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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1988)
The Battalion Wednesday, Nov. 30, 1988 Page 9 Sports ome things should never change exas A&M, strong defenses and Slocum go hand-in-hand wig V •>'> By Doug Walker Assistant Sports Editor It’s no coincidence that the two ost successful eras in Texas A&M football coincided with the strongest ggie defenses in the modern era of [V&M football. When Aggie fans think of the real defenses of the mid-1970s and fhe mid-1980s, they probably think f great players. From the 1970s names like Ed Si- onini, Tank Marshall, Lester ayes, Pat Thomas and Robert Jack- on come to mind. They were the ajor players in a defense which fin- shed near the top of the national de- ensive statistics from 1974 to 1976. The Jackie Sherrill era has been |he most successful period in Aggie istory. That success is due in a big ay to defensive play from guys like Johnny Holland, Sammy O’Brient, Bohn Roper, Ray Childress, Ter ence Brooks and Kip Corrington. Actually, the success of the Aggie efense was made possible by excel lent recruiting and coaching. R.C. "locum has played a big part in both teas. Slocum originally came to Aggie- and in 1972 as an assistant to Head loach Emory Bellard. As an assis- ant to defensive coordinator Melvin obertson, he specialized as a coach efensive line and linebacker coach. A&M has changed a lot since Slo cum began his first stint at Aggie- land. According to Slocum, who cur rently recruits the Dallas area for A&M, it was much tougher making A&M attractive to recruits than it is now. “That was before the addition to the stadium, we didn’t have the MSG or the athletic dorm and there was a much smaller enrollment,” Slocum said. “College Station wasn’t the city it is now. There wasn’t as much to do around town then as there is now.” In spite of the disadvantages, Bel- lard’s staff recruited one of the greatest groups in Aggie history in that first year. Recruits like Simonini (a four-time All-Southwest Confer ence player), Thomas, Garth Ten- Napel and Tank Marshall became the foundation of a national championship contender 1975. Still, recruiting in 1972 was less complicated than recruiting in 1988. Players who previously would have hesitated to leave their home state now think nothing of playing for a school thousands of miles from home. It has made Slocum’s job tougher. “I think it reflects the fact that we’ve changed a lot as a nation,” Slo cum said. “We’re a much more mo bile society. Young people don’t think as much about going (out of state) to school.” Many observers have bemoaned Sherrill: I’m not resigning ,n P'x b/I M. BenkJ ias From Staff and Wire Reports Texas A&M Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Jackie Sherrill took time out on Tuesday from preparing for Thursday night’s Alabama game to deny he plans to resign. “I don't plan to resign and I’m getting tired of people asking me about that,” Sherrill said shortly before practice. “If I was plan ning to resign I wouldn’t be work ing so hard. Rumors have swept the Texas A&M campus since a television report on Saturday that Sherrill planned to resign after the Ala bama game. A&M Assistant Sports Infor mation Director Alan Cannon said Tuesday his office was flooded with calls all afternoon about Sherrill’s supposed resigna tion. A San Antonio television sta tion had reported that Sherrill had already resigned and a Dallas radio station had said his resigna tion was about to be announced were some of the rumor-mon gers. Texas A&M is currently inves tigating allegations that Sherrill paid former Aggie football player George Smith “hush money'’ dur ing an NCAA investigation. the loss of many of Texas’ top high school football recruits in the past few years as well as the effects this exodus has on th SWC. However, Slocum feels a major factor in the loss of so many of these players is the fact that many of them are not native Texans. “The influx of people moving into Texas in the last ten years has been a factor,” Slocum said. “A lot of these kids are not really Texans. A good example of that is a kid we were re cruiting last year. “He grew up in Michigan and moved to Texas with his family about three years before he finished high school. He always dreamed of playing for Michigan and that’s what he wanted to do. So it was natural for him to go back there and play college ball.” The exodus of talent from Texas didn’t hurt A&M very much. Bellard’s staff was given the duty of resurrecting an Aggie football program that had won only one SWC title since 1940. After showing improvement in 1972 and 1973, Bellard’s first re cruits began to come of age in 1974. With an improved offense giving the defense some rest, the Aggies went 8-3 that year and could have gone to the Cotton Bowl if not for a 32-3 loss to Texas at Austin. Baylor, which A&M had shut out 20-0, went to Dallas instead. A&M finished the year second in the nation in total de fense and scoring defense as they shut out Clemson (24-0), Baylor and Texas Christian (17-0). The Aggies set a school record agaisnt the Frogs by stuffing them for minus 58 yards rushing. The Aggies improved in 1975 as they moved up to the top of the na tion’s total defense category and ranked at or near the top of total de fense, rushing defense and scoring defense. Ranked as high as second in the national polls, the Aggies fin ished 10-2 and tied for the SWC title with Arkansas and Texas. Ten Ag gie defenders were named to various All-SWC teams. The success of the unit that year led to recognition for the Aggie de fensive coaches at the National Col legiate Coaches Convention follow ing the season. They ask different staffs to lec ture on different subjects every year,” Slocum said. “They invited us to speak about our defense. It meant a lot to know you’re respected by your peers.” The success continued in 1976 as the Aggies went 10-2 once again and were fourth nationally in total de fense. He remained at A&M through the 1980 season before a phone call from Southern California Head Coach John Robinson lured him to Los Angeles to be defensive coordi nator for the Trojans. USC led the Pac-10 Conference in total defense in Slocum’s first year as a coordinator. “I enjoyed doing it,” Slocum said. “We had a good year. I led the league in defense and Marcus (Al len) won the Heisman.” Slocum returned to A&M in 1982, at Sherrill’s request, to become coor dinator of the Aggie defense. “When I got the offer to come back here, I really had to make a tough decision. I felt A&M was just a little bit away from becoming a power and winning the conference. I thought it would be fun to be a part of A&M doing that.” After a slow start, the Aggie de fense has become the cornerstone of the Aggie title teams of this decade. The defense, led by linebackers who happen to be the best pure ath letes on the team, has led the league in total defense in 1985 and 1987 and were second in 1986. All-Americans such as linebackers Johnny Holland and John Roper have helped A&M gain a reputation as one of the nation’s most dynamic defenses. Their blitzing style has caught the imagination of Aggie fans. Roper says Slocum has been the main factor in the effectiveness of the defense. “He’s a helluva coach,” Roper said. “I’m glad to see good things happen to him. They brought in some players that can play the style of defense he likes and he’s done a real good job with it.” The defenses of the current era may not be as suffocating as those of See Slocum/Page 10 Photo by Dean Saito Slocum, the A&M defensive coordinator, has been a big part of the strong A&M defenses of the last two decades. He filled in for Jackie Sherrill this year against TCU during the George Smith scandal. IS ey carried the aui ife with them, he excellent dancinj imor, which wasw! dance of the Pastr our chefs, each oofi of the previou bumped each otk ■, they made thedili ipstick dancing W •ous were the nil antics kept the an! and was only topps of the King of lit was hard to miss, * played the role toll* Pas de Deux betwetf i Fairy (Jane Haclnp teker Prince (Edw cellent. 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