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Texas-sized snubs won't slow McNeal: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. Meet Jan Brady, circa 2005: Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal

Sporting News, The, August 12, 2005 by Matt Hayes

The guy can't catch a break. He has been dealing with this--what's that term athletes use?--disrespect going on seven years now. Since back to high school, when his tall, skinny rival from the big city always got credit for doing more and showing more even though he really didn't.

All Reggie McNeal needs now is that annoying uncle at the annual family reunion, the one who always says you'll never be as good as ...

"It's always been Vince," McNeal says. "He's the one I'm always compared to."

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Anyone who has followed Texas quarterback Vince Young and Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal knows there is no comparison. McNeal is a complete quarterback; Young is not. McNeal can make all the throws, and he can be dazzling and deflating when he scrambles away from pressure. Young is a tailback trapped in the body of a quarterback, the first guy you pick when choosing sides because God knows you don't want to tackle him.

McNeal has better career numbers--and has been a more productive player--than Young, yet Young is everybody's All-American. Young has every able-bodied sportswriter, television bobblehead and amateur analyst gawking over his quick feet and flashy moves. McNeal barely is known outside of College Station.

Young is a Heisman Trophy favorite, but he's not the best quarterback in his conference. Or even in his division.

"Reggie is a once-in-a-lifetime player," says A&M coach Dennis Franchione.

That's what all of the recruiting experts were saying about Young four years ago. The best player in the nation, the best quarterback in the nation, a consensus No. 1 recruit. And McNeal? They didn't even know where to slot him, and some gave him the catchall "athlete" label. Yet it was McNeal who led his small-town Lufkin High team to a Texas Class 5A state championship after Young's big-city Houston team lost in the semifinals--with an opportunity to play Lufkin on the line.

"Would've been a great game," McNeal says.

It also would've been his only fair shot at competing against Young. The reality: Young is playing with a bazooka behind a talented Texas team. McNeal is playing with a pop gun. Young plays for one of the nation's top five teams, a media darling of a program that gets bigger with every season. McNeal plays for the Longhorns' stepsister, a once-proud program in the middle of a housecleaning under Franchione.

Yet, with all of that, one thing stands clear: Young is style; McNeal is substance.

"No one in this conference scares you more than Reggie McNeal," says Iowa State coach Dan McCarney.

A few weeks ago, Franchione sat at a table during the Big 12 media days and humbly said McNeal ran a legitimate 4.3 40 in summer timing. Not a pencil moved. A day later, when told of a teammate's alleged sub-4.3 40 time, Young defiantly responded, "Ain't nobody on this team faster than me." The assembled throng of media giggled and feverishly scribbled on notepads before launching into a series of Heisman Trophy questions.

Heisman Trophy.

What's that word again? Yeah, disrespect.

SMITH UNLEASHED

At the very least, the stories all are intriguing. Like the one about Brad Smith's father calling a local radio station and blasting Missouri coach Gary Pinkel for misusing his son and derailing his career. Or the one where Smith demanded a closed-door meeting with Pinkel and threatened to quit if Pinkel didn't let the dangerous, dual-threat quarterback create plays as he used to.

"Man, that's all crazy talk," Smith says.

"Don't believe everything you hear," Pinkel says.

Here's what I believe: A wise, old street vendor in New York City once told me, "There's a little truth in all jive and a little jive in all truth."

So as Missouri begins a defining season for both Pinkel's job status and Smith's pro possibilities, this much we know: We'll see a lot more of the old Brad Smith than the 2004 version. In his first two years, Smith was a dynamic player. Last year, after the offense was designed to make Smith more of a pocket passer, he was dreadful.

Now here's the truth in all the jive: Smith agreed with Pinkel that his game needed to further mature, but when other issues stalled that maturation, Pinkel was too stubborn to adjust. Pass protection was a joke, and Smith's mechanics were awful. The receivers were average, and there was no balance to the offense.

Now Pinkel says he wants to put Smith in position to succeed, and he wants Smith's play to elevate others' on offense. In other words, we're going to see a lot more of Smith creating in the spread option offense, and a lot less of five-step drops and progressions and reads.

speed reads

Hold onto your seats: There's a new poll. This one will use a group of former coaches who will break down game tape from the weekend and announce their top 25 a few days later. Yeah, that's all we need--another coaches poll full of

You know why I love BoBBy Bowden? Because he's going to do it his way--even if it's clearly not the right way. Star linebackers A.J. Nicholson and Ernie Sims won't miss playing time after both were arrested this summer. Bowden says physical pain dished out by coaches is more fitting punishment. Of course it's ridiculous, but what other coach--in this day and age of hypercriticism--would have the onions to say that?

Texas-sized snubs won't slow McNeal: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. Meet Jan Brady, circa 2005: Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal

Sporting News, The, August 12, 2005 by Matt Hayes

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