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Texas A&M Football Coach Kevin Sumlin met with media today in the first official 2014 Aggie Football season press conference. Questions revolved primarily around the week one depth chart that was released today, and how the team is preparing for the season road opener against South Carolina. Sumlin also took the time to address off-season commentary regarding our strength of schedule:
Schedule wise, it's all over the place. People have criticized our schedule ... I look up the next day and people have ranked it one of the top five toughest schedules in the country, six ranked opponents, four on the road...
Regarding the depth chart, Sumlin reinforced that it should be completely disregarded:
"Wait to see who runs out there in Columbia. The only reason I put out a depth chart is because JC [Jason Cook] said you guys needed one."
Coach Sumlin, much like Aggie fans, is excited to get the season kicked off against South Carolina - a program that he bills as one of the top in the SEC - and to see how this new squad performs in the post-Manziel era:
They [South Carolina] know what they're doing. You don't win 11 games 3 years in a row in this league without being pretty good across the board. This will be a great test for us right now. We've got a lot of guys that I'm looking forward to getting on the field ... against a quality program in South Carolina, a top ten opponent, in an SEC game.
One of the players Coach Sumlin is excited to see is Aggie WR Josh Reynolds who, after coming out of Tyler J.C., is now being compared to former Aggie and current Tennessee Titan WR Derel Walker:
This guy [Josh Reynolds] is Derel Walker, except he's where Derel Walker is right now.
Considering that Derel Walker finished 2013 with 51 receptions for 818 yards and 5 TD's, that's a heck of a compliment. Watch press conference appearances from Coaches Kevin Sumlin, Jake Spavital & Mark Snyder, as well as players Jordan Mastrogiovanni, Tra Carson, and Cedric Ogbuehi, below.
Football Weekly Press Conference | Kevin Sumlin 8.20
Football Weekly Press Conference | Jake Spavital 8.20
Football Weekly Press Conference | Mark Snyder 8.20
Football Weekly Press Conference | Jordan Mastrogiovanni 8.20
Football Weekly Press Conference | Tra Carson 8.20