Former 12th Man Connor Choate 'interested' to see A&M emerge in '24

The always dependable Connor Choate isn't afraid to voice his opinions on social media, and on Thursday, the former 12th Man joined TexAgs Radio. Choate relived his time wearing the No. 12 in Aggieland and offered his thoughts on the Aggies entering the 2024 season.

Key notes from Connor Choate interview

• We actually just had a specialists’ reunion with Daniel LaCamera, former kicker Austin Frey and another deep snapper. The specialists do a good job of keeping in touch with everybody. Braden Mann is another one, who’s with the Eagles now. It’s always fun keeping up with those guys. Demani Richardson is another one. I try to keep in touch with De’Von Achane. He’s harder to get ahold of, though.
   
• I was really fortunate to wear the No. 12. When coach Jimbo Fisher announced me, it was during a team meeting, and I actually was not expecting it at all. I thought my friend Reese Mason was going to get named it, so I was just sitting back getting ready to applaud him and to congratulate him, but then coach Fisher drops my name in front of everybody.
   
• I think everybody was kind of like, “Woah.” There was shock. I really couldn’t believe it for like the first week. I never thought that would be something that I could do or accomplish. I still can’t believe it sometimes. I am super blessed to be able to have done that.
   
• I ask myself why it didn’t work out with Jimbo a lot of the time. I was fortunate enough to play with a lot of great players, guys like DeMarvin Leal, who’s still in the NFL and Justin Madubuike.
   
• A lot of talent there that people still don’t really fully comprehend. I think it was more like in some games, the defense would play great, and then the offense would play great. I think in those big games, besides Alabama in 2021, and in those nonconference games against some lower competition, we were always competitive, but mainly, it was we couldn’t get on the same page. Offense would play good. Defense would play bad. Defense would play good. Offense would play bad. I never really came together, which was frustrating.
   
• I think people skip over the 2021 season. If Max Johnson didn’t make that Hail Mary… Obviously, that was a big play, and that was the last play of the season, really, besides the bowl game we didn’t get to play in because of COVID-19. 
   
• I think we had a lot of momentum in 2021. I felt good going into it. We had hiccups along the way, but I think the only thing that felt off was the accountability standpoint from the players. It was easy to blame coaches at that point, and they get paid a good amount of money, so they’re going to take the blame. I think it was on the players, honestly. Not even on the field, but off it. I think that was a big part of it.
   
• If that Max Johnson play doesn’t happen, maybe 2022 looks different. You just never know.
   
• Coach Mike Elko was great to me while I was there. The thing I noticed was that the defense was always on time to team meetings and as a group, they seemed pretty unified. I’m a big fan of coach Elko. I think it’s going to be completely different. I’m interested to see how aggressive he’s going to be.
   
• My nickname for Conner Weigman is Baby Jack Jack from The Incredibles because he can turn into anything and in any environment. He has a superpower to combat that, and I think that perfectly describes Conner. Even when he was young, going into his first spring, he was a leader, and you could tell he was special. He’s a big-time competitor, and I think he’s super talented.
   
• It seems like A&M’s defensive lines have always been good, even going back to Myles Garrett and Von Miller, so I’m glad we’re still continuing that. I’ve been playing the College Football 25 video game. A&M’s defensive line is absolutely overpowered, so any time I’m not playing with the Aggies and playing against them, it’s terrible. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like in real life.
   
• You can never have too many running backs, especially in the SEC. I think it’ll be interesting to see how they use everybody in different packages. I will be interested to see who gets the most of the short-yardage runs. I think they’ll get really creative, maybe even some Wildcat.
   
• The development of the offensive line was not there, never really was there while I was there, except for maybe Kenyon Green, but I think he was going to be good regardless. I think the development will get a lot better now that we have Adam Cushing.
   
• I think nine wins would be good for this season. I think all A&M fans are sick of eight wins, but I think if you could get to nine, it would be really successful.
   
• I think a lot is going to depend on that first game against Notre Dame. I think that’s going to kind of set the tone for the rest of the year. The keys to success are going to be scoring points when maybe the defense has an off-game and having a lot of leadership on the team.