By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Staff Writer

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Texas A&M football coach Mike Sherman had a lot on his mind after his first practice with the Aggies on Tuesday.

He directed his players through a nearly three-hour workout in shorts and no pads. But Sherman said the day was about more than depth charts and assessing talent.

"Mainly today was about the organization of practice and getting 110 kids headed in the right direction," Sherman said. "I'm more familiar with dealing with a number like 53 as opposed to twice that. We just tried to get people in the right spot doing the right thing for right now."

For some players, though, that right spot was different than last season.

Von Miller was standing up at outside linebacker after backing up at defensive end as a freshman. Jordan Pugh slid over to cornerback, which he played in high school, from safety. Jorvorskie Lane took a couple of steps forward to fullback. Devin Gregg moved from free safety to strong safety.

Those were the big moves concerning the "ones," which is what Sherman likes to call the starting group.

There were other adjustments. Jordan Peterson is working out at safety after two years at cornerback, and a handful of players are taking a crack at tight end.

Two of the most notable would-be tight ends were Jamie McCoy and Ben Bass. McCoy was the third-string quarterback his first year before moving to wide receiver last season.

"He's a guy that struggles to keep his weight down. He's probably about 220 pounds, maybe a bit under that, but he's been fighting, working on the stair-step machine just to keep his weight off," Sherman said. "So I said lets get it [weight] back up there and told him he's going to have to block some, but he's a smooth route-runner from a tight end position."

Bass looked out of place, if for no other reason than he was running routes with the No. 72 on his back. The former lineman made a couple of nice catches in the final drills, but Sherman wasn't about to call him an all-star.

"He beat the ball up when he caught it," Sherman said. "He did make a couple of catches and was in the right place and made the catch he had to make so ... but [he's] got to get a little softer hands."

Sherman said he toyed with the idea of moving safety/linebacker Billy Chavis to tight end. But after talking with Chavis felt he would help the team most at linebacker.

Garrick Williams was at outside linebacker along with Anthony Lewis and Miller in the 3-3-5 set the Aggies lined up in most.

Cornerback Arkeith Brown caught Sherman's attention in the final session with a standout individual play.

"I always like to finish with no coaches on the field and ones vs. ones and twos vs. twos and just have them compete," Sherman said. "And right away Arkeith Brown jumped a route and knocked a ball down and did a heck of job."

NOTES -- The team is off Wednesday before returning to practice Thursday. Workouts held at the outdoor practice fields are open to the public. ... Quarterback Stephen McGee participated in the 7 vs. 7 drills but sat out the team drills to eliminate any chance of being hurt. McGee had surgery on his non-throwing shoulder after the Alamo Bowl. ... At least four former players watched Sherman's first practice (Boone Stutz, Joey Thomas, Corey Clark and Misi Tupe). Former Aggies Jaxson Appel and Kirk Elder are graduate assistants. ... Senior defensive end Michael Bennett did not dress for practice. Sherman wants him to concentrate on his studies early in the week and then practice with the team on the weekend. "He's got to make the grade in the classroom, and until he does that he's only going to be with us part-time." ... The last time the horn blew, the special teams ran to the 20-yard-line, lined up and kicked a field goal to end practice.

• Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.

SPRING FOOTBALL

WHEN: Thursday-Saturday.

WHERE TO WATCH: Fans are allowed to attend practices on the outdoor grass fields but are not permitted to watch practices at the McFerrin Athletic Complex

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