Texas A&M Football
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for those who follow recruiting closely

6,389 Views | 48 Replies | Last: 2 days ago by southernswag363
Logos Stick
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2:44p, 6/2/26
What is up with bama and texas? They appear to be behind the curve this year, especially bama

Is their strategy to try to flip committed players so they only have to compete with one team essentially?!
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Wearer of the Ring
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3:00p, 6/2/26
AG
Saving their dough for when it counts
I feel so much better since about 11 a.m. CT on 20 Jan. 2025
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AxelFoley85
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In reply to Logos Stick • 3:12p, 6/2/26
Based on everything sip is likely losing, probably saving for the portal.
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AozorAg
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3:50p, 6/2/26
They'll pay for some big players at the end of the cycle, but I do like where we are against them right now in comparison to years past.
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mjhhawk
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3:54p, 6/2/26
It seems like a lot of teams are allocating their resources to the transfer portal. Everyone wants to be the next Indiana. I've always thought if everyone zigs, then you zag....and that's what we've done by pounding the high school recruits. I love it. Build the base in fill in a few holes through the portal. Hopefully will pay dividends in the future.
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StinkyPinky
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4:19p, 6/2/26
AG
Elko's vision is legit and strong. Impressed. Here we go…
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Pichael Thompson
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4:29p, 6/2/26
Beta head coaches aren't in fashion anymore....
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NyAggie
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In reply to mjhhawk • 4:48p, 6/2/26
AG
mjhhawk said:
It seems like a lot of teams are allocating their resources to the transfer portal. Everyone wants to be the next Indiana. I've always thought if everyone zigs, then you zag....and that's what we've done by pounding the high school recruits. I love it. Build the base in fill in a few holes through the portal. Hopefully will pay dividends in the future.


Yep

The key to this strategy is retention of talent and saving a few big bullets for the portal to fill in gaps
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ag0207
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6:47p, 6/2/26
AG
It's crazy if you look at the top 100 ranked recruits for the state of Florida. The Ags are dominating that state. We have their #1, 2, & 7 committed & lead for #3 & 5.
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redjalapeno-87
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In reply to ag0207 • 6:59p, 6/2/26
ag0207 said:
It's crazy if you look at the top 100 ranked recruits for the state of Florida. The Ags are dominating that state. We have their #1, 2, & 7 committed & lead for #3 & 5.

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vander54
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In reply to mjhhawk • 8:34p, 6/2/26
S
mjhhawk said:
It seems like a lot of teams are allocating their resources to the transfer portal. Everyone wants to be the next Indiana. I've always thought if everyone zigs, then you zag....and that's what we've done by pounding the high school recruits. I love it. Build the base in fill in a few holes through the portal. Hopefully will pay dividends in the future.


This is the best strategy for long-term success
World's worst proofreader
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Bill Superman
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In reply to AozorAg • 9:22p, 6/2/26
AG
AozorAg said:
They'll pay for some big players at the end of the cycle, but I do like where we are against them right now in comparison to years past.
Years past as in like pre-2012 I have assume…
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Jimbo4win
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11:21p, 6/2/26
AG
Alabama has a new coach. Nick Saban retired. Texas has the same coach- a guy that was fired at USC for being drunk at practice and has managed his way to two reasonable seasons out of 12 attempts.
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Kozmozag
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7:10a, 6/3/26
Indiana model is the correct one. Elko is on the wrong track. Buy established players. Stud recruits you will be paying for no play the 1st couple of years.
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CoachLB
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7:38a, 6/3/26
Look at the players A&M got drafted this season. Who knew anything much about Nate B, Tyler O, Cahius Howell, Will Lee before they got here? If you can eye talent you and develop it, you do not have to pay an arm and a leg for portal guys. Just find the pieces that fit. I heard Ketchum say the same thing about the portal that some of you are saying about paying high school guys etc. It's the narrative Texas people are pushing now. Something to explain A&M killing them in recruiting. Your base has to be the high school kids along with some portal guys. Indiana did not go out and buy one year guys. They also did not go out and buy big high dollar guys either. As long as Elko brings in guys from the portal who can play like this draft class nobody had heard of before this year along with recruited studs the Aggies will built a real program. It amazes me there are people who think Elko still does not know what he is doing.
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Kramer
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7:50a, 6/3/26
AG
My completely uninformed opinion is that both collectives are in pivotal years with the HC and aren't committed to spending for 27. They want to see if the HC can produce or they understand they'll need buyout money and a big war chest to attract the next HC.

We know Bama doesn't have the type of money that could buy out Deboer AND turn around and offer the next guy $40M for the 28 class.

Horns have BEEN spending huge, not gotten a lot, and now the word is Sark doesn't really have a good eye for coaching talent (see coaching turnover). If he can't produce a deep run this year, they know they either move on or keep him around another year (hoping he goes to the NFL) as a lame duck. Either way, they aren't giving him $40M to blow on his way out.
"The only happy Aggie is an unhappy Aggie." Shelby Metcalf
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Bag
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In reply to Logos Stick • 7:54a, 6/3/26
AG
Logos Stick said:
What is up with bama and texas? They appear to be behind the curve this year, especially bama

Is their strategy to try to flip committed players so they only have to compete with one team essentially?!




The question you need to be asking is does HS recruiting actually mean anything anymore?

You are paying for a product that you hope is good in a couple years, and when its good yuou hope you can keep it around.


I think Texas would rather focus on mature upperclassman from other schools to recruit from
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TexAgsSean
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8:01a, 6/3/26
AG
In recent years it seems the sips are always a little behind at the beginning of summer. They get made fun of then by August they start handing out cash and lambos. They'll flip guys late in the cycle. Same thing happens every year. They'll be a top 10 team in recruiting.
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CoachLB
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8:02a, 6/3/26
Y'all are acting like Elko is Dabo when it comes to the portal. He just had several portal guys drafted.
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levytrousersEOY
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In reply to vander54 • 9:12a, 6/3/26
vander54 said:
mjhhawk said:
It seems like a lot of teams are allocating their resources to the transfer portal. Everyone wants to be the next Indiana. I've always thought if everyone zigs, then you zag....and that's what we've done by pounding the high school recruits. I love it. Build the base in fill in a few holes through the portal. Hopefully will pay dividends in the future.


This is the best strategy for long-term success

Indiana called. They disagree.
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Emilio Fantastico
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In reply to levytrousersEOY • 9:23a, 6/3/26
AG
Indiana has never been able to recruit the high school ranks so the portal is the only way for them unless Cignetti can sustain their success and then the high school recruiting will follow to some extent.
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Tamuco99
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9:38a, 6/3/26
People love to attribute Indiana's success to loading up on experienced guys in the portal in a dismissive effort to rationalize it. The reality is that most of their impactful transfers came from JMU and were developed by Cignetti there. In my opinion, the Indiana formula is all about Coach Cig
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levytrousersEOY
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In reply to Emilio Fantastico • 9:53a, 6/3/26
These two things matter most…
a. How much does the player cost?
b. When will he realistically play?
Almost every kid in the country needs 2-3 years of development before they can be expected to be serious contributors at the highest levels of the sport. It is what it is. While the recent success has certainly been exciting, no one wants to be told that a kid's commitment is "HUGE", only then find out that it'll be 2029 or 2030 before you even begin to truly learn whether your 1 in 4 chance is going to make it.
I wish it wasn't the case, but the portal has changed everything.
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Ozzy Osbourne
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In reply to Kozmozag • 9:59a, 6/3/26
Kozmozag said:
Indiana model is the correct one. Elko is on the wrong track. Buy established players. Stud recruits you will be paying for no play the 1st couple of years.


100%

To put it in NFL terms…

Imagine the salary cap is gone. Would you rather have draft picks or proven pro bowl players? Be like the LA Rams…. **** dem picks.
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CoachLB
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10:05a, 6/3/26
Indianas average age was 24. They did not bring in a bunch million dollars stars. They brought in JMU players and some portal players. Again most people had not heard of the 6 guys who we got in the portal that got drafted. To assume Elko does not use or know how to select portal players is wrong. He will continue up to recruit high school players and bring in guys from the portal who end up draft picks. By the way The Aggies 2026 portal class was ranked 12 by 247. And 4 by on3. So they have not been destroyed by other teams in the portal.
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halfastros81
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10:32a, 6/3/26
AG
A mix of a core from hs supplemented with portal entries seems like the right recipe to me. Everyone wants to go with the flavor of the month but it seems next to impossible to average 24 yr old starters year over year.
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SpeedyNoilsGhost
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In reply to Logos Stick • 10:35a, 6/3/26
AG
Probably money management since they are pretty top heavy on paying players. I'd expect them to make a run, but I also know Elko and co. are just killing it rn in HS recruiting. Hard to not want to play for the guy.
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SteveA
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10:39a, 6/3/26
AG
Even if we sign the #1 class, it's meaningless unless we can keep them from transferring and then not filling holes with portal talent.
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Tamuco99
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In reply to CoachLB • 10:45a, 6/3/26
Agree with your overall point, but this lie about Indiana's average age has to stop. It's literally mathematically impossible for it to be 24 without a slew of 27-30 year olds
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OldShadeOfBlue
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In reply to Kozmozag • 11:46a, 6/3/26
AG
Kozmozag said:
Indiana model is the correct one. Elko is on the wrong track. Buy established players. Stud recruits you will be paying for no play the 1st couple of years.

You mean Elko who just put a half dozen transfers in the draft?

No coach out there wants to have to rely on the portal to rebuild a roster every year. Indiana and even A&M were both in similar situations of needing to upgrade the roster fast with the portal. I promise you Cignetti wouldn't be hitting the portal as hard if he was already stacking top 10 HS classes.

Elko is still going to fill needs as he's been doing with the portal. Hand-wringing over a #1 high school is crazy.
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Kozmozag
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11:47a, 6/3/26
If you have to pay the player it would be better if they were a starter. I guess if you have endless money you cand pay both recruits and older playmakers.
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RARay
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11:49a, 6/3/26
AG
I haven't been following recruiting closely this cycle, but this seems good?



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4
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In reply to vander54 • 11:53a, 6/3/26
AG
vander54 said:
mjhhawk said:
It seems like a lot of teams are allocating their resources to the transfer portal. Everyone wants to be the next Indiana. I've always thought if everyone zigs, then you zag....and that's what we've done by pounding the high school recruits. I love it. Build the base in fill in a few holes through the portal. Hopefully will pay dividends in the future.


This is the best strategy for long-term success

How would we know?
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OldShadeOfBlue
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In reply to Tamuco99 • 11:54a, 6/3/26
AG
Tamuco99 said:
Agree with your overall point, but this lie about Indiana's average age has to stop. It's literally mathematically impossible for it to be 24 without a slew of 27-30 year olds

The average age of the starters was 23 with their average experience being 3.9 years. Not sure how that's mathematically impossible.

However I've also seen Miami's average starter was 3 months older than Indiana's
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Jimbo4win
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In reply to SteveA • 11:59a, 6/3/26
AG
SteveA said:
Even if we sign the #1 class, it's meaningless unless we can keep them from transferring and then not filling holes with portal talent.


That is the case if you only sign one #1 class but that was not the blueprint for Saban and Kirby. The blueprint was and still is to sign top 5 classes EVERY year. Saban demonstrated an ability to develop guys and get them to the NFL which led to top classes year after year after year. I submit that any coach who proves he can develop/get guys drafted will absolutely dominate college football despite NIL. The reason being NFL money as WAY bigger than NIL money and there will be more than enough elite talent that will choose smaller NIL deals to play for a coach who gives them the best chance to be in the NFL. The good news is that A&M has enough money to do both-outbid other schools AND develop/get a record number of guys drafted. We need a top ranked class for 2027 but need to follow that up with a top 5 class in 2028-wash, rinse, repeat while still being opportunistic in the portal.
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