In the rapidly changing college football landscape, now dominated by NIL and the transfer portal, it’s rare to see any player, especially a quarterback in the Power 4 ranks, choose to stay and develop with a program despite the pressure to leave for a starting position once the offseason offers begin to roll in.
Texas A&M star quarterback Marcel Reed, who, in his first full starting season, has thrown for 1,972 yards and 17 touchdowns, paired with 349 rushing yards and six touchdowns, and is coming off his four-touchdown performance during the Aggies’ 49-25 blowout win over LSU on Saturday night. Texas A&M is 8-0 Heading into the bye week, it continues to look like one of the best teams in the country.
Advertisement
However, Reed’s path towards becoming Texas A&M’s starting signal caller was not paved in gold, starting with his 2023 freshman season, which ended with long-time head coach Jimbo Fisher being fired, leading to the Mike Elko era beginning less than a month later.
Reed’s decision to stay instead of entering the portal to be coached by current second-year OC Collin Klein has been quite the journey, which began with his first career start against Florida in The Swamp, while his second-half comeback rushing performance against LSU led to the Aggies’ building a 7-1 record, before ultimately dropping to 8-5.
Entering the 2025 season, after former starting quarterback Conner Weigman transferred to Houston, Reed improved his passing mechanics this offseason, and, coupled with the additions of transfer wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver, Texas A&M’s offense has reached the next level, currently averaging nearly 460 yards per game.
After Saturday’s blowout win, Reed made an appearance on Kirk Herbstreit and Joey Galloway’s “NonStop!” podcast, as the redshirt sophomore star QB discussed his decision to stay the course, which has continued to pay off through nine weeks of play. Herbstreit’s son Zach, who is currently employed with Rivals/On3, played with Marcel Reed at Montgomery Bell Academy.
Advertisement
While Reed’s recent performances have garnered national attention as a Heisman candidate, he and the rest of Texas A&M’s talented roster are entirely focused on finishing the regular season strong.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.
This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Watch Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed’s interview on the ‘NonStop!’ podcast
