The G5 Hive Worker Bee Series 2024 - New Mexico State Aggies Offense Only Preview

[Music] [Music] he k [Music] welcome to the G5 Hive in our next installment of our worker B series where we Deep dive into the G5 college football landscape with the folks that know the team's the best if you're watching us on YouTube please hit that like And subscribe button and if you're listening to us in podcast form please rate and review today we'll be taking a look at the New Mexico State Aggies who finished 10 and five last season they capped off their season with an appearance of the New Mexico Bowl vers Fresno State they wrapped up their 2024 spring practice with her spring game on April 6 we have a special guest joining us today he is the New Mexico State agies tv play-by-play broadcaster you can catch him on TV doing play-by-play for the whack Conference USA and NCAA championships in 2018 he was tabbed top 30 sportscaster under 30 by sportscaster talent agency of America he is Adam Young Adam can be found at Young PBP onx welcome to the show Adam appreciate you having me it feels like football is getting closer and closer so excited to talk some uh football today yeah hopefully uh New Mexico State when do they start next week two weeks yeah we're uh well or New Mexico State ball finished late April guys are still gone uh I think they're still two weeks away and then kicking off August 31st yeah we are right around the corner well why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you into being interested in sport broadcasting and ended up getting the a gig there with the agies doing play-by-play yeah I mean I wanted to be a broadcaster since I was in Middle School really since I was a little kid and uh you know this dream started a long time ago and uh it's taken me to the Southwest I've been here for nine plus years and honored to get the chance to do seven different sports here um also uh I've been the director of broadcasting for our property as well and then you know do a lot of freelancing gigs and they allow me to do that and you mentioned some of the the stops that I've had doing that with some conference championships um I called the division 2 national championship last year for volleyball and television and um met a lot of great people along the way and uh you know forever grateful to have these opportunities that I get to call games well H the Aggies have a new head coach Jerry Kiln resign he's now with vanderbel as a consultant in his place is Tony Sanchez Sanchez was previously the wide receivers coach there New Mexico State what can you tell us about Coach Sanchez and what he brings to the tables here for the agies well he's an Alum so that means a lot to the fan base and to the community I mean he played for the aagi he was a wide receiver in the 90s uh returned two years ago as an assistant coach when Jerry kill was hired and we always said he was overqualified I think to be just the wide receivers coach because he has a really impressive resume um going back to his days as the head coach of Bishop Gorman which is a Powerhouse in Vegas then he was the head coach at UNLV so he's been an FBS head coach before and that was crucial whenever you know Jerry left um decided to step away and resign and eventually um into an advisory role at Vanderbilt they needed to make it higher really quick especially with you know the way the transfer portal Works nowadays so to have a guy on your staff already like Tony Sanchez I think it was a pretty easy decision to promote him um it's gone really well I love what he did in the transfer portal um I know we're going to talk about uh some of the departures and some of the additions and um you know it right now uh Jerry Hill used to always call it Paper Tigers whenever you recruited guys you you don't know what they're going to be until you get them on the field um they're Paper Tigers until practice starts and that's the same right now but I like what they have on paper um they're coming off one of the best seasons in program history one of the best two-year stretches in program history so the excitement is high there's of course question marks because there are so many newcomers but um really excited about the pieces they added both before Spring ball and then post Spring ball as well well often happens when you get a new head coach that means new assistants and coordinators the Aggies are no different in that regard coach Sanchez appoints Tyler Wright as the new offensive coordinator he was previously the Special Teams coordinator and the tight end Coach there for the agies can you describe what type of offense that coach Wright's going to bring uh and use here at New Mexico State well and we'll talk about this later too Personnel wise um you know it seems like the strength of the team is probably going to be the offensive line so I do expect them to run the ball a lot which is what they've done the last two years um you know Jerry kill always had four or five running backs he could use and it seems like they're going to have that again this year with a really talented experienced offensive line and then there are some question marks of quarterback who's going to be the starting quarterback will it be a couple guys early on in the year will somebody win the job outright going into the season um so I I think going into it it seems like it's going to be a run oriented offense but um you know we've yet to see Tyler right as an offensive coordinator so we'll kind of see that on the Fly and Tyler is uh he's a young coach but he's a rising star um I've been really impressed by him the last couple of years um on the staff he did a really good job with special teams did a really good job with the tight ends they were used heavily in the offense the last two years so excited what he does in this new role well let's get to the position where it all starts on offense and that's the quarterback last year started Diego Pavia is and the backup Blaze burwitz both off to Vanderbilt they brought in Kentucky quarterback Duce Hogan and after the spring brought in UTEP quarterback Jake mcamera and then wake Force QB Santino Mar uh maruchi uh what should we make of this quarterback room you said there wasn't a quarterback one yet uh kind of what are you hearing and seeing about the starter there for week one against Simo that's the position everybody's talking about because Diego Pavia especially last year I mean he was the guy two years ago uh won the job early Gavin Frank stepped in for a couple of weeks it was kind of in and out and then Pavia was the guy late last year you knew going into the year that Diego Pavia was the guy and then he transfers um him and blae burwitz both go to vanderbild Eli Stowers was in a comeback as a tight end he goes to vanderbild as well Eli was used a little bit at quarterback last year and then Gavin fraks goes to Virginia so essentially your four guys at quarterback last year are gone and you're trying to you know fill that room up with newcomers uh Duce Hogan I think is probably the biggest name in that room right I mean he was at Kentucky uh he's been Iowa as well um but he hasn't played much at the FBS level as far as games are concerned um so you know it's it's a loaded quarterback room in which they did add a lot of new pieces like they do have some guys who have played at the Joo level but FBS experience is a little bit light in that room so um you know it's going to be so important those first couple of weeks of of Camp um that somebody really excels um at the quarterback position I I I do think the offensive line is going to help because there is so much experience and depth and talent that'll help that quarterback transition to a new quarterback but um that's certainly a room that has a lot of potential it's just who will emerge as the guy if there is a guy going into the year do you feel that Hogan has a leg up since he was there before um there in the spring before everybody else comes in learning that Playbook and and things like that you know I do think it helps but uh Awad and Nunes were also there and then maruchi was added post Spring ball um so they kept on adding I mean you know they were they were not satisfied if you will um where they were coming out of Spring ball at quarterback so um I'll be honest I don't think anybody has an edge I think it's an open competition going into into camp and um you know whoever is at their best will win the job um you know and then we're going to see Tony Sanchez's style as a head coach as well and Tyler Wright's style as an see are they comfortable playing multiple guys in a game um that that goes coach to coach um Jerry kill hated that he did not want to play two guys in a game but sometimes he had to um and that's not really his style but he did um so we'll see how they approach it last year they had packages for Eli stal as a quarterback even though Diego Pavia was exceptional there were games where they pulled him you know in the red zone or near the goal line and um they bring in hours to run the option because he was so effective in that role so maybe they'll have somebody do that as well well let's move over to the running game they lose about 77% of their rushing yardage from last season what did the staff do to address those losses they did a really good job in the portal in that running back room because a lot of those losses were relatively late uh coach lenford who was the running back's coach uh was promoted to offensive coordinator at one point and then he went to Vanderbilt so he was really only the OC for a couple of weeks but when he was promoted um it seemed like that entire running back room was probably going to stay because he was their running back's coach um a lot of those guys went in the portal they were able to keep a couple uh Monte Watkins is the guy to keep your eye on uh Monte is uh one of the fastest guys around the country hasn't had a lot of carries um you know you would see stat lines for him sometimes where he'd have four carries for 90 yards in a game just didn't touch the ball a lot but when he touched it he was explosive um he was averaging around 12 yards per rush for most of last year so I do think mon will get more carries um he's the most experienced running back in that room as far as returners uh Tim Gans is another guy who when he's been given um touches the last couple of years he's done a lot with them Lorenzo McMillan has been around for a handful of years he's gone through a couple of coaching changes and he's stuck around and then they added a couple of you know Talent running backs with high level FBS experience in the portal so I do think they have four or five guys that can that can carry the load behind a really good offensive line well you know what have you seen or heard with this new staff that you kind of expect those carries to get divvied up are we going to have an rb1 Workhorse like we did last year or will it be this committee approach and if so is that a 5050 6040 you said there a you know four or five guys do they split up 20 20 20 2020 like what what are you what are you hearing or what have you been able to see so far it's hard to figure out because some of those pieces they added they added after Spring ball so a lot of times you get a really good feel for what the team's going to look like and how things will shake out by watching Spring ball and with the way the transfer portal works and you know with the the portal reopening after Spring ball a lot of times it's hard to figure out um I do expect Watkins to get way more carries than got the last couple of years I I do think that's that's something that will go up you know the question is how many carries can Monte Watkins handle during the course of a game is he gonna get 15 or 20 possibly you know but he's only been getting five or six a game the last couple of years and you know he always finds a way to do something with them but he's not that PowerBack he's more of a a a perimeter Runner who gets out to the edge and uses his speed to his Advantage so how does he you know uh how does he handle a long season as the go-to guy um kind that's something you know you might only get five carries and you're really productive with them and then when you get 20 you're not as productive because you know you got more of this volume base and you also expect you know you're not going to be as productive when you get 20 is you know when you have maybe that five eight 10 10 touches that that makes sense and I go back to the offensive line constantly because I this is the heart and soul of the team and ever since I've been here we've never said that about the offensive line um but Andrew Mitchell who's the offensive line coach has been amazing with that unit the last couple of years um so um there's a lot of excitement about those guys and what they did last year and then what they can build on going into this year well the agies pass catchers will look quite a bit different here in 2024 now holistically speaking I'm talking wide receivers tight ends running backs they lost eight of their top and nine receiving options what will this room of catchers look like here in 2024 Cordell David a name to watch um Cordell has been around the last couple of years and he's stuck with his staff and um you know Cordell probably going into last year might have been the go-to guy uh statistically didn't put up the numbers that maybe he had two years ago um but he had some some really good receivers around him a guy like Trent Hudson who transferred to Mississippi State who had a really good year especially uh in in the Red Zone catching touchdown passes last year so cordell's key uh Donovan fael who if you and I talked this time last year I would not have brought up Donovan's name but he was a true freshman who bursted onto the scene and earned some playing time and uh did a lot with it last year PJ Johnson has a world of talent um he's been around for a while in fact he was here two coaching staffs ago and uh PJ is from Louisiana um you know just Raw Talent he's as good as it gets um but he just hasn't played a ton uh game experience on the field so you know PJ is certainly a guy who could have a breakout year they do have to replace a lot um you know Tony Sanchez was the wide receivers coach last year so I do think he will still have a a role with that unit maybe more so than others just because of his experience the last two years with that crew now based off of you know what you saw last year what and I'm assuming maybe it'll carry over maybe it won't to the off offensive coordinator but what can you describe for us how we expect to see these tight ends being utilized in wri's offense that's a good question and uh you know last year Tyler had two really good tight ends Tomas Whitford was about as experienced as it gets collegiately uh so Tomas was a leader um blocked well caught touchdown passes High character he was everything you want in one of your one of your go-to guys and he was the number one tight end and then Ron tiasu transferred in uh from Utah State and Ron had a really good year so they had two guys they could really count on last year um Trevor Stevens if healthy is is the top returning tight end we've seen flashes from him the last few years on what he can do um he battled an injury last year and then they might need some other guys to step up but you know I think part of this too is how much will a Tyler r Tony Sanchez offense used the tight end um because Jerry Hill wanted to use the tight end a lot but you go back to the coaching staff before Jerry it was an air rate offense that didn't use the tight end so it changes coaching staff to coaching staff I I do think they will utilize the tight end um and I think Trevor Stevens is is the go-to guy in that group all right so week one lining up here at starting wide receivers and tight ends is it safe to say it's that Ste uh Stevens David uh Cordell David Donovan is it felpel and then PJ Johnson is that well you know I think it it depends aren you know guys emerging um like I said Donovan fael at this time last year we weren't talking about him and guys emerge and camp and with the transfer portal it's so hard to predict nowadays um you know if if if all those wide receivers were back if the portal wasn't a thing I think we'd have uh Clear Vision for what it was going to look like but part of this era now that we're in is what makes Camp so exciting it's it's an open slate for a lot of guys right I mean there's a lot of jobs up for grabs and um you know there's probably guys that we will not talk about today that end up having really good years because um maybe they came out of nowhere they were under the radar maybe they were a late addition and started to grasp the offense a little bit later than others and um you know it turned into a positive for him well let's talk about this o line and we talked about it on paper this looks like the strongest unit on the offensive side of the ball they bring back the entire o line which is I think in all of the S series that we've episodes of the series that we have done there's maybe been one other team that has everybody coming back so this is not too not too many teams are doing this and then they have another uh few others like deep that have played some meaningful snaps last year like how did that unit look in the spring and are they ready to roll in this new offense yeah I said earlier this is the first time since I've been here where I I've talked a lot about the offensive line going into a year because I think that high of that group and their Coach Andrew Mitchell's their coach and uh you talk about a unit all returning and not going in the portal a big reason and probably the key reason is because their coach is still here Andrew Mitchell and those guys love playing for him and he's added a couple other responsibilities assistant head coach Run game coordinator stuff like that uh Kanan is kind of the key part of that offensive line he's the center um he's getting a lot of preseason accolades deservedly so he's he's a great young man great player and then Shia pet at left tackle is is a guy who um a lot of Scouts think will play on Sundays um he's 68 well over 300 pounds I mean he is he's a big dude and he continues to grow he was a little raw when he came here and Andrew Mitchell's done just marvelous work with him uh Louie canipa had a really good year last year excited about uh what he can do in the future um Jacob Golden's another guy who transferred in last year from Boise State who battled some injuries last year but went healthy um he's really good so that's why I'm so excited too about what the offense can do what the Run game can do is because it all goes back to o line play and you know if if you said one sure thing going into the year that's probably it like I I think the offensive Line's going to be really good and then and you mentioned Pete he was also C USA first team All Conference last year so I mean he had his accolades there last year probably you know comes back hungry this year and maybe they'll be running the ball a lot to the left I don't know yeah he is uh you know you see him are campus and um it's it's hard to believe like how big he is in person I mean it's it's 68 it's all is 68 well over 300 lbs and he he's still improving and he uh you know he he's really taken coaching well good teammate he's one of the guys that's being uh represented uh at at media day today so he's at media day at Conference USA uh for New Mexico stay him and Buddha petti on defense so um excited about what he does this year and in in down the road as well all right if you have to pick an offensive player to have a breakout type season in 2024 who would that be oh boy um I probably say Monte Watkins and and that's you know maybe an answer that you know is is an easy one because he did have a really good year last year in the limited carries that he had I just feel like he's gonna have a bigger role and he he's only touched on the surface of what he can be I'm really excited to see what Watkins can do with double digit carries consistently um it's Elite Speed um I know the coaches are glad he stayed and um he's he's the guy and if if you wanted a second one too I'll give you a second one it's going to be another running back Tim Gans um has played a little bit and when he's played he always does something and I think Tim will have a bigger role and and he's another guy too that could have a big year [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] he [Applause] [Music] the [Music]