Dream of playing college football.

If someone is accepted to A&M, but decides to attend smaller FCS School to play football, will A&M honor transfer later if football doesn't work out after a year or two?

No. Once you enroll in another institution after graduating from high school, transferring is your only path forward.

If you transfer, is high school transcript and SAT/ACT scores factored, or just what you did since high school?

You'll need 24 hours of college credit. Test scores are no longer relevant along with your high school transcript. You're essentially starting over.

Not to be a dream crusher, I'd just chime in to say to really think this through. 30+ years ago I was at a similar crossroads but with baseball, but I chose A&M and never regretted it for a minute. Now I have a daughter that graduated from A&M last year and a daughter that is a fish now, and they have several guy friends that struggled with this decision - keep playing at a small school or go to the college they'd really prefer to attend. Without exception, the ones that chose the sport ended up giving up the sport and transferring in a year to places like Arkansas and OSU. One thing not to underestimate is the level of commitment it takes to be a college athlete. It is all encompassing. It is not the normal college experience; that is being sacrificed. Also, the time to focus on classwork is challenged, so be careful with assuming the grades to get into A&M will be an automatic.

Just being practical, IMO at these levels, I think it makes the most sense for someone that wants to pursue coaching or some form of career in their sport where the background and connections of having played collegiately can pay off.