Texas A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital met with the media following Thursday’s spring practice and was prompted to deliver to the media the customary state-of-the-quarterback address.
“He (Kyle Allen) knows he’s out there,” coach Spavital said. “And you got Connor McQueen and the backups and you know that Kyler Murray’s gonna come here in the fall so he’s got to increase his competition. The competition will increase once he gets here, so, he’s got to personally compete with himself and he’s a very prideful kid and you see him go out there and compete, and probably gets a little too emotional at times, but I like to see that and see the desire in his eyes to get out there and get better each day.”

Despite Spavital’s forewarning of increased competition for Allen, it’s clear that Allen will have the upper hand heading into fall camp.

Allen started five games for the Aggies a year ago, winning three of them — including his debut against Louisiana Monroe, the upset over Auburn, and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl victory, which earned him bowl game MVP honors. Further, Allen now has, in addition to last year’s off and regular season experience, a full slate of spring practice under his belt.

“He’s getting better each day,” coach Spavital said. “You know, this is our 14th practice today. We’ve been through the installation four times so he’s gotten four opportunities to rep every single play in our playbook right now, and even additional ones that we’ve added with coach Moorehead and coach Christensen.  But, so far, he’s getting better at it each day and especially going up against an aggressive scheme like what coach Chavis brings, which is a little different than what we’ve seen in the past spring balls and past fall practices so, you know, it’s been good for him to just see different looks out there and go out there and compete and try to get the continuity and the timing with the receivers.”
Speaking of defensive coordinator John Chavis, the “Chief” was also on hand to update the media with the implementation of his unapologetically aggressive defensive scheme.

Chavis’s notorious “attack drill” drew a lot of talk. The drill pits one defender against an onslaught of one-on-one contact, with the ultimate goal being to pierce each wave of punishing blocking and reach the protected tackling dummy that lies stationary 20 yards down the field.

“It’s a tough drill,” coach Chavis said. “There’s nowhere to hide. You’ve got to be a man and you’ve got to go through it and  you gotta work and like I said, there’s nowhere to hide, and after we’ve done it a couple of times, we’ve got guys who want to do it. They look forward to it and they’re not running away from the drill, so that’s a response that you want to get, and, to be honest with you, everywhere I’ve been, that’s been the response. Because, you know, they understand, it’s football, and that drill is all about football. If there’s just one drill that you got that’s gonna help you with defensive football, in my opinion, that’s as good as it gets.”

Any of the Aggie faithful can appreciate the hard-nosed style of defense that appears to be engulfing the entire football program under the guidance of Chavis. Also, Chavis does not show any sign of regret following his abrupt departure from LSU, but instead views his new gig as a tremendous opportunity to accomplish something special within Aggieland.

“When you look at the commitment that Texas A&M has made, it’s easy to see that this can be and is a great place to be,” coach Chavis said. “There’s no question about that and certainly a school that’s made the commitment to play on a championship level. You look at all the things that are going on with the buildings and what they are doing and the kind of support that this program is getting, you know, so, you got to have that and then you got to be able to go recruit. It’s in a state where there’s a lot of talent. So, you know, you’re able to recruit here. Those were the main things. As coaches that’s what you’re looking for is anopportunity to win and win big, and it’s here at Texas A&M.”