Texas A&M’s offense is entering another reset, but Marcel Reed doesn’t sound rattled by it.
With Holmon Wiggins newly promoted and taking over play-calling duties, Reed is preparing to work through the Aggies’ third offensive coordinator since Mike Elko arrived. The quarterback said Wednesday morning that the system isn’t being blown up, even if it has grown in some areas.
“There aren’t too many differences, but coach Wiggins has expanded it a little bit,” Reed said. “I have said this before, but he was at Bama, one of their pass game coordinators when he was over there, so just having all those guys translate it from those guys to the guys we have now, we can do a lot of different things.”
Reed is heading into his fourth year with Texas A&M, and the adjustments are less about starting over than learning where the new wrinkles live. He pointed to the way Wiggins wants the offense to function - more movement, more angles, more ways to keep pressure off the quarterback and let routes develop.
“We can move the pocket,” Reed said. “We can reset our throwing lanes.
The play action fakes. The half roll outs.
Getting set up in a different gap, making sure that we move the pocket so really good edge rushers can’t get to us as quick as they can. Things like that give us time to see routes develop.”
That approach will also ask plenty of a rebuilt offensive line that returns only one starter from last season. Reed said the unit has reason for confidence, especially with an experienced center and portal additions in the mix.
“O-line might be what people talk about, but we have our returning center who's been a center for us for five years now, and then we also have some experienced SEC guys that came in throughout the portal. So I think we're going to be just fine,” Reed said.
If that group comes together, it should give Texas A&M more room to work both on the ground and through the air. The roster has the kind of speed and playmaking that can change a game quickly, but Reed knows his part of the job is bigger than just distributing the ball.
As a dual-threat quarterback, he has to stay sharp with the football, make the right decisions and get synced up with his targets. That’s especially true with a receiver group that includes Mario Craver and Ashton Bethel-Roman, along with rising names like Terry Bussey and Isaiah Horton.
Reed also made clear that leadership is part of the assignment.
“You can always grow being a leader and making sure the team respects you and understands your voice carries,” Reed said. “They’re going to need me this entire season.”
Wiggins, for his part, said the staff is putting more on Reed’s plate and likes the way the quarterback has handled it.
“We're putting more on the quarterback this year, and we're asking more of the quarterback, and he's done a great job of understanding that, but also making sure that he's ready for that,” Wiggins said. “So, I've seen his game take it to the next level.”
In Other News...
Texas A&M Linebackers Suddenly Carry A Big Defensive Question
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Texas A&M already has home-and-home series lined up against Arizona State and Louisville over the next four seasons, which underscores how selective these openings can be. For fans hoping to see old regional ties revived, the Texas Tech pitch would have carried real appeal, but the Aggies refusal suggests they are not eager to add another commitment unless it fits exactly what they want. In the meantime, Tech keeps searching for a partner, and the lack of traction says as much about the current scheduling climate as it does about any one matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M May Have Finally Fixed One Passing Game Problem
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The addition matters because the new arrival is not just another target, but a player who produced in bigger spots last season and showed he could hold up against major competition. For an Aggies passing attack trying to become more balanced and harder to defend, that mix of size and production could be exactly what it needed. [Read more 🡒]