ESPN’s Roy Philpott is ‘excited’ to see development of Reed under Klein

During Friday’s edition of TexAgs Live, ESPN play-by-play voice Roy Philpott provided his thoughts on Texas A&M’s first season under Mike Elko. Philpott also spoke on Year 2 of Collin Klein’s offense, Aggie baseball and the NCAA antitrust settlement.

Key notes from Roy Philpott interview

• It’s been good just wrapping up college baseball in Auburn. I’m curious to see what will happen in Omaha, and in the fall, it can’t get here soon enough. 
   
• I saw Arkansas this year and talked to coaches around the SEC. Most of the league mentioned its Dave Van Horn’s most talented team. They could have won a national championship a couple of years ago if it weren’t for the foul-territory error. The “Bash Brothers” have been phenomenal, and health is critical for Arkansas in Omaha. This could be their year, and they could punch through. Both LSU and Arkansas have a shot, but Arkansas has the best chance. I like Coastal Carolina the way they can sweep through the regional. I’m excited to see how it folds up there in Omaha.
   
• It’s a season of what-ifs. I haven’t paid close attention to the portal, and Michael Earley will be avid there. The last time I was at Blue Bell was the regional with Texas in town, and it was unbelievable. It’s only a matter of time until they get back there. It’s up to the portal and how to bounce back. The turnaround can happen instantaneously. The preseason rankings and injuries, I was surprised. It’s hard to put on your finger what went wrong. Baseball is a finicky sport, and I hear that from coaches. There are some years when you get unlucky. If you win in Omaha, you have to have breaks. We talked to a guy yesterday on Sirius XM, and he focused on, “You have to be lucky.” You can bounce back next year. That’s my expectations for the Aggies, and it’s hard to pinpoint what went wrong and the Missouri series. You have to get it fixed.
   
• The nuts and bolts in the heart of the offseason are important for all of us to discuss. With $2.5 million, 85 percent goes to the football programs, 10 percent for men’s basketball and five percent to women’s basketball. The question is how it is sorted with NIL and collectives, that’s where it’s unclear. The new commission is led by Deloitte, which will approve or not have deals in terms of NIL, and it’s all about fair value. It’s another catch phrase that you can’t pay a backup quarterback $4 million because it doesn’t add up and pass common sense. There are a lot of deals that are disapproved by the new commission, and we need to figure out how the dust settles.
   
• I’d rather talk about Marcel Reed and Mike Elko, and what DJ Lagway will do. Here on June 13, we are forced to examine how this will impact sports. What’s happening now will impact college athletics for the next century. I’d rather talk about hyping up teams who are under the radar.
   
• The way I frame it is that we needed to take a step in this direction. We need guardrails. We established the basic parameters. We have to start somewhere. We are remodeling my house, and I told my wife we have to start somewhere in that room, strip the wall and find a paint color. We stripped the wallpaper for NIL and guardrails, and we are now on step two of 50. It’s progress. Is this new commission the sole answer? Probably not. Maybe in the next couple of years, we will figure out the definitive parameters, and the dust will settle. We aren’t there yet, but at least we started. In the last couple of years, we haven’t even done that. There are still loopholes, and we have to figure that out along the way.
   
• I know the start for Elko had everyone’s expectations out of whack and took it by storm. Another year of Reed and Collin Klien… Like in my conversations with Klein, he will build an offense around the quarterback and the skill set that he has. He’s got interesting wide receiver weapons with KC Concepcion coming in. The development of Reed and Klein intertwines and gets a head start, knowing he’s going to be the guy.
   
• I can’t speak enough about Klein and his approach and his nature to the game. I was blown away by his approach at Kansas State. That will win in Aggieland and take the next step. What that looks like with the schedule and the College Football Playoff, you have to win close and tough games. Some years, it’ll happen and some, it won’t. You have to be very optimistic and in a reasonable way with what Elko does and the approach and pieces, Klein and transfers. You can see the groundwork, and I know Aggie fans are impatient, but this is the right approach with Elko. Those who spoke with him understood that and were very optimistic there, and a break or two along the way.
   
• If you have multiple quarterbacks playing for an extended period of time, I don’t think it goes well for you. It goes without saying that we love college football. Now more than ever, if you go to different guys, your chances of making the College Football Playoff are not good. I am high on Reed, what he brings, his skill set and Klein. That’s what makes them fascinating. Klein is settling in now that he’s there. He’s got his guy and has to stay healthy. I’m excited to see what that’s like.
   
• For Georgia in particular, I’m curious what their offense is with Gunner Stockton and some of the bumps we saw last year. I’m higher on Florida and DJ Lagway. He is taking steps. Billy Napier has survived and could take a giant step. Oklahoma is another one, with Washington State’s offense with John Mateer. Do we understand their offense? No, but they could be in the position to win a handful of more games. We’ll be clearer about the teams at SEC Media Days.
   
• With Florida and Oklahoma, what I see are teams that are poised. LSU vs. Clemson is one game people are talking about this offseason, in addition to Texas and Ohio State. Garrett Nussmeier is advancing. You mention Texas and Arch Manning. I don’t think that starts out and starts clicking, that’s a high level of expectations, and Texas will play favorites. Surprise teams, Oklahoma and Florida. Oklahoma will be vastly different, and I’m interested to see this year.
   
• Yeah, for Brent Venables, I think the seat is a little bit warmer, and he had to make some changes this offseason. Offensively, with Jackson Arnold, it didn’t work. He ended up at Auburn and with Hugh Freeze. I was interested in Payton Thorne and never loved how all of that was crafted last year. Napier has bought some time, and Venables needs to win right now. He brings in an offensive coordinator who brings big numbers. You mention the schedule and the mistakes we all make, for teams that will surprise, the schedule has to help out. And when you look at it, this looks like the most difficult schedule in the SEC. But if you look at that and see it, you can be an improved team, sitting at 7-5 or 8-4. What good does that do you? It’s what matters the most to Oklahoma. Two years ago, their schedule was built to win 10 games, and it was constructed. In the SEC, which has the most difficulty, we get 12 teams in, and a surprise or two will be made and found out. I’ll need a deeper dive.
   
• I hate saying this. I’m not as high on Alabama, and I love Kalen DeBoer and had a great time with him in Washington. He’s a brilliant coach, and you look at Alabama, it’s not what it once was. They are at 9-3, and Georgia is looking at the same number. Alabama and Georgia have taken a step back, and you mention a team like South Carolina with LaNorris Sellers as a Heisman Trophy favorite. Dylan Stewart is back with the top EDGE guys in college football. They were a playoff team at the end of last year. That team was poised to win a College Football Playoff game. You don’t want to see that team at that point in time.
   
• Nussmeier and Brian Kelly in that revamped offense… He said in the bowl game when they beat Baylor, beating them leads to the season opener to beat Clemson. The door is open, and a big year for Kelly. I said yesterday on Sirius XM, I get excited the Monday after July 4, to me feels like college football season.
   
• Look at what happened at Florida State and go undefeated to 13-0 and just miss the playoffs, and go to two wins next year. They received the benefit of the doubt at ACC Media Day and finished dead last in the conference. The benefit is greater than others. I don’t trust Florida State. I trust teams like Texas and what Steve Sarkisian has done and the quarterbacks they bring in, and will probably be one of the favorites in the SEC, and I don’t trust Georgia. Kirby Smart hasn’t leaned on the portal often.