The duck hunting trip hasn't yet come to fruition, and right now, with the college baseball postseason getting so close, it's likely not to even be mentioned when the two coaches cross paths on Tuesday.
That doesn't mean it isn't going to happen.
A&M's present baseball coach, Rob Childress, and its former coach of 21 years, Mark Johnson, have a special connection in having led the Aggies on the diamond, which has carried over off the field.
"We still haven't been able to get together. Every time he's gone duck hunting I haven't been able to go or vice versa, so we haven't put that together, but it will happen," said Johnson, who admits Childress is a little more passionate about duck hunting, while dove and deer season are dearer to his heart.
The two became friends not long after Childress took over for Johnson, who was fired at the end of the 2005 season.
"[We're] two different professional people that have a bond because we've been in same spot," Johnson said. "He and his family came out to the house when they got there and we broke bread together.
"It's bad sometimes, well I know it is bad, when a new coach takes over for a coach that gets fired. I was really strong on not letting that happen and then when I met him and realized the person he is, I knew everything was fine," Johnson added. "I just wanted the program to have integrity and quality and continue to win and he is doing that, so it's all fine."
On Tuesday night, Johnson, now in his third season at Sam Houston State, will coach his first game at Olsen Field since an 8-7 victory over Texas while guiding A&M in May of 2005.
Childress will be there to greet Johnson and, maybe almost as much as getting a victory, he hopes so will the Aggie fans, many of which jumped on board while Johnson was at A&M.
"I can't wait to get him back over here," Childress said after Saturday's victory against Dallas Baptist. "I hope we have 8,000 people here to show their respect to Coach Johnson."
Even though it's been four years and 150 victories since Childress was welcomed to A&M, the former Nebraska pitching coach hasn't forgotten what it meant to him to have Johnson help in making the transition.
"I hope I can do that 20 years from now [for my successor]. He's not just been a friend to me but a mentor," Childress said. "He's been more than helpful to me since the day I got here at Texas A&M and I truly appreciate him and everything he's done for me, not just me, but my family as well."
On Tuesday, Johnson will step out of the first base dugout to bring the lineup card to the umpires. It will be somewhat different, but not entirely new.
"I think the last time I was over in that dugout was when we beat Clemson in the third game [of the 1999 College Station Super Regional] in the ninth inning with [Steve] Scarborough and [Steven] Truitt hitting home runs and [Casey] Fossum shutting it down," Johnson said. "That might have been my last time in that dugout and of course it took us to Omaha."
Johnson took the Aggies to the College World Series twice. The other time was in 1993.
In all, the Aggies were 876-431-3 under Johnson and won five conference championships, the last in 1999.
"I'm going to walk onto Olsen Field and I'm going to remember 100 different plays that just bring great memories back to me, that's the way I'm looking at it," Johnson said. "Of course a lot of tough moments and tough losses, which is all a part of coaching."
Johnson has turned around the program at Sam Houston. He has directed the Bearkats to the NCAA tournament in his first two years in Huntsville.
The Bearkats most recent trip to the tourney before Johnson was in 1996, and the year before he arrived, the Bearkats were 23-31.
One of the first things Johnson did when he took the position at Sam Houston was upgrade the schedule. He got Baylor and A&M back on the calendar and brought Nebraska and Michigan down to Huntsville.
"What I told [Childress] was I think I wanted to play him because I wanted to play the best schedule we could have here," Johnson said. "It's about building up the schedule and doing it with financial priorities, and they are close by and certainly we want them on our schedule. It helps with recruiting."
Despite the tougher schedule, the Bearkats were 77-49 in the first two seasons with Johnson and come in Tuesday at 29-19 this year.
One of the Bearkats' losses last season was to A&M at Sam Houston. The Aggies won 13-9, but not before the Bearkats scored six runs in the ninth inning of A&M closer Travis Starling.
With 982 victories, Johnson is close to becoming one of 50 coaches to reach the 1,000-win plateau.
"Bottom line is I'm blessed to be coaching, that's what I do. That's what I think God put me on earth to do," Johnson said. "At end of day when I'm through coaching, I will look back and I guarantee I will say that my coaching career would not have been complete without coaching at Sam Houston because of so many different things going on here I didn't experience anywhere else. And it's a great school."
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NOTES -- One of Johnson's last ties to A&M is Kyle Colligan, who he recruited but never coached. ... Asked how he'll react to the fans if they start razzing him, Johnson said. "Friends won't change, but I don't expect them to root for us and I'd be disappointed if they did." ... Sam Houston just ended a six-game losing streak, which followed a 10-game win streak. The Bearkats have defeated Houston twice, Baylor once and split with Rice.
TEXAS A&M BASEBALL
* Tuesday's game: Sam Houston St. (29-19) at Texas A&M (31-16), 6:35 p.m.
* Radio: WTAW, 1620 AM
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