By DAVID HARRIS
In 2002, Justin Moore was entrenched on the Texas A&M baseball team in his second season with the Aggies as an All-Big 12 pitcher. Friend and future wife, Dory, was busy juggling classes while working at Pebble Creek Country Club.
At Pebble Creek, Dory met Charlene Sumlin, wife of Kevin, an assistant coach under R.C. Slocum and soon-to-be rising star in the profession. Dory and Charlene struck up a friendship. As a result, so did the husbands.
A decade later, Moore is back at A&M as Sumlin's right-hand man, entrusted as the associate athletics director for football, fresh off a four-year stint at Houston in the same capacity.
"There was a lot of timing involved," Moore said.
Moore is taking over the position held formerly by Tim Cassidy. He's involved with the football staff, oversees recruiting and handles administrative duties.
"Basically, I do everything except coaching a position," Moore said.
With the majority of Sumlin's staff hired, A&M's main focus is on recruiting. National signing day is Feb. 1, and since Sumlin took over in December, the coaches have been on the trail, hoping to keep a stellar class intact.
"We've been running like crazy," Moore said. "It's been unbelievably hectic. They're busy but good problems to have."
Coaching transitions are rarely easy -- seldom are when they occur less than two months from signing day. Recruits commit to a staff, and when that staff leaves, the onus is on the new coach to sell himself while re-selling the university.
"That's been the most challenging part," Moore said. "It's getting coaches in the house, meeting the family and building a relationship with these guys in January."
The process is made easier, he said, when the kids can take their official visits and spend three days with Sumlin and their respective position coaches. Problems arise, however, when the players have already taken their official visit under the previous regime.
In that regard, Sumlin is aided by the fact that the majority of A&M's class resides in Texas, and neither players nor coach are new to each other.
"One of the good things is we had a relationship with a lot of these kids because we recruited them in Houston," Moore said. "We couldn't get them, but we sure tried, which has been a huge help. It would be a lot more difficult from out of state."
One part of Moore's diverse job is to create a recruiting pitch. With the Aggies set to join the Southeastern Conference next season, he said the opportunity to play in the most prestigious conference in America is undoubtedly a part of the staff's spiel.
"We absolutely sell that," he said. "If you want to play with the best, against the best, on the biggest stage in college football, we're the only opportunity for you to do that and still play in the state of Texas."
Sumlin has built a staff known for its ability to recruit, and Moore is in charge of delegating where the assistant coaches go. David Beaty presides over the Metroplex. Clarence McKinney is assigned to the Houston area. But to Moore, location shouldn't have an effect on good recruiters.
"If a guy's a good recruiter, it doesn't matter where you put him. They're going to be a good recruiter," Moore said. "They're obviously good because they're good at creating relationships, good with kids and families."
After Feb. 1, the hectic pace will slow down. But being the head football coach is a never-ending job. And Moore's job is to be at Sumlin's side for every minute of it.
"It's basically like running a small company," Moore said.
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