Texas A&M football: 5 burning questions entering spring practices
By Jeff Shull
Texas A&M football is set to start spring practices soon; here are five questions fans and coaches will be looking to answer during the sessions.
Jimbo Fisher announced last month the Texas A&M football team will begin spring practices on March 20 — after spring break — and they will play the Maroon And White Game on April 13 during parents weekend. This will be a major weekend for recruiting. The Aggies locked up several verbal commits during this weekend in 2018.
The spring game last year brought a ton of excitement as it was the first of the Fisher era. After finishing the season 9-4, including four straight wins to close the season, the hype for the 2019 season is real. As much as the realist in me sees how difficult next year’s schedule is, it’s impossible not to get excited given the improvement in the first year under Fisher.
The Aggies play the three most talented teams in the country next year, at least on paper, plus LSU, Auburn and the rest of their SEC schedule. It’s a gauntlet schedule. Getting through it with only one loss and a spot in the SEC Championship game will be tough. It’s entirely possible the product on the field will not be reflected by the record.
With half the starters from last year’s team gone, most of those on defense, there are plenty of questions to answer entering spring practices. Let’s start with the quarterbacks.
Who backs up Kellen Mond?
One of the biggest stories of this offseason was Nick Starkel deciding to transfer after he graduates in June. It wasn’t surprising, but the news did come a little later than expected. Nevertheless, Starkel is out and heading to Arkansas, so someone will replace him as the backup.
James Foster was a 4-star recruit in the 2018 class and Zach Calzada was a 3-star recruit in the 2019 class who enrolled early. One would think Foster has a clear edge with a year under Fisher already, but Kellen Mond winning the job last year should tell us anything can happen.
Fisher has praised Calzada’s ablity to make all the throws, but he’s been very complimentary of Foster as well. Right now it’s anyone’s guess but we should get some clarity in the spring.