By ROBERT CESSNAThe Texas A&M football team suffered a setback when wide receivers coach Steve Kragthorpe had to resign less than two weeks before fall camp because of his wife's health.
The Aggies recovered in a big way, hiring the diminutive Troy Walters, who has left behind large accomplishments wherever he's been starting just a few miles away from Kyle Field.
Walters had a dazzling career at A&M Consolidated. The 5-foot-7, 155-pounder had 133 catches for 2,050 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also was an excellent punt returner. First-year Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham was sold on Walters, whose other recruiting trips were to Tulsa and Sam Houston State.
The Cardinal were mighty glad they signed Walters, who put his name on every all-time receiving list the school had capped by 74 catches his senior year for 1,456 yards and 10 touchdowns to win the Biletnikoff Award.
That award is in Walters' office in the Bright Complex.
"It's really something for the kids to see and to shoot for," Walters said. "Whatever you set your goals for and whatever you set your dreams for, they can come true if you really work hard and believe in it."
The trophy caught the eye of junior Jeff Fuller, one of four returning receivers who had at least 40 catches last season.
"It's kind of a cool thing to see the trophy in the office," Fuller said. "It definitely motivates me. He's been there and done it."
And he can still do it.
The 33-year-old Walters is smaller than any of the six receivers listed on A&M's two-deep chart, but he looks ready for game day -- on the field. And though he hasn't caught a competitive pass since ending his eight-year NFL career in 2007, he can still show his students how it's done, which was the case at Thursday's practice.
"They were running routes and he happened to show them how to run the route," head coach Mike Sherman said. "He ran it at full speed and he looked as quick as anybody we have. I don't know if that's good or bad. It's good for him."
Walters has hit Aggieland like he's running a post pattern.
"He's learned the playbook faster than anybody I've ever been around," Sherman said. "He has a great recall of everything we're doing. I think a lot of that has to do with he played in this system terminologywise. He'll be a detailed coach."
Walters, who played under Ross Rogers at Consol, learned so much at home from his father, longtime NFL assistant Trent Walters who also played at A&M from 1991-93 when the younger Walters was a boy ball at Aggie home games.
"There's too much to say in these few minutes," he says of what he has learned from his dad. "A lot of it is just off the field. The key is to be a mentor, to be a father-figure to these kids. If you can take care of the off-the-field things, then the on-the-field things will take care of themselves.
"I'm here to be a resource, to utilize my experience. Like I tell a lot of those guys, I've been in their shoes. I know what they are going through and I want to be a resource in order for them to be the best man, best student, best athlete they can become."
So far it's working.
"Those kids listen to him and they have a lot of respect for him," Sherman said.
Sherman doesn't want anyone to forget Kragthorpe, however.
"I thought Kragthorpe did a great job of bringing the receivers through spring and got them to the point that I expect Troy to pick that up and carry it through even further," Sherman said.
Walters is also thankful for what the former Louisville head coach did.
"I'm walking into a pretty good situation," said Walters, who talked to Kragthorpe just before camp opened. "As long as I don't mess things up, we should be all right."
Walters said his group will have an eye for detail, but he doesn't want them to forget that this is the greatest time in their lives. He wants them to enjoy playing football.
One thing they might enjoy is watching Walters run a few routes against defensive backs coach Charles McMillian, who graduated from Bryan High five years before Walters was a senior at Consol. Few BCS schools have assistant coaches from rival high schools, let alone on opposite sides of the football.
Maybe that would be a good challenge when Kragthorpe, a former quarterback, comes back for a weekend. He can throw the passes to Walters.
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