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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1997)
hursday • September 11, 1997 S The Battalion PORTS icers iIle gal cross m of river. B decreased re along the said. i a lotofhej nderstaffed An Addition to the Tradition Holdman has chance to shine in revamped Wrecking Crew attack By Chris Ferrell Sports editor rs. SARZA ER PATROL Chi a lot of help; ; Patrol Chiei understaffe mts were svvor in people pro! order Patrolol r f : here are a few glamour posi tions in college football. There are quarterbacks at Miami, of- ■nsive lineman at Nebraska, and de- nsive backs at Southern Cal. And of ourse, there areoutside linebackers t Texas A&M. Meet Warrick Holdman, one of le glamour boys of college football. At 6-foot-1-inch, 228 pounds, ie looks the part. With a calm, ool demeanor, he acts the part, nd on the field, he definitely • membersof| la ,y, s , 'l 11 ' |)ai *• kers, chanted, ( Hes a versatile guy, outside ling for an ent iorder Patrol at ented immigu ft without inci ) arrests, linebackers coach Shawn Slocum said. “He’s got strength to play on a tight end and the agility to play in an open space, which we do with him quite a bit. “He’s shown signs of becom ing the player we thought he could be.” Holdman is the player the coaches are hop ing is the next link in a great chain of Aggie linebackers. “So many great players have na donor tr first two questions ippointment •050. D DONORS; mb an extra $5 next donation if n’t donated in; more months. BRAD GRAEBER/The Battalion played that position,” the junior line backer said. “So the expectations are big, but I have big expectations on myself anyway.” The biggest of which is perfection. Holdman pursues perfection as if it were a quarterback rolling to the opposite side of the field. “I always want to walk off the field and know I did the best I could,” he said. “I try to be the perfect football player. “Our coach (Slocum) gives a little speech everyday about it. If you strive for perfection, you’ll reach excel lence. So, I try to keep that at heart.” Holdman’s heart was tested last spring when he suffered a cartilage injury during spring training. Team doctors determined that no more damage could be done to the knee by practicing so Holdman went through drills and put off surgery until camp was over. “Another guy might have taken the easy way out and said, T can’t practice; I’ll just have the surgery now,”’ Defensive Coordinator Mike Hankwitz said. “I think he re alized the benefit of practicing. I think he came back this fall and had an excellent fall camp and has worked to improve himself.” Slocum said the injury was a key in his development. “I told Warrick this,” Slocum said. “I think that may been one of the turning points in his development. It wasn’t something that was going to hurt it any worse to practice. He went through the mental part of going out there everyday to practice, and go ing out and playing the game when he wasn’t feeling just right. I think he got a lot out of it.” Holdman said going thr ough that experience last spring has helped him to appreciate his health even more and has tqught him to work harder in practice each day. “I had the sore knee, but I fought rtofcea n)* Post Oak Mall ^ BLUE NOTE ALL-STARS A College Station Favoritel Tue-Sat • 9pm • Mo Cover Try our NEW BUY 1/ GET 1 FREE Food Specials Monday • Friday ALL DAY December Graduates Official Texas A&M Graduation Announcements On Sale Now through October 3, 1997 For All Information and To Place Your Order access the Web at: http://graduation.tamu.edu J.C DC All orders must be placed over the Web All payments must be received by October 3 MSC Box Office 845-1234 DAVE HOUSE/The Battalion Junior outside linebacker Warrick Holdman closes in on Sam Houston State quarterback Chad Schramek last Saturday at Kyle Field. Holdman had six tackles and a sack in Texas A&M’s 59-6 victory. through it,” he said. “When my knee was hurting, I couldn’t wait to get well. I really appreciate being healthy and I go out and work hard.” Healthy again, Holdman is ready to thrive in a defense which returns to its roots. Last season under coordinator Phil Bennett, Holdman was asked to drop back into coverage in many sit uations as the Wrecking Crew got away from its bl itz first, ask questions later philosophy. The philosophy has since changed. With the arrival of Han kwitz, the Aggies have vowed to re turn to the blitzing style which made A&M’s defense famous. “Last year, I played the drop backer and I dropped back a lot,” Holdman said. “Now he’s put on more blitzes and put me in more blitzes. All four of our linebackers are going to be coming from everywhere.” Hankwitz said Holdman will be an intrical part of the pass rush. “Your outside linebackers play a big role (in blitzing) because of the nature of the 3-4 defense,” Han kwitz said. “So he’ll certainly be a big part of that.” With Holdman free to let his ath letic ability shine, everything else can fall into place. Holdman recognizes that the only way he will be men tioned with the Aggie’s other great linebackers is to play consistently. “I have normal goals, All-Ameri can, All-Confrence,” he said. “To do that, I have to play every game. My goal is to stay healthy for every game. I feel that if I can stay healthy for every game all the All-Conference stuff will come. “I have this year and next year; I’ve played here for two years. I feel like to be a part of the tradition, I have to play at a higher level than where they played. 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