A day in the life of Texas A&M's QB Marcel Reed: Jokes, team building and winning

Texas A&M football: Day in the life of Marcel Reed

Early morning meeting

There isn’t much time in the day, if any, that isn’t curated for Reed. Before he could even sit down to eat his eggs, potatoes and bacon, he had to check in with support staff for a hydration test. On days when the Aggies have a walkthrough rather than a traditional practice, Reed and his teammates undergo urinalysis to ensure their hydration levels are sufficient. That's before two different meetings, a coaching session, workouts and class fill up the next 12 hours. “It's a lot more than what you'd expect,” Reed said while laughing. “I don't really know how to describe it, but let's just say for the people who never believe me, that I'm always busy … Yeah, you just saw it.“ From there, Reed is allotted about 30 minutes to eat his meal before position meetings begin at 7:15 a.m. Players and coaches break off into their position groups and huddle into what looks like a classroom. First-year quarterbacks coach Joey Lynch is at the front of the QB room today and offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins sits in the back, observing.

Reed leading by example

Next up for Reed, from 8:40 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., is the weight room with strength coach Tommy Moffit. Once Reed arrives, QB1 is met with banter that turns into play-fighting, and ends with him putting a much bigger offensive lineman in a headlock. But when workouts started, Reed locked in. Standing an arm's length from Reed was Isaiah Horton, a transfer portal addition. The former Alabama wide receiver signed with the Aggies partially because of his history with Reed; they grew up together in Nashville, Tenn., and shared the field as kids during seven-on-seven tournaments. Although Horton has been with A&M for only a short time, he sees what kind of leader Reed is. “Rueben (Owens II) had gotten a flat tire, and it was the Sunday before spring ball started, and he was an hour away (from College Station),” Horton began. “It was a group chat, like everybody saw the message. It was, like, 20 minutes or something until the meeting. Marcel was willing to get in trouble (and be late for the meeting) to go get him.”

Reed, the college kid

It's now about 10:45 a.m., walking in from the practice facility, Reed was met by support staff who told him he had just 15 minutes before he needed to head upstairs to take his headshot for the upcoming season. Reed seemed less than thrilled and playfully tried to negotiate his way out of it. During the bartering, he bounced a tennis ball off the wall, claiming that if that activity were an Olympic sport (it is), he could play for Team USA. "I'm nice with it," the 6-foot-2 passer said as amused staffers looked on and tried to usher him to his next task. Eventually, Reed made his way to the photo area, where 10 pictures were taken. He wanted to make sure the result was just right. Then it was off to lunch in the cafeteria beginning at 11:15 a.m., where he enjoyed a plate of brisket, mac and cheese and salad with an orange Powerade. Oh, and jokes. Reed couldn't be bothered with food when there were teammates to clown with. Spring game rosters had just been chosen, and with just three days before the game, he helped pick his squad and knew who was on which team - but Reed wasn't supposed to say. That didn’t stop him from talking some trash and giving some hints. He and fellow white team selection, defensive tackle CJ Mims, began telling freshman wide receiver and maroon squad member Madden Williams why they were going to beat his team. Reed went into detail about why he picked pass rusher TJ Searcy first — so he wouldn't be sacked — while admitting that not picking Horton for his team would probably upset his friend. Reed has almost a gravitational pull in the room. From football players and coaches to athletes in other sports, his energy seemed to fill the space. The A&M QB was routinely stopped for banter or a joke at seemingly every step he took, and he embraced it all. Since being named a captain this spring for the first time in his collegiate career, Reed is approaching it his own way. "I've always told people that I try to lead by connecting. I don't try to lead by being all rah-rah,” Reed said. “I want to make sure the person knows me and knows who they're talking to and knows that they're gonna get the honest me, the genuine me.” **MORE:** Cincinnati Bengals take Texas A&M edge Cashius Howell 41st overall in 2026 NFL draft

Flipping the switch

After lunch, it’s right back to working with Lynch. For their third encounter of the day, it's a voluntary session where they meet one-on-one from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the coaches’ office. Reed's tone is far more serious than lunchtime teasing, and Lynch quickly gets in-depth. Lynch, who played quarterback at Ball State, asked Reed to break down his decision-making on each play. Reed, who's now made 21 starts for the Aggies, seems confident in his responses. The meeting then shifted to this season's goal of stopping overthrown deep shots. Last season, Reed finished 20-for-51 on throws 20 yards or more, with 691 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions. Lynch is particular about the mechanics of the throw and where "safe" misses are.