
- [31:49]
Bobby Shuttleworth
And I think we have that. I think we have players that have goals in them. You know, our biggest thing is our attention to detail, our ability to put ourselves in positions, to play forward, being balanced, and then our movement, right, we need dynamic movement. We need to be running in behind, threatening and behind. And then we need support around the ball and we need options around the ball. So, you know, it's not, it's not too complex, right? It's like, you know, we need dynamic movement to open spaces and then we need people dynamically moving to provide options around the ball and then it's going to be easier for us to get in spaces, to be dangerous.
- [32:23]
David Gardner
How have your young players adapted to this level in your style of coaching because you haven't been shy to play some young players?
- [32:29]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah, yeah. I think our young players have done well, adapted well so far. Obviously a few of them came in early. We were with us since January, so they already kind of felt comfortable with new environment, new coaches, new school, kind of knew us already. And then obviously we've brought a bunch in that had to learn those things pretty quickly and get comfortable. And I think in a short period of time they have, you know, and I think it's going to be a work in progress. Of course, like none of your 17 and 18 year old kids, they're going to take time, right. And they have to learn good habits and learn consistency and all of those things. But we have some really Good, young, talented players and they're going to have just as much opportunity to play as any other player on our team.
- [33:10]
David Gardner
Before the interview, we're talking about Rice. You have experience, I think you went there in 22 when you were at Florida State. What can you tell me about going there, about the challenges of playing on that field and just the program itself?
- [33:20]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah, it's been a good program for a while under Brian Pretty, you know, very consistent and very good, very good program. So it's a tough place to go play. You know, it's a smaller field, so. And they are very organized and very aggressive and they get after you so very direct. So it's going to be a very, it's going to be a tough game for us. You know, we got to be up for the challenge, ready to battle, ready to win second balls, ready to win our duels.
- [33:46]
David Gardner
How do you as a coach kind of mix up the. All right, you want to win in the moment, but also the long term goals of developing a program, developing a team strike me as a pretty competitive guy. So it's probably game day, it's on. But do you kind of balance the two, the long term growth and also the right now?
- [34:03]
Bobby Shuttleworth
I mean, I think there has to be a balance of it, but you know, I'm very much. We got to be consistent every day, you know, like that's in games, but that's in training every day as well. Right. And making sure that we're bringing the same mentality every single day to training, to the games of where, you know, we're mentally and physically present and prepared to work and get better. So I think there is always like a long term scope for our team, for our individuals, all of that. But I feel sometimes if you're too focused on the long term, you lose track of the details in the immediate. Right. So I'm very much everyday present and making sure we're looking after all of these details. If we're buttoned up on all this stuff that's going to lead to wins, which is going to lead to success and is going to put people in better positions.
- [34:48]
David Gardner
How much do you like being a head coach? I mean, you've had the assistant role, you've always been a soccer guy. How much are you enjoying the CEO of the program?
- [34:55]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a different role, you know, it's different responsibilities. And obviously I'm very grateful for my time at Florida State and working under Brian. I learned so much from him and from that program and you know, I look back very fondly on that time and I'm, you know, excited about this opportunity, excited to be at this university with this specific program and these players. And since January, you know, I was just saying to my wife the other day, it feels like very quickly this place has become home, you know, and I think this is a special place with special people and we could feel that kind of from when we first got here. So, you know, I feel very comfortable here already in a pretty short period of time.
- [35:37]
David Gardner
Well, I have too much respect for Rice to say tomorrow will be a home game, but I think you'll see a lot of maroon and white at that game because there are a lot of Aggies in Houston. So it should be a great atmosphere.
- [35:45]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Yeah. Excited about it.
- [35:46]
David Gardner
Thank you, Bobby.
- [35:47]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Appreciate you.
- [35:47]
David Gardner
Bobby Shuttleworth here on Tech Sacks Live you from yesterday that we're running today. Obviously, let's do this. By the way, we're going to send a team to Houston for that. So Richard will be there and I know a couple other folks. So we'll have all the analysis, all the breakdowns from Bobby Shutterworth's debut at Texas A and M as their head soccer coach. We'll hit a break, we'll come back and we'll figure it out as we go. That's what we do. Natalie says she's got so many things to talk about. We're going to find out what she has to talk about right now. Millikan Reserve, they're a farm to table community in Collins Station. They have homes, they have trails, they got farms, they got wide open spaces. And they have a mission to build a healthy community around nature. And they're committed to treading lightly on the land that you can find Millikan Reserve on. They've created a sanctuary for family, for nature and for community. They're dedicated to the conservation of a healthy community. They have 2,600 acres of open space. I'm talking farms, 30 miles of trails and homes. And they want to connect families to nature and to each other. When you go there, just be outdoors. Enjoy the atmosphere through that extensive network of trail throughout a wooded landscape. You can go hiking there, biking, canoeing, you name it. They've got equestrian trails, evening yoga, summer camps, music festivals and farmer market tours. Check it all out@millikenreserve.com that website again. Millikan Reserve.com start your Sunday mornings with
- [37:06]
Willie
the best week ever from ESPN Radio Radio. Listen in from 6 to 9 on the Zone 11:50am and 93.7 FM.
- [37:15]
David Gardner
We're back here on Tech Tag Live. We're presented by David Gardner's Jewelers Rollo Insurance Studio. It is hour number 2.5 of the program. We'll talk to Jason Howell on the other side, And Tony Hurt Jr. Will join us as well. I understand that there's some comments on the YouTube page about, you know, volleyball, and so just Natalie at the Angry Elephant News and Social Center. What are the humans saying?
- [37:37]
Natalie Martin
Yeah, someone said don't know anything about volleyball, but a preseason number eight ranking seems like a severe diss to me for a national champion. I think that's a fair point, but
- [37:48]
David Gardner
I don't think it's a fair point at all.
- [37:49]
Natalie Martin
Well, I think that that ranking comes from the fact that A and M lost. I believe 11 seniors and all but two starters.
- [37:59]
David Gardner
What I'm saying is I don't think the them being 8 is a dis.
- [38:03]
Natalie Martin
Yeah, no, I would agree with you. I think that there's. There's some valid logic behind it. I think that there are a lot of question marks similar to the football team going into the season, and I think that the committee will respect A and M as soon as they start kind of showing what they've got this year. I think that there's just so much unknown with half the team being newcomers and so much of the starting lineup being to be determined.
- [38:28]
David Gardner
Let's play a game. Nygra. Put your mic on. All right. Who won the college football national championship last year?
- [38:34]
Bobby Shuttleworth
Indiana.
- [38:35]
David Gardner
Okay. Are they ranked number one in the coaches pool?
- [38:38]
John Harris
They are not.
- [38:39]
David Gardner
Are they ranked number two in the coaches pool? They are not. Are they ranked 3, 4, or 5? No. What are they ranked? 6. 6.
- [38:47]
John Harris
Okay.
- [38:48]
David Gardner
I don't think it's a dis. Like when you lose part of your team and one of their best players. Right. I know Kendall's back, so that's obviously huge, but, like, you're probably gonna drop
- [39:02]
Natalie Martin
a couple spots 100%.
- [39:04]
John Harris
Right.
- [39:06]
David Gardner
So I don't think it's a diss. And I don't know who does the voting. Do you know who votes on this poll?
- [39:11]
Natalie Martin
I don't know. Like, people.
- [39:12]
David Gardner
And by the way, every poll. Every poll is a bunch of people who don't know jack. So don't believe polls.
- [39:20]
John Harris
Right.
- [39:20]
David Gardner
Like the coaches poll. I would. I take more merit in that. Well, the coaches. Yeah, but do they? Because I've been told back in the day, SIDS would vote. I'm talking about, like, in the 80s. But I would take, to me, a coach's poll matters more than what a Reporter in Topeka, Kansas thinks about Ole Miss. The coaches vote on the volleyball poll.
- [39:45]
Natalie Martin
Yes. The AVCA coaches poll is what recently had A and M at number eight.
- [39:50]
David Gardner
Yeah, so look, I don't think it's the Disney. I think it's, you know, I think the way Kay Nagley and Nigran yell at Kay, find out exactly how she phrased it, because she said on the show yesterday. But I believe she said a fair ranking with room to move up. Right. And they're gonna be tested. Is that basically what she said? Nigra?
- [40:10]
Bobby Shuttleworth
That is what she said.
- [40:11]
Natalie Martin
I think that is what she said. And that's definitely right. I mean, A and M's non conference schedule was rated number three in the country in difficulty. So Jamie himself said that he wants to be tested. And now that they've earned some respect, teams want to play them. So they open up non conference play with Louisville next weekend, who is a blue blood program and ranked in the top 10 as well. They're number seven.
- [40:36]
David Gardner
Yeah, there's a little history with Louisville, so. Yeah, there is a little bit of history.
- [40:40]
Bobby Shuttleworth
A little bit.
- [40:41]
Natalie Martin
A and M did receive one first place vote, as Kaden mentioned the other day on the show.
- [40:46]
David Gardner
That's right.
- [40:47]
Natalie Martin
So somebody don't know who is very high.
- [40:50]
David Gardner
I don't know if. I mean, I don't know if we know. I know it's easy off only one, but like, you know, I think Jamie can be pretty hard on his team as well. What else do you have for us, Natalie?
- [41:01]
Natalie Martin
So we had a couple of preseason watch list nominees. Marcus Ratcliffe was nominated for the Wurfel Trophy preseason watch list, which, if you didn't know, it's college football's premier award for community service, recognizing the player who best combines community work, academic success and athletic performance. So it's great to see that recognition there for him.
- [41:25]
David Gardner
Absolutely.
- [41:26]
Natalie Martin
And then we also had DJ Hicks and Anto Saka named to the Lombardi Award preseason watch list.
- [41:32]
David Gardner
Okay.
- [41:33]
Natalie Martin
So it's exciting, see, obviously expecting a lot out of both those guys and interested to see how Saka matches up in the sec.
- [41:42]
David Gardner
Yeah, I'm really curious because one of the things that Lyle Hemphill talked about yesterday was the. That he was used differently at Northwestern and how they use him here at Texas A and M. I'm curious how that plays out from a football perspective. And just the A, the sack numbers, which weren't super high last year, but again, he was the guy that everybody was keying in on at Northwestern. And when you've got Marco Jones on the other side and others like, I'm curious how that that does play out. There's still a sound bite that we haven't listened to that I'd like to hear. It was Coach Wiggins talk. Yeah, we didn't run the one on Terry Bussy, right? Yeah, we ran the one on Bussy, which is the one we didn't run. I'm sorry, the one about interceptions. We did. We ran that one. There was one we didn't run. Anyway, I'll just reset it. How about that? With some of the things that Coach Hemphild talked about. When it comes to the defense and creating havoc and turnovers, the most important thing is when you over pursue and you miss a fit, what that opens up for an opposing offense. And if A and M has linebackers, and not just the linebackers, if they've got a crew that understands the position and isn't overly aggressive in hitting a spot and also making sure that they target the exact spot, I am curious how that plays out. That's the one thing I did not ask about at the press conference yesterday that I look back on. I should have asked, you know, what can be different from. Because if you look at the way the Aggies played defense last year, they would play really well. First down, second down, right? And at one point they were one of the best teams on third down conversions. But they would give up these plays that would be back breaking or just, you know, create this drive momentum that we'd see from the opponents. That drove me absolutely crazy and I know it drove them crazy. And again, the Miami loss, if you make a tackle, it changes the way you might be going in with an opportunity to kick a field goal to win the game. Obviously games play differently based on the situation. Maybe you're not as aggressive offensively if you don't have to play from behind. But that being said, you stop Fletcher on that play, how different that game could have played out. So we've talked about the turnovers being an issue for A and M. Forcing the turnovers and also not creating too many turnovers. The tackling of the big plays is something that we won't be able to see while we're at fall camp, but something that will be very interesting how it develops throughout the season. And one thing we know about Kochelko is when he sees a problem and they self diagnose it, they usually have an answer to fix it that upcoming season or even in mid season. So I think those are all things that I'm curious to see how they play out. All right, so this is what we'll do. We're going to hit a break. When we come back on Tech SAGS Live, we're going to talk to Jason Howell with Recruiting country that is brought to you by American Momentum Bank. So we'll talk to Howell. Got a commitment coming up here soon. We'll find out what's trending there. And then afterwards we'll talk to an Aggie defensive legend. Tony Hurd Jr. Going to talk to us. Last time we spoke to him, he was coaching at Second Baptist as a defensive backs coach. We'll find out how things have evolved with him if he's still coaching what he's doing. And so we'll get all the updates and also his thoughts on what's happening with Texas A and M. You're listening to the world famous Texags live, presented by David Gardner's Jewelers.
- [45:05]
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