The Texas A&M Football Team wrapped up their 10th practice of the spring Wednesday afternoon. This will be there last practice before the Friday Night Lights scrimmage on Friday at Kyle Field.
If youre not fired up for that one, what can you get fired up for? linebackers Coach Matt Wallerstedt said. I think theyre anxious to showcase our second really big scrimmage in front of the fans. Things are going in the right direction and were looking for big things Friday night.
Freshman safety Howard Matthews said he, too, was excited for the scrimmage on Friday.
Its been awhile since I played under some lights, its gonna be a lot of fun, Matthews said. There will be kind of a game type feeling, atmosphere. We just need to go out there execute, have fun, hit some guys, and do our job. Were gonna be fine.
Sophomore defensive lineman Damontre Moore said the scrimmage should be a lot of fun.
Im really excited, Moore said. I havent had a night game in a long time and Coach Snider tells us to treat every scrimmage like a game. Theres gonna be a lot of people, were just really excited to see what its gonna be like.
Recruits will be able to attend the scrimmage, a highlight the coaches hope will encourage the recruits to eventually come and play at A&M.
Recruiting is the future of this program, weve got to get big players in here, Wallerstedt said. Were building for the future and hopefully we can get some of these guys to jump on board with us.
The team continues to transition in every practice to where they want to be for the first game under head coach Kevin Sumlin.One of the biggest transitions will be on the offensive side of the ball and replacing former quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
I think were gaining strides every day, getting better, junior offensive lineman Jake Matthews said. We have to keep pushing it and if we do that, were gonna be successful.
Wallerstedt, who has been a defensive coordinator most recently at Air Force, said he is looking forward to returning A&M to its former Linebacker U of the South status, famous for the Linebackers they produce, much like Penn State, the one and only Linebacker U.
When youre a coach, there are a few schools that you if get the opportunity to come to, you would jump at. This is one of them for me, Wallerstedt said. I know how this place can be on game day, Wallerstedt said of his experiences as an All American at Kansas State and thats exciting for everybody. They say the press box sways, and it does sway. Thats pretty awesome.
Wallerstedt added that the opportunity to coach the linebackers and help bring back something special to A&M is exciting.
Friday Night Lights will take place at 8 p.m. this Friday night at Kyle Field and is open to the public.