Two of Llano football’s most feared foes of the decade now play for teams much of the community supports--well, one or the other--and they are embarking on their senior seasons.

Texas A&M quarterback, Stephen McGee, says, “I’m excited; our new coach, Mike Sherman, will do a great job. He has a lot of respect in the locker room, already, and that’s amazing. I’m pumped about what A&M football has in store.”

Sherman was an assistant coach for the Houston Texans in 2006 and 2007. He was head coach at Green Bay, 2000-05, and in his first five seasons there, the Packers were 53-27.

Telling you about McGee would be like letting you know Tiger Woods has knee problems, but--he led Burnet to the Class 3A state championship games of 2002 and 2003. He’s been the Aggies’ starter for two seasons.

The basketball coach’s son threw the ball a whole bunch to the football coach’s son, Jordan Shipley, at Burnet, and Shipley set state records with 252 catches for 5,424 yards and 73 touchdowns. (Too much of all that came against the Jackets!)

“It looks like this will be a good year,” Shipley says about Texas. “Even though we’re young, we’ll do fine.” Jordan has not been the main man in the Longhorns’ receiving rotation the past two years, but you can’t pick up a 2008 football preseason magazine without seeing the top targets listed for quarterback Colt McCoy as Shipley and Quan Cosby.

Jordan and Colt certainly won’t lack for conversation time--they’re roommates, and, “Our dads were roommates at Abilene Christian; our families go way back.” And, yes, Brad McCoy coached his son at Jim Ned just as Bob coached Jordan. So, we’ll meet back here in about 25-30 years, and ......

A&M fans thought Dennis Franchione would be a combination of Vince Lombardi and Bear Bryant. Somewhere along the way, somebody forgot the combination, and things were less than frantastic.

A number of observers believed one major problem was McGee was running the ball too much. He did have impressive numbers on the ground--666 yards in ‘06 and 899 in ‘07--but the win-loss records of 9-4 and 7-6 didn’t satisfy enough folks in Maroon, and after five years, Franchione resigned before getting fired.

“We won’t get away from the passing game as much as we did last year,” a diplomatic McGee declares. “We’ll pass and run, and coach Sherman has a great grasp of how important it will be to stay balanced.” That brings us to what McGee has done through the air: more than 4,600 yards and 24 touchdowns in the last two seasons, combined.

If you’re an A&M follower, you might get giddy over the offensive possibilities. Jorvorskie Lane, whom, it seems, has been in College Station longer than Dave South, will be at fullback, where he’ll get some yards and block for the potential sensation, Mike Goodson.

Goodson ran for close to 850 yards as a freshman and 711 yards as a sophomore. McGee found him for two big scoring passes against Texas last November.

So, let’s see, the young offensive line does its job (and Sherman is a former A&M O-Line coach), McGee completes 60 percent of his passes, scrambles for 500 yards or so, and Goodson is everyone’s favorite son--hey, guys, let’s put on a show!

“Three of our coaches have 50-60 years of NFL experience,” Mcgee points out, “and they think we have better backs than they had at some of their pro teams. That says a lot.” Indeed.

Jordan Shipley’s game will change this fall, maybe more dramatically than his friend’s will. “I’ll be working out of the slot more,” he notes, “and that means I’ll be running inside routes, over the middle.” You can bet he’ll also beat one or two defensive backs deep.

Jordan, who has patiently waited for the ball to come his way with that honor roll of pass catchers at the athletic dining table, has collected 43 aerials for 646 yards and nine TDs in his Burnt Orange days. The man who kicked for the Bulldogs has become a superb holder for field goals and extra points.

“There’s something about being a Longhorn,” the soft-spoken Shipley admits to his interviewer. “You learn quickly you’re going to get everyone’s best shot, but that makes it fun, makes it exciting. I’m fortunate to be here.” He’ll feel more fortunate if he can say McGee was congratulating HIM on HIS team’s victory, Thanksgiving Night. Stephen led the Aggies to a 12-7 triumph over Texas in 2006, and 38-30 was the final on a cold day in ‘07.

“I feel like an old man now, I’ve been here so long,” McGee, approaching his fifth year at A&M, tells an ancient reporter, “but this is a special place for me--one last semester remains, and I want to end it right.”