Corbin prepares to carry load as featured back
COLLEGE STATION —
On his first visit to Texas in the winter of 2017, Floridian Jashaun Corbin sought a sign from above on where he should attend college.
On Highway 6 en route to Texas A&M, an awed Corbin soaked in a signal rising 10 stories out of the Texas prairie. So much for subtlety or veiled clues.
“I was 30 to 45 minutes away from the school, and I could see the stadium on the horizon,” Corbin said of A&M’s colossal Kyle Field.
His first reaction: “Wow.” About nine months later, that also was the reaction of Aggies to Corbin’s 100-yard kick return for a touchdown on the first play of an A&M game against Arkansas. The Aggies wound up beating the Razorbacks by a touchdown.
“The night before the game, after I’d finally been moved to kick return, I was just praying because I was nervous and couldn’t sleep,” Corbin recalled this week. “I thought, ‘Just don’t mess up.’ When I caught the ball and I saw the crease there, I just hit it. God took care of the rest.”
The Aggies’ new starting running back likely would be hitting creases in Florida if Jimbo Fisher had stuck around in Corbin’s home state. A one-time pledge to Florida State and especially Fisher in 2017, Corbin backed off his commitment to the Seminoles a couple days after Fisher bolted FSU for A&M.
“When he was at Florida State, I was set on going to Florida State,” Corbin said. “When he got the (A&M) job, I backed away (from FSU) because I didn’t know about stability. Once he got the job out here, he reached out to me and said, ‘Just come see it for yourself.’
“I didn’t know anything about Texas A&M. But I came out here, and it just blew me away. I fell in love with the place.”
Next man up
Corbin (6-0, 210 pounds) served as Trayveon Williams’ top backup last season and slid into the starting role when Williams, a former C.E. King standout, bypassed his senior season for the NFL.
The no-nonsense Fisher typically is reserved in praising his players, especially the young ones, but he raved about Corbin’s past year at A&M, referring to the stout back as a “dream” to coach.
“If there’s a mistake, it’s once in a blue moon,” Fisher said. “He does things right and has great character. He’s just a joy to coach. Football means a lot to him.”
Corbin grew up in Rockledge, Fla., halfway down the state’s Atlantic coastline and about 10 minutes from wide-open waters.
“I haven’t seen the ocean in a long time,” said a grinning Corbin, now living in farm-locked Brazos County.
Glimpses of talent
What he has seen in the past year are plenty of different looks from Southeastern Conference defenses. But the freshman held his own in averaging 5.7 yards per carry in spelling Williams. Corbin led the SEC in kick return average (30.1 yards on 14 returns), collected three catches against then-No. 1 Alabama, and averaged 11 yards per rush on three carries against Mississippi State.
“There’s nothing he can’t do on the football field,” Fisher said. “We’ve got to be smart, too, so we don’t overuse him. We’ve got him in different spots and can pick and choose and keep developing guys behind him.”
In Fisher’s first season, the Aggies finished third in the SEC in rushing offense with 219 yards per game, and Williams set a school single-season record with 1,760 rushing yards, all while serving as mentor to a receptive Corbin.
“Whenever I had a question about football or anything personal, he was always there to help me,” Corbin said. “He taught me leadership and being accountable, because nobody likes a guy who’s missing meals or late to workout or study hall.”
Now Corbin earns his shot to be the featured back in Fisher’s run-heavy offense, and he has plenty of talent champing at his cleats in Jacob Kibodi, Cordarrian Richardson, Deneric Prince and Isaiah Spiller.
“Coach Fisher is going to put you in the right spots to be successful,” Corbin said. “Look at his track record. He has running backs going into the NFL every year. It was kind of a no-brainer to (pick A&M) when it came down to it.”
The Aggies, 9-4 last year, open this season on Aug. 29 at home against Texas State — Corbin’s first chance to be the No. 1 guy in the stadium he once admired from the highway in his search for a college home.