Marcel Reed reveals how Texas A&M strength coach, formerly at LSU, motivated Aggies
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Marcel Reed and Texas A&M may have received motivation from an unlikely source for their Week 8 blowout win at LSU on Saturday.
Tommy Moffitt joined the A&M staff as its director of strength and conditioning in January 2024. Before that, he was a long-time staff member at LSU for over 20 years, but when Brian Kelly became the head coach, Moffitt was not retained. After running his own business for several years, his returned to the college ranks, joining Mike Elko’s initial staff in College Station.
According to Reed, after Saturday’s 45-29 win over the Tigers, Moffitt “wanted this game just as bad as anyone else,” even using an interesting motivational tactic in practice.
“I remember Thursday, he brought in a tackling dummy with Brian Kelly’s face on it. We all started kicking and stomping and stuff like that,” Reed said.
It ended up working out. Although the Aggies trailed 18-14 at halftime, they outscored the Tigers 35-7 to improve to 8-0 on the season. Now, a first-ever College Football Playoff looks closer than ever.
“Our crowd started to go over there and kind of take over (LSU’s) student section and try to make all the noise at the end of the game,” Reed said. “So, I mean, “It was really cool, but (we) definitely played a little bit of this game for Moffitt because he has so much passion for the game and he does so much for us.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
