Clarence McKinney
James White
Texas A&M Football
Clarence McKinney, James White discuss Aggies' depth at running back
Mathematically it doesn’t make sense, but Clarence McKinney may be hoping five equals one.
To explain: McKinney, Texas A&M’s running backs coach, said on Monday night that there is more depth at the position than ever.
“We had a couple of guys we had to pull out of practice today and we were still able to get through it,” McKinney said in a post-practice press conference.
That’s fine, but all of the running backs combined haven’t produced the yardage that Tra Carson accumulated last season.
Carson gained 1,165 yards in 2015. The A&M running backs — Keith Ford, James White, Kendall Bussey, Trayveon Williams and Kwame Etwi — have combined for 1,003 rushing yards in their careers.
That could be a point of concern considering Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone wants to run the football more frequently this season.
“Coach Mazzone has been a guy who has run the ball quite a bit,” McKinney said. “He wants to establish the run and kind of slow down those pass rushers and have us control the line of scrimmage from a run game standpoint.
“There’s only one guy who has played in a lot of big-time games and that’s Keith Ford. Whoever is the (starter) next season is going to show us he deserves to be the guy. It doesn’t matter if he’s a freshman or (junior) James White. We want to put the best guy out on the field.”
Last year Ford sat out a transfer year, just like Carson once did. The similarities apparently end there.
“They’re totally different,” McKinney said. “Tra is a bigger back — about 240 pounds. Keith Ford is about 215. He just runs very physical. He likes to punish the defender when he runs … kind of like Tra. One of the differences is he has top-end speed. Every time he touches it there’s a chance he’ll break a long one.”
Carson didn’t break many long ones. In fact, his longest gain during the 2015 regular season was just 30 yards.
“He’s a bull. He’s a smart runner as well,” White said of Ford. “As a running back group we’re all pushing each other. It’s a fun competition as well because we’re all brothers at the end of the day.”
White is the big brother at 6-0, 215 pounds. He was so highly regarded last spring that A&M coaches felt comfortable moving Brandon Williams to cornerback.
However, he endured ankle and knee injuries that drastically limited his production. White rushed for just 196 yards last season — and 24 of those came on one carry against Western Carolina.
“This is a huge spring for James,” McKinney said. “We had high expectations for James last season and it didn’t quite work out with the injuries. Keith Ford has come in here and he’s not only pushed James, but he’s pushed the rest of the guys in the group.
“Really, they’ve all pushed each other. Each day as we go through the spring one of those guys have stepped forward and said ‘I want to be the guy.’ Keith Ford has been in that group. James has been in that group. As well as a guy like Kendall Bussey.
“We’ve seen some great things from both of those guys. Trayveon (Williams) should be going to the prom next week. We’re glad he’s here. He’s shown us the things we saw when we were recruiting him.”
The Aggies will count on at least one of them to show the production that Carson did.
To explain: McKinney, Texas A&M’s running backs coach, said on Monday night that there is more depth at the position than ever.
“We had a couple of guys we had to pull out of practice today and we were still able to get through it,” McKinney said in a post-practice press conference.
That’s fine, but all of the running backs combined haven’t produced the yardage that Tra Carson accumulated last season.
Carson gained 1,165 yards in 2015. The A&M running backs — Keith Ford, James White, Kendall Bussey, Trayveon Williams and Kwame Etwi — have combined for 1,003 rushing yards in their careers.
That could be a point of concern considering Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone wants to run the football more frequently this season.
“Coach Mazzone has been a guy who has run the ball quite a bit,” McKinney said. “He wants to establish the run and kind of slow down those pass rushers and have us control the line of scrimmage from a run game standpoint.
“There’s only one guy who has played in a lot of big-time games and that’s Keith Ford. Whoever is the (starter) next season is going to show us he deserves to be the guy. It doesn’t matter if he’s a freshman or (junior) James White. We want to put the best guy out on the field.”
Keith Ford is about 215. He just runs very physical. He likes to punish the defender when he runs … kind of like Tra. One of the differences is he has top-end speed. Every time he touches it there’s a chance he’ll break a long one.
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The best bet for the best guy is Ford, who rushed for 503 yards in two seasons at Oklahoma.Last year Ford sat out a transfer year, just like Carson once did. The similarities apparently end there.
“They’re totally different,” McKinney said. “Tra is a bigger back — about 240 pounds. Keith Ford is about 215. He just runs very physical. He likes to punish the defender when he runs … kind of like Tra. One of the differences is he has top-end speed. Every time he touches it there’s a chance he’ll break a long one.”
Carson didn’t break many long ones. In fact, his longest gain during the 2015 regular season was just 30 yards.
“He’s a bull. He’s a smart runner as well,” White said of Ford. “As a running back group we’re all pushing each other. It’s a fun competition as well because we’re all brothers at the end of the day.”
White is the big brother at 6-0, 215 pounds. He was so highly regarded last spring that A&M coaches felt comfortable moving Brandon Williams to cornerback.
However, he endured ankle and knee injuries that drastically limited his production. White rushed for just 196 yards last season — and 24 of those came on one carry against Western Carolina.
“This is a huge spring for James,” McKinney said. “We had high expectations for James last season and it didn’t quite work out with the injuries. Keith Ford has come in here and he’s not only pushed James, but he’s pushed the rest of the guys in the group.
“Really, they’ve all pushed each other. Each day as we go through the spring one of those guys have stepped forward and said ‘I want to be the guy.’ Keith Ford has been in that group. James has been in that group. As well as a guy like Kendall Bussey.
“We’ve seen some great things from both of those guys. Trayveon (Williams) should be going to the prom next week. We’re glad he’s here. He’s shown us the things we saw when we were recruiting him.”
The Aggies will count on at least one of them to show the production that Carson did.
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