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

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• If A&M goes into Baton Rouge and wins, the conversations around Lamar Brown‍ become legitimate. But then again, if you try to prognosticate on the coaching carousel and its influence on recruiting, I think that’ll be difficult. Right now, we have a lot of jobs open at the P4 level. Penn State has had a flood of kids leave their classes. Florida hasn’t yet, but Billy Napier just got let go. UCLA has actually had kids commit there based on their recent success. The circumstances surrounding it is the NIL.
   
• You are seeing more pre-agreed-upon deals for kids coming into those schools. Suppose I have a commitment from David Nuño. “We are going to pay you $250,000 a year. So, you commit to A&M.” That money is spoken for. All the other schools that were recruiting you have to reallocate the money they had for you to someone else. We don’t know how fluid those deals can be. Who and how you can drum up that money to get the kid in the boat... There is a lot of stuff. The history of recruiting tells you that not everything will be above board.
   
• Where are the loopholes? I bet people are searching to find them. How easy is it for these kids to back away from guaranteed money? For Brown, it will cost you quite a bit. I bet all the NIL offers he had. A&M, Oregon and LSU will all be in the same ballpark. A&M may be a little bit less, or LSU may be more. We don’t know, but it is still a pretty chunk of change. If we still have that, let’s fire at these targets. That is something nobody knows unless you are Derek Miller and Mike Elko. Across the SEC, that is where this gets interesting. These dollars are a key factor in these decisions. These kids could look at the financial future being stable, even though the coaching future is uncertain.
   
• Where does the uncertainty happen? Is it on the current players or the incoming players? How much money do these schools save for the portal? Offensive linemen and defensive linemen are expensive. You go into the portal, you know there will be impact players on the line of scrimmage. So the question is, do you hold that money for new recruits or for the portal? The phones are ringing from agents to coaches, about their clients at places where there isn’t stability.
   
• Texas bet on their guys to build up, and it hasn’t happened. For A&M specifically, they have been high on that next group of offensive linemen, but if you can get a left tackle in the portal, that could be nice. But late in October, these are discussions that are happening behind closed doors. There is a job in front of us that we have to tackle. However, you must consider building next year's roster and what it will look like. Who is losing eligibility? Who is going to the draft? Who is upset about their situation and will go to the portal?
   
• We’ve seen Florida State invest heavily in the portal, and it didn’t work. Texas Tech did it, too, but it is working. Are you buying good locker room guys? Or mercenaries? I thought that for Texas Tech, but they are playing hard for Joey McGuire. Maybe not the same for Mike Norvell. But they beat Alabama, but the further we go away from this, it looks like an anomaly. I know they are asking these questions at the high school level. Do they have the measurables, the tape, to play at the highest level? Next, do they love football? Not everything around it. I know for a fact that it has been pushed to the forefront. Not the money, the fame, but the game of football.
   
• A&M could lose Theo Melin-Öhrström, Nate Boerkircher and Amari Niblack to eligibility. Micah Riley has another year. They are pleased with Kiotti Armstrong, but he came in as a raw prospect with this redshirt year. Quarterback, you are fine unless you have a bunch of those guys leave that are backing up Marcel Reed. I don’t anticipate Brady Hart leaving. Not yet. They like him. Eli Morcos, you have seen his name pop up as scout team MVP multiple times now. Hart makes NFL throws, but I like that Morcos is on that scout team MVP list. With Helaman Casuga‍ is coming in, I don’t think you need a quarterback.
   
• Running back is interesting. Amari Daniels and EJ Smith are out of eligibility. Le’Veon Moss is probably going to the NFL Draft. That leaves you with Rueben Owens II, Jamarion Morrow, Tiger Riden Jr. and those two freshmen whom they love. But do they need a bigger guy? You see the importance of it with Smith and Moss.
   
• At receiver, they are in the market for one, maybe two. If Jerome Myles comes back, then that would be a cherry on top if he comes back 100 percent. He has missed three years due to injury. I hope for the best because he is a freak athlete. It is hard to rely on that, looking at the future of the position. You lose KC Concepcion. You can’t understate his impact. Aaron Gregory‍ is a stud. Madden Williams‍, too. All of their commitments are good. Gregory looks like a play from Day 1 guy, but they are young. So do they grab a more proven guy? I think so. That is just the offensive side.
   
• They need interior defensive tackle help. I’d encourage DJ Hicks to stay. Tyler Onyedim and Albert Regis are going to go. You have three freshmen you brought in. Dealyn Evans and Hicks, and I think you need another one. That is not a position where you play a lot of super young guys. You don’t want to. Edge rusher, you probably need a couple. You are losing Cashius Howell and Dayon Hayes. Marco Jones looks like a stud. You need guys.
   
• Taurean York could come back. Scooby Williams is gone. Daymion Sanford will stay. Noah Mikhail has been in on some important plays. Goal line packages. He is in the right spots a lot. They trust him.
   
• In the secondary, you lose Will Lee III, Tyreek Chappell, and, for Bryce Anderson, depending on the concussion, he could redshirt. For Dezz Ricks, I think he should come back. You have a lot of guys redshirting back there. You got bodies. Do they want to develop your guys, or is this a spot we need to find playing time elsewhere? You will lose two, maybe all three captains. Ar’Maj Reed-Adams and Trey Zuhn III are done. York will have a decision to make. If we bring in older guys, they have to be right in what we are building here. The steps you made from Year 1 to 2, you can’t go back. You have to keep building.
   
• Kamarui Dorsey‍, a highly-rated safety out of Georgia. Raylaun Henry‍, out of New Jersey. Kaden McCarty‍ from South Falls. He just set the record for most sacks in a game. I think A&M is in a great spot there. His final schools are all in the state of Texas. That is giving me good A&M vibes.
   
• If you asked me which one I am lowest on, I would say Henry. Ohio State has been heavily involved. You don’t want to be definitive. Anything can happen. But right now, he is visiting the A&M-South Carolina game the day before his commitment. That would seem like a good sign, but Ohio State is making a big push.