The final practice of Texas A&M's fall football camp on Friday didn't seem much different than the others.
The coaches stressed tempo as the players tackled each segment in workmanlike fashion. There were no indications this was the team's 23rd workout in a 19-day stretch.
There wasn't a water balloon fight, nor did an assistant coach do cartwheels. Forget the warm, fuzzy nonsense stuff. This team would rather celebrate something a little more meaningful, which helps explain why the workout lasted 30 minutes longer than scheduled.
Much more than moral victories are expected in the third season for head coach Mike Sherman, whose pyramid of success for the season looks something like this:
* No blowout losses
* A much improved defense
* Vastly better special teams
* A winning season
* A victory over Oklahoma or Texas
* A significant bowl game
Sure, all Aggies want a Big 12 championship. But since Sherman is 10-15 in two years and this is the program's second rebuilding effort from the ground floor in the last decade, let's keep things in perspective. Sherman should be the league's coach of the year if he attains the above six steps. He probably needs to achieve only four to take a significant step forward.
He seems confident in the staff and players heading into this critical season. Everyone seems united and mentally prepared coming off a fall camp that stressed physical play and speed.
A&M didn't seem to do any more scrimmaging than in Sherman's previous camps. But there did appear to be more one-on-one battles, especially between the offensive and defensive linemen, where A&M needs to get much better if it wants to become a Top 25 program. A&M also worked on honing its power running game to complement its polishing passing attack.
Speed was accented when the team took off the pads and went indoors. The tempo of practices flowed better as players thought less and reacted more.
Two areas given added attention were the installation of the 3-4 defense under first-year coordinator Tim DeRuyter and the revamped special teams with the assistant coaches sharing teaching responsibilities.
The only drawback in fall camp was injury, which cost many key players practice time. A&M leans too much on underclassmen to have them missing significant snaps, even if it is practice. Senior starting quarterback Jerrod Johnson had a few so-so days throwing, but he was coming off shoulder surgery that limited his spring work. You figure Johnson will be 100 percent for A&M's league opener at Oklahoma State on Sept. 30.
That's when we'll know more about everyone on this team. A&M was 3-0 last season before losing to Arkansas and Oklahoma State. Those games are flip-flopped this season but are equally important, maybe more crucial.
The Oklahoma State game will be televised by ESPN on Thursday night, and you figure the Arkansas game also will be on TV. That's a mighty 1-2 step for this program.
A&M should get victories against Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech and Florida International, but it's going to be hard to get national attention unless Johnson throws for 15 touchdowns or A&M's defense is leading the nation in total yards allowed or turnovers.
So Oklahoma State and Arkansas will be the first time many college football fans have seen the Aggies since that 49-39 loss to Texas on Thanksgiving night, when Johnson played like a Heisman candidate and Sherman's team looked like a program on the rise.
That seems like a long time ago. A&M has brought in five new assistant coaches, and almost a third of its players are newcomers.
One thing that has remained constant, though, is the focus to be a better team than the one that trailed Texas by a field goal with seven minutes left. And if the Aggies are better, there will be plenty of opportunities to celebrate and slap each other on the back.
Ending two-a-days just isn't one of them.
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The Aggie Football Show with Mike Sherman premieres at 6:30 p.m. Monday on KBTX and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on Fox Sports Southwest, DirecTV Ch. 676. The show is also available regionally on various cable networks and local affiliates throughout Texas.
The 30-minute show is produced by 12th Man Productions.
(Editor's note: The original story said A&M was switching to a 4-3 defensive alignment; A&M is switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4)
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