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An Addition to the Tradition
Holdman has chance to shine in revamped Wrecking Crew attack
By Chris Ferrell
Sports editor
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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
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kers, chanted, ( Hes a versatile guy, outside
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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
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ippointment
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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
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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. That’s the only
way I feel I can do it.”
And then Holdman can take his
place among the other great backers
in Wrecking Crew history.
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