The Texas A&M Football coaching staff have shown that they like the hot hand
If there’s something that we’ve learned about Jimbo Fisher and his coaching staff over the past few seasons, it’s that he doesn’t necessarily have loyalties to any given player. If somebody has the hot hand, they’ll be put into the game.
Most notably, we’ve seen this at the runningback spot. Spiller wasn’t doing anything wrong in the Orange Bowl against North Carolina, but when Achane got his chance, he looked like the explosive back that he is. It was exciting, and it paid off when he ran 76 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
It was a play that wouldn’t have happened if Spiller was in the game. No offense to spiller, but he doesn’t have the same breakaway speed that Achane does.
And that’s the thing with Spiller. He’s a great runningback, it just seems like he has hit a ceiling as a running, and that’s okay. He’s a better option than 95% of schools have.
That said, they’ll likely both get opportunities early in the year, but if one guy rises above the other, that player will be getting a bulk of the snaps moving forward. Spiller will be the guy on day one, but don’t expect that to last.
Devon Achane could very well be the Aggies’ starting runningback by the time the season concludes.