Recruiting Country: The latest recruiting news surrounding the Maroon & White

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• We had five games at Kyle Field over the first 40 days of the season. Now, we only get two more over the next 47 days. Derek Miller and his staff go through the recruiting pitch and calendar. They are circling important days to get a jump on the next class. The summer official visits in June are massively important. Camp dates, too. There was not one more important than this three-game home stretch at Kyle Field. They had to capitalize on this. Going into the season, when they were planning, they had to do this. There is not a lot of meat on the bone on the back half of the season. We have to create momentum in the 2027 class. The same for 2026. We have to do all of that and create a wave that will ride us to the South Carolina weekend. They had to leave this home stretch with enough juice not to lose anything over the next 33 days. They created impressions on each of them in the class.
   
• A&M has 27 2026 commitments, but you don’t officially turn the page until the class is signed. You are never concrete and definitive in recruiting. Something can always happen. You can have a crazy coaching carousel that has already begun. How does that affect high school recruitments? Do kids wait to see how the coaching landscape lands into place and wait until February when the dust settles? The key thing A&M did was solidify the commitments of guys who were still looking around. I never thought they were on the verge of losing commitments. I thought that, regardless of what some of them were doing, visiting other places, I never felt A&M was on a slippery slope. But it still feels good that kids are canceling visits.
   
• KJ Edwards‍ canceled LSU and Texas visits. He locked down his commitment to A&M. Kaeden Johnson‍, whose dad went to Auburn, was here for the Auburn game, and he came back for the Florida game. Then, he shuts down his commitment. He had a scheduled visit to Auburn, but not anymore. You had Samu Moala‍ cancel visits. Storm Miller‍ had Ohio State smoke coming out, but I spoke to him on the phone, and he is 100 percent locked in now. It is great to hear those things and to hear they are all in on the A&M program.
   
• You have also given the commits a chance to get in front of each other more. Building camaraderie in person instead of through the cell phone. These guys get around each other. They spend more than a couple of hours together. It is basically the whole weekend. I would say the reaffirmations of the 2026 class have been as important as anything that has happened in recruiting over the last few weeks and since the start of the season.
   
• Guys committed elsewhere have visited. KJ Ford‍ from Duncanville is committed to Florida, and he’s been here twice. Tank Jones‍ is committed to Oregon. You got him back on campus. Tyriq Green‍ is a safety committed to Georgia, and you snuck him in late last week.
   
• Jayden Warren‍ from Iowa Colony. I have been really high on him. I wish A&M would put the gas pedal on him. I liked him from day one. He can really run, top-end track speed. Every time I’ve seen him play in person, he has been the best player on the field. When the lights turn on, he plays. He is a good blend of player and prospect. Now, as the season has gone on, as much success as A&M has had in creating separation and its athletic profile. I think Warren fits into that mold. I am interested in there. I don’t think there is anything imminent there. His coming to the game last week could be step one in them pushing the gas pedal after him again.
   
• I think for Warren, they are going to have to recruit him. He is only committed to Houston. The stigma around UofH has been changing. Tilman Fertitta is like Cody Campbell to a lesser extent. He is a viable piece to a recruiting puzzle in a city with so many people and talented athletes.
   
• We had a defensive kid come in named Blaze Jones‍, who is committed to Air Force. Obinna Umeh‍ is committed to Duke. These guys are undergoing further evaluations that have intriguing qualities. A&M values measurables that they see in the NFL. Some of the kids who don’t have offers that they are bringing in, just making sure. Umeh is a good kid. He gets to the quarterback. A&M has done a great job at covering its bases. They have so many of their top targets committed. Especially, their defensive line spot. Jermaine Kinsler‍, Bryce Perry-Wright‍, Tristian Givens‍ and Moala. What else do they need? They can be really specific with it. They want another receiver. He has to fit what they need. For Boobie Feaster‍, that ship continues to sail away. USC’s had a good year. They have a massive game this weekend. Feaster may be shutting down his commitments. A&M missed on him, but they have many more hits than misses in this cycle. A&M didn’t catch a lot of news when they signed Jamarion Morrow, and now, look at him.
   
• What the coaching staff can see and utilize moving forward in recruiting pitches is to look at how they develop players. If you are a transfer portal wide receiver, offensive lineman or pass rusher. Look what A&M has done with Cashius Howell, Dayon Hayes, Ar’maj Reed-Adams and Marcus Ratcliffe. They are developing Morrow. Marcel Reed has developed. The tight end position has a mix of high school guys and transfer guys. You have a good mix. It is a credit to the development going on across the street. The offensive line has a bunch of guys that you recruited and developed. It also has a left guard from Kansas. He has come here and gotten better. Now, he’s playing his way into the first couple of rounds of the NFL Draft. When that starts happening, it goes from seeing the vision to seeing what is happening.
   
• It is nice when the steak sells itself, and you don’t need the sizzle. Now the sizzle is nice, like Kyle Field, game day, all of the stuff that goes along with Texas A&M. What happened with Jimbo Fisher was that the steak stunk. The sizzle didn’t matter. The atmosphere was incredible. You will have a good time when you go. They have the bells and whistles. But the steak stinks, don’t go. Now that the food tastes better, the sizzle is more attractive. That goes back to having five games in seven weeks at home. You have to capitalize on it.
   
• The only two that didn’t come were Trenton Yancey‍ out of Duncanville and Kavian Bryant‍ out of Palestine Westwood. A&M already has a 2027 quarterback commit, so you can see why they don’t bring Bryant in. We have seen A&M take huge strides forward with a lot of those top 15 players in the state. Kennedy Brown‍ and Landen Williams-Callis‍ come to the forefront. Brown out of Kingwood and Williams-Callis out of Richmond Randall. A&M has moved the needle more with Brown, but they went in the right direction with Williams-Callis as well. They are fighting the battles with a lot of different schools.
   
• They have also made huge pushes for guys out of Dallas with Cooper Witten‍, John Meredith III‍, JayQuan Snell‍ and even Ismael Camara‍. This is the groundwork and launching point for the 2027 group. That is just in the state of Texas. Not taking into account the other top national prospects. They’ve checked every single box.
   
• The big question I have going into Fayetteville at 6-0, Arkansas plays you close every year. It will be like that again. I expect heart and throat moments. Then, you go to LSU and Missouri. What does this whole thing look like when you come home for South Carolina? If you go 2-1, you come back with some juice in Kyle Field against South Carolina. Coming back 8-1 with everything in front of you. With Samford, you would have 10 wins. And then you get Texas with a chance to go to Atlanta. These next few weeks determine a whole lot. Now, if you go out and flounder, it can undo a lot of what you have done.