1) Kevin Sumlin has a confidence in this team that has not been seen before

Going into season in the past, Kevin Sumlin has always had confidence in his team, but this year is different. He seems more confident in this year’s team and more excited than any of his other four years at A&M. With all the talent returning, all the younger athletes at his disposal at any point in the game, and a lot of depth in key positions, Sumlin knows his squad has the potential to do something amazing in 2015.

“I think we have a roster that has good depth. We don’t have huge holes in the whole place. Some places we are a little thin but we’ve eliminated holes in the roster,” said Sumlin. “Athletically and physically I think we’re comparable to the teams we’re going to play. We have a chance to be good.”

2) Aaron Morehead has had a big impact at wide receiver coach

After coaching receivers at Stanford under Jim Harbaugh and at Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer, Aaron Morehead was hired in 2015 as the new wide receiver coach for the Aggies. The A&M receiving corps has always seen talent, from Robert Ferguson to Jeff Fuller to Ryan Swope. Morehead brings a different concept to the Aggie receivers, a new found sense of physicality and toughness.

“Aaron’s brought a lot of experience. It’s what we were looking for. He’s kind of a self-made guy…He understands technique, he understands toughness. He worked himself into being a great player, a pro. He brought to the table the ability to not only teach technique, but teach not only the college game but how to be a pro,” Sumlin said. “That gets a lot of attention from people in that room. And that’s what we needed…Some things are a little bit different offensively and defensively, but the emphasis on individual technique has gone up across the board. He’s done a great job with those guys.”

3) Chavis and the defense are on the same page – and have potential to make some noise.

Coming into the year, the biggest question around Aggie football has been about the defense. Is it fixed? It will not be known until Sept. 5th against Arizona State, but seeing Chavis in the media room on Thursday, it’s clear to see that Chavis has already made a big impact on the team and the coaching staff, and they are ready to make things happen on the field.

“We got outstanding men on this staff. They want to win they want to be a big part of Texas A&M. and they want to be a big part of us doing things the right way and that means winning. The buy-in there was phenomenal. The first eight or ten days we met, we didn’t talk football. We talked philosophy…before you can move on to x’s and o’s, you have to be on the same page in terms of philosophy…the buy-in has been great, and I couldn’t ask for it to be any better.”

4) Chavis is not afraid to make a statement.

Twice on Thursday, Chavis made some loud statements. The first one was about the pass rush situation and his defensive ends. Daeshon Hall and Myles Garrett will be the rush tandem for A&M in the fall, and Chavis thinks that they aren’t just the best defensive ends in the conference: he thinks they are the best in all of college football.

“I said this earlier, and I don’t think they mind me saying it. But, I think as a pair, we’ve got two of the best defensive ends in college football,” Chavis said. “That’s a pretty big statement, but I’m not afraid to make that statement after being with them during spring practices to where we are now.”

Then, later on, he was asked about where he thinks this defense is in terms of other places he has coaches, at Tennessee and LSU, where he had outstanding defenses there and won a national title at Tennessee. He believes this team, with all the young talent, is right up there with the best.

“I’ll give you a bit of the history. The third year at Tennessee, we played for and won an SEC Championship, the fourth year we played for and won an SEC Championship and won a National Championship. In my third year at LSU we played for and won an SEC Championship and lost out in the National Championship,” Chavis said. “We are as talented right now as we were at Tennessee when I took over that job at Tenneseee and when I took over at LSU. We expect to play well and we will be improved, there is no question about that. It’s not a lack of talent…we’ve got some talent in the right places that fit our scheme.”

5) Ricky Seals-Jones might be ready to breakout and silence any doubters.

When offensive coordinator Jake Spavital spoke Thursday, he talked a lot about the talented Aggie receivers. Coming into 2015, a lot of guys who have no had tons of experience at receiver, such as Seals-Jones, now have gotten a better look at schemes and different looks from a defense. Spavital believes coming into the year, Seals-Jones is the one of the bunch who has improved the most.
“It took [Seals-Jones] a good year to understand the concepts, and last year, he just kept getting better. I think Ricky has had the biggest improvement I’ve seen from a receiver standpoint,” said Spavital. “He’s playing fast, he knows his body…he’s learning how to get to the proper depth and work on his footwork and timing and things like that.”