COLLEGE STATION -- Coach Dennis Franchione put the Aggies through a two-hour workout in full pads on Friday and the team will have meetings and a walk through later in the day.

“The first half of practice was pretty good,” Coach Fran said. “The second half was a little bit of labor. We worked a lot of situations.”

Coach Fran commented on the depth of his linebackers adding, “the corps is as good as we’ve had here at Texas A&M.”

Mark Dodge and Misi Tupe are seniors and listed as the starters coming out of spring drills. Sophomores Matt Featherston and Anthony Lewis are listed as backups with junior walkon Nick LaMantia and true freshman Derrick Stephens pushing for reps.

Coach Fran also announced that assistant head coach and running backs coach Kenith Pope returned to practice on Friday. He underwent surgery the Friday (Aug. 3) before practice began.

“Coach Pope is not back to full speed, but it was good to have him back at practice,” Coach Fran said

The 5th Annual Coach Fran Charities 5K Run & Walk is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 18 at Kyle Field. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. rain or shine and the participants are allowed to watch Saturday morning’s practice inside Kyle Field. For more information, go to CoachFranCharities.org.