'Team-First Focus': Why Texas A&M Quarterback Situation Went According To Plan

Texas A&M Aggies' offensive coordinator Collin Klein spoke during the team's bye week, detailing what he's liked so far from both Conner Weigman and Marcel Reed.

Oct 5, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman (15) reacts in the second quarter against the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field. / Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Leading into Week 6, the Texas A&M Aggies had a dilemma on their hands.

Between Conner Weigman and Marcel Reed, there were two arguments to be made. One centered around the former, who was the named starter to begin the season before suffering a shoulder injury against Notre Dame in Week 1.

His setback prevented him from playing — and most times, dressing — throughout the Aggies' early season matchups. As such, Marcel Reed took over, but in the first argument, he was simply a fill-in for Weigman, who would walk back in and take the starting job as soon as he was able.

On the other hand, Reed had shown plenty to warrant being given a chance. After leading the Aggies to three straight wins as the outright starter — Week 2 against McNeese State was a duel effort between him and Weigman — he showed inconsistencies but did enough to secure wins.

With that in mind, it was he who had the starting job to lose, and whether Weigman was healthy or not, he would have been given a chance to play in every game until it no longer made sense.

That was the philosophy the Missouri Tigers bought into, though it backfired. The Aggies opted for the first scenario, and let Weigman take over the second he was able to. And he shined.

The narrative then became that Weigman was the Aggies' answer. That he was leaps and bounds better than Reed and that Texas A&M was missing out without Weigman under center.

But that's now how the Aggies chose to see it.

"Both have done a tremendous job of preparing," Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein explained during the team's bye week. "Conner (Weigman) worked extremely hard to get himself back physically, and Marcel (Reed) started some games for us and gave us the opportunity to win.”

All of those things were true. So, why opt with one over the other?

"We felt like Conner at 100 percent gave us our best chance to win," Aggies coach Mike Elko answered following the contest. "If we felt like he was going to be there, that was the direction we wanted to go."

Against Missouri, it worked. And after the performance Weigman showed in his first game back, that seems to be the route Texas A&M will take moving forward. But according to Klein, by no means is it a slight at Reed.

Not even the quarterback himself sees it that way.

“Both of them have kept a team-first focus," Klein said, "of whatever I need to do for the team today and attacking it. Credit to both of them for that.”

What Klein said echoed the sentiment Elko had preached for weeks. He, and the rest of the Aggies' offensive staff, felt that they truly had multiple options. One quarterback wasn't seen as "less-than," and they wouldn't be treating it as such.

Hence the reason Reed started three times in a row; why the Aggies felt safe taking their time with Weigman's return. Ultimately, if keeping Reed out on the field while Weigman returned to a true 100 percent, the Aggies wanted to do that.

That proved to be the right decision.

"Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions for the team and both of those guys," Klein said. "Credit to Conner. I was very impressed by his maturity and toughness.”

And of Reed's overall success under center?

"There was not a happier guy for Marcel than Conner Weigman.”

As the Aggies continue along their campaign, which now looks wildly optimistic after a beatdown of a top-10 team at home, they'll continue to look to Weigman.

Games against LSU at home, South Carolina on the road, and of course, Texas at home, will certainly be pivotal to any postseason goals Texas A&M has. Whether it was Reed or Weigman, however, those goals weren't going to change, and they still don't have to.

While it lasted, the duel quarterback situation went well from an internal perspective, but it seems that Weigman will carry the torch the rest of the way. The Aggies have chosen their path.

And everyone is OK with that.

“It’s truly a process-based mindset in realizing that we’re still a work-in-progress," Klein said of the Aggies' forward momentum. "It’s a day-to-day little decision by little decision of who we are."