kepdawg
08-11-2006, 01:01 AM
Aggie QB McGee has a bit of Bucky in him
12:13 AM CDT on Friday, August 11, 2006
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In the game that established Stephen McGee's style as well as substance, Dennis Franchione offered congratulations and a bit of advice.
Toughness is an admirable quality in quarterbacks, son, but maybe you could quit stepping off curbs into oncoming buses.
Seemed like good, sound counsel until the kid snapped.
"COACH, I CAN TAKE 'EM ALL. DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME. I CAN TAKE WHATEVER THEY'VE GOT. I CAN TAKE IT ALL DAY . . ."
Against all odds, McGee held up quite well against Texas. Better than Texas A&M's lead, anyway.
Still, an impression was made on Longhorn sternums and the minds of McGee's teammates.
A "natural born leader," they called him. A romantic concept at A&M.
Greatest QB in school history? Kevin Murray.
Winningest? Corey Pullig.
Favorite? Bucky Richardson.
Richardson wasn't fast or elusive. Couldn't throw the ball through a wall, either. But he might run it through.
"In my understanding," Franchione said, "it's what Aggie spirit is all about. Bucky displayed that to the highest degree."
Aggies have been waiting on Richardson's heir ever since. Waited on Reggie McNeal, as gifted as any Aggies QB ever.
Waited while McNeal's rival, Vince Young, surpassed and left him far behind.
In the end, it was hard to tell if McNeal was undone by injuries to his receivers or an inability to rally the Aggies from a team-wide funk.
A different outlook pervades this team, said Kirk Elder, a junior guard. Most of the key players have been in Franchione's system at least three years.
"Quality guys," Elder said, "all the way around."
Starting with the QB. What he didn't settle in the season's final game, he emphasized again last spring.
Example: He's running around end and comes up on Justin Warren. Quarterbacks are hands off in drills, and the senior linebacker is dutifully pulling up when he notices something odd in the 6-3, 205-pounder bearing down on him.
"We get close," Warren said, "and I see he has this look in his eye, like he's gonna bull through me."
Question: How does a minister's son, a polite kid who sits in the front row in classes and makes good grades and attends study hall just to bond with teammates, suddenly become a crash-test dummy?
Coming out of Burnet, he was a throwing quarterback. Or at least that was his reputation. Franchione hoped he ran maybe a 4.7.
But McGee was a 4.41 guy. He was fast building his reputation, too.
Example: His junior year at Burnet, he's going out of bounds and throwing a pass when a kid hits him on his left knee.
The impact tears his MCL. Cracks the top of his femur, the big bone in his lower leg.
Hospital bound? Hardly. He comes back for the second half and the last two games of the season, including the state final.
Claims he's had no other "significant" injuries. And just what would he consider "insignificant"?
McGee: "Anything that doesn't keep you from playing."
Me: A torn MCL and broken leg didn't keep you from playing. What exactly would you call those?
McGee: "Boo-boos, I guess."
He attributes some of his toughness to his father, Rodney. A former junior college quarterback, Rodney coached basketball more than 20 years before retiring to his ministry. Never missed one of his son's games. If the boy gave anything less than his all, Rodney let him know it.
Of course, he was preaching to the choir. You don't coach this kind of attitude.
"I always say it's the competitive side of me coming out," McGee said. "I hate to lose more than I love to win. And I do whatever it takes to win.
"If it means that I lay my body on the line for my teammates, then that's what I do."
A wonderful concept, too. Defensive players love it. But the offense?
"I like that he's a competitive person," Elder said, "but at the same time, we'd like for him to be healthy, too."
The rigors of a Big 12 schedule demand a little discretion. A QB is a valuable commodity. Step out of bounds once in a while. Avoid head-on collisions. Duck.
Unfortunately, for all his considerable skills, McGee has yet to develop a nice hook slide.
"I have a feeling," Franchione said, smiling, "I'll be coaching him on that all year."
E-mail ksherrington@dallasnews.com
12:13 AM CDT on Friday, August 11, 2006
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In the game that established Stephen McGee's style as well as substance, Dennis Franchione offered congratulations and a bit of advice.
Toughness is an admirable quality in quarterbacks, son, but maybe you could quit stepping off curbs into oncoming buses.
Seemed like good, sound counsel until the kid snapped.
"COACH, I CAN TAKE 'EM ALL. DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME. I CAN TAKE WHATEVER THEY'VE GOT. I CAN TAKE IT ALL DAY . . ."
Against all odds, McGee held up quite well against Texas. Better than Texas A&M's lead, anyway.
Still, an impression was made on Longhorn sternums and the minds of McGee's teammates.
A "natural born leader," they called him. A romantic concept at A&M.
Greatest QB in school history? Kevin Murray.
Winningest? Corey Pullig.
Favorite? Bucky Richardson.
Richardson wasn't fast or elusive. Couldn't throw the ball through a wall, either. But he might run it through.
"In my understanding," Franchione said, "it's what Aggie spirit is all about. Bucky displayed that to the highest degree."
Aggies have been waiting on Richardson's heir ever since. Waited on Reggie McNeal, as gifted as any Aggies QB ever.
Waited while McNeal's rival, Vince Young, surpassed and left him far behind.
In the end, it was hard to tell if McNeal was undone by injuries to his receivers or an inability to rally the Aggies from a team-wide funk.
A different outlook pervades this team, said Kirk Elder, a junior guard. Most of the key players have been in Franchione's system at least three years.
"Quality guys," Elder said, "all the way around."
Starting with the QB. What he didn't settle in the season's final game, he emphasized again last spring.
Example: He's running around end and comes up on Justin Warren. Quarterbacks are hands off in drills, and the senior linebacker is dutifully pulling up when he notices something odd in the 6-3, 205-pounder bearing down on him.
"We get close," Warren said, "and I see he has this look in his eye, like he's gonna bull through me."
Question: How does a minister's son, a polite kid who sits in the front row in classes and makes good grades and attends study hall just to bond with teammates, suddenly become a crash-test dummy?
Coming out of Burnet, he was a throwing quarterback. Or at least that was his reputation. Franchione hoped he ran maybe a 4.7.
But McGee was a 4.41 guy. He was fast building his reputation, too.
Example: His junior year at Burnet, he's going out of bounds and throwing a pass when a kid hits him on his left knee.
The impact tears his MCL. Cracks the top of his femur, the big bone in his lower leg.
Hospital bound? Hardly. He comes back for the second half and the last two games of the season, including the state final.
Claims he's had no other "significant" injuries. And just what would he consider "insignificant"?
McGee: "Anything that doesn't keep you from playing."
Me: A torn MCL and broken leg didn't keep you from playing. What exactly would you call those?
McGee: "Boo-boos, I guess."
He attributes some of his toughness to his father, Rodney. A former junior college quarterback, Rodney coached basketball more than 20 years before retiring to his ministry. Never missed one of his son's games. If the boy gave anything less than his all, Rodney let him know it.
Of course, he was preaching to the choir. You don't coach this kind of attitude.
"I always say it's the competitive side of me coming out," McGee said. "I hate to lose more than I love to win. And I do whatever it takes to win.
"If it means that I lay my body on the line for my teammates, then that's what I do."
A wonderful concept, too. Defensive players love it. But the offense?
"I like that he's a competitive person," Elder said, "but at the same time, we'd like for him to be healthy, too."
The rigors of a Big 12 schedule demand a little discretion. A QB is a valuable commodity. Step out of bounds once in a while. Avoid head-on collisions. Duck.
Unfortunately, for all his considerable skills, McGee has yet to develop a nice hook slide.
"I have a feeling," Franchione said, smiling, "I'll be coaching him on that all year."
E-mail ksherrington@dallasnews.com