Tag: Texas A&M football

Report: Texas A&M starting center Bryce Foster will enter the transfer portal

Multi-sport athlete and three-year starting center Bryce Foster will reportedly enter the transfer portal

With the Texas A&M football team having too many scholarship players on the roster at the moment, and still actively working the portal, turnover was inevitable. It was recently announced that Bobby Taylor would step away from football to concentrate on graduating reducing the scholarship number by one and this morning it’s being reported that starting center Bryce Foster would be entering the transfer portal.

Foster started his career at A&M showing a lot of promise but in need of some development. He finished his freshman year as an All-American with a promising and bright future. Not to say his next two years were less than stellar but there seemed to be some dysfunction on the team that led to a lot of players either taking a step back or staying stagnant. Foster fell into the latter category possible for a few reasons.

While being a solid starting center for Jimbo Fisher he would spend every spring with the track team where he is a good shot putter. This always sort of rubbed some fans the wrong way, which is understandable. But the biggest blow he suffered was a season-ending ACL tear in early 2022, and to his credit, he worked his way back on the field in 2023.

However, the writing was on the wall about halfway through spring practices that coach Mike Elko and Adam Cushing were looking for competition at the center position while Foster was with the track team. The deal was further sealed once it was announced that former Utah offensive lineman Koliu’u Faaiu would be transferring to A&M.

Just because Foster has put his name in the portal doesn’t mean he is gone, but it does appear that his time in the Maroon & White has come to an end and we wish him the best at his next stop.

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Former Pitt LB Solomon DeShields will transfer to Texas A&M

Texas A&M picks up a productive ACC player in former Pitt linebacker Solomon DeShields

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is getting a dose of competition in the defensive room to pair with All-SEC backer Taurean York with a productive linebacker out from Pitt.

Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman quickly added another highly active defensive player when former Pitt linebacker Solomon DeShields committed to the Aggies on April 22. DeShields brings some good size standing at 6’3″ weighing in at 225 pounds and had had his most productive year in 2023 recording 58 tackles, 8 TFLs, with 2 sacks.

With the spring portal now open, expect more names to flow in and out of College Station as players start to key in on where they might fall on the roster. No doubt Elko is keeping his ear to the portal streets looking for ways to improve his team.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

Texas A&M receiver Noah Thomas might see a lot of time in a new spot

Noah Thomas showed out while playing a majority of the spring game in the slot position

The cool thing about watching spring games, especially when there is a new coaching staff, is seeing how certain players are being used in a new system. With the games being open to the public, the play calling will no doubt be guarded, so personal groupings and alignments can give us an idea of what the coaches have been working on to this point.

One of the more interesting tidbits came from Carter Karels, who does a fantastic job covering the Aggies. He pointed out that junior wide receiver spent almost every single one of this spring game snaps from the slot positions. This really stood out because it was a significant increase percentage-wise over last season.

There must be something new offensive coordinator Collin Klein sees in Thomas’s skill set and size that made the move worth considering during the spring game. The initial conclusion is that it was a smart decision. Thomas hauled in 7 catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns on a rainy afternoon, with a few of those being contested attempts.

The 6-6 200-pound receiver has shown flashes of how good he can be when he gets the opportunities and has all the traits to develop into a No. 1 receiver this fall. Head coach Mike Elko is very high on him and believes he can maintain the progress so far; we can see big things from him.

“He has tremendous size. He has a large catch radius. He has gotten heathly. It will be important for him to have a strong summer. He has all the makings of a guy we can use as a top target.”
The sky is the limit for Thomas and we all got a glimpse of that on April 20.  With his size and athleticism, putting him in the slot would make him a match-up nightmare with any defender anywhere on the field. We hope to see more of the same when the Aggies suit up to face Notre Dame on August 31 at Kyle Field.
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What offensive senior analyst Scotty Ohara can bring to Texas A&M

New senior analyst Scotty Ohara looks to aid development at the wide receiver position

One of the knocks on the Texas A&M football team in recent years has been their issues developing the wide receiver talent they have been able to get on campus. Some of that could be attributed to injuries or the play calling, but whatever the overall problem, it needed to be addressed.

Texas A&M added former UTEP offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach Scotty Ohara to the staff in March. Even though the team record for the Miners hasn’t been great over the past few seasons, Ohara has been successful in helping produce a quality receiving core during his time in El Paso.

Some proof of that was helping Tyrin Smith and Jacob Cowing to be the first back-to-back receivers to reach 1,000 yards for the first time in the team’s history. Smith was also one of three receivers in Conference USA to reach 1,000 yards in 2022. Matrix Analytical Solutions recently included the combination of Texas A&M WR coach Holmon Wiggins and Ohara as a top coaching duo in the country.

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The rosters for the Aggies legends flag football game have been announced

The Aggie legends teams have been announced for the Spring game halftime event

Part of the scoring game is the annual Texas A&M tradition of the Aggie Legends game. The event is a flag football game with two rosters of Aggie favorites on each team and one quarterback throwing for both teams. The team generally takes players from a few eras and places them, similar to the spring game, into a Maroon and White team; however, they are named after two Aggie Legends, David Crow and Bill Pickard.

Team Crow (Maroon) will be coached by Cullen Gillaspia and Terrence Murphy. Team Pickard (White) will be coached by Jake Matthews and Trayveon Williams. Jake Hubenak will be the quarterback for both teams when they take the field during halftime of the Spring game on April 20. Below, you can find the full rosters posted by Carter Karels.

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Texas A&M’s Maroon & White spring game rosters have been revealed

The Maroon & White teams have been announced for the spring game next week and the rosters give us an idea one what battles will take place.

We are a few days out from seeing what the new regime under head football coach Mike Elko has been cooking up this spring. Granted, we won’t see a full playbook, but we will get an idea of the depth chart, blocking scheme, and play style. Texas A&M football recently released the rosters for the Maroon & White team for the game on April 20.

The Maroon team captain will be offensive lineman Trey Zuhn and the captain of the White team will be linebacker Taurean York. A few notable absences are the following:

  • OL senior – Bryce Foster (Track & Field for the spring)
  • OL freshman – Blake Ivy
  • OL junior – Dorian Hinton
  • WR senior – Jabre Barber
  • DE junior – Malick Sylia
  • LB junior – Martrell Harris Jr.

The full rosters are below via the Texas A&M official X account.

 

 

Based on how the rosters are broken down, it will be interesting to see how starting quarterback Conner Wiegman plays in the game. The Maroon Team has both Jaylon Henderson and Marcel Reed, along with what most people think will be the starting wide receiver core next season.

I believe the reason is that Henderson and Reed will get plenty of opportunities with quality receivers to compete for the backup position behind Weigman.

Henderson showed that he can play up to par in the SEC but needs to improve his accuracy. Reed showed a lot of promise during the bowl game, but there is still some concern with his size, only 180 pounds on a good day.

The other two positions to watch are the offensive line and defensive backfield. We saw a number of transfers, so there is bound to be great competition for those spots.

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Texas A&M linebacker announces he plans to enter the transfer portal

After making through half of spring practice transfer linebacker Alex Howard will be on the move again entering the spring transfer portal

With another football transfer portal window opening for the spring, there was bound to be some more turnover on the Texas A&M roster. Especially, with how many players Mike Elko brought in I’m expecting to see a few others over the next week. New Aggie linebacker Alex Howard announced via X that he will be re-entering the transfer portal after joining coming to College Station during the fall portal.

Howard came from Youngstown State where he amassed 142 total tackles and 15.5 sacks during his five seasons with the Penguins.

With playing time up for grabs next to SEC All-Freshman Taurean York, Howard appeared to have a chance to take over that spot but halfway through spring practice, Daymion Sanford has been making a big impression. Possibly seeing the writing on the wall Howard thanked coach Elko for the opportunity, but will be on the move.

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Head Texas A&M football coach Mike Elko confirms Anderson will be a full time safety

Junior safety Bryce Anderson is confirmed to be moved to full time safety position

The Texas A&M secondary spent a lot of time on the struggle bus last season, giving up 123 first downs and 95 passes over 15 yards. It was a main point of interest, with head coach Mike Elko hitting the portal hard to bring in as many defensive backs as possible to breed competition at the spot. However, Elko made something absolutely clear about one of his players.

After splitting time at a few positions last year, Bryce Anderson will now be a full-time safety in the Elko and Jay Bateman scheme. This is not a surprising move, just one waiting to happen. Anderson was recently named to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Top 10 safeties in Texas in the No. 4 spot.  Here is Anderson’s impressive stat line during the 2023 campaign: Total tackles (55), Sacks (1.5), Forced fumbles (1), Interceptions (1), and Pass break ups (4).

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Former UCF DL Joshua Celiscar will transfer to Texas A&M

Texas A&M picks up another experienced defensive lineman in former UCF defensive end Joshua Celiscar

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is getting run help with a productive defensive lineman out of Florida.

Defensive line coaches Sean Spencer and Tony Jerod-Eddie will add senior defensive end Joshua Celiscar from the University of Central Florida. After having a little bit of a down year in 2023, a change of scenery can be exactly what Celiscar needs to return to his 2022 form.

The 6-4 265 pounds DE was named an Honorable Mention All-ACC pick during his junior year where he had three sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.

With the spring portal opening soon expect more names to flow in and out of College Station as players start to key in on where they might fall on the roster. No doubt Elko is keeping his ear to the portal streets looking for ways to improve his team.

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Watch: Texas A&M two sport star Bryce Foster takes gold at the 44 Farms Team Invitational

Texas A&M center Bryce Foster take home the gold in the shot put at the 44 Farms Invitational

The Texas A&M Track and Field team started the outdoor season strongly. Aggie football player Bryce Foster contributed to the team’s outstanding performance at the 44 Farms Team Invitational. He tossed a season-best 17.95m/58-10.75 for a gold medal finish.

There were some questions about Foster skipping the outdoor season to start getting work in with head coach Mike Elko and new offensive line coach Adam Cushing’s new system, but Elko confirmed before spring practice that his starting center would be with the track team.

Here is what head track and field coach Pat Henry said about the team’s overall performance.

“I thought we performed very well this weekend. There were some really high caliber marks across the board, and it was good to see our athletes compete at a high level.”

Congratulations to Foster for his first-place win over the weekend.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.