Press Conference: Jimbo Fisher details Texas A&M's 2021 signing class

Jimbo Fisher met with the media on Wednesday afternoon to discuss Texas A&M's 2021 signing class as the Aggies close out a very exciting haul that has the Maroon & White ranked in the top-ten nationally for a third-consecutive season.

Video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.

The following are live, paraphrased notes from head coach Jimbo Fisher's media availability on Wednesday.

• Very happy with today, but to our 12th Man and fans, thanks for all the support you gave us this year. It is second to none, and I’m very happy with everyone.
   
• We have gotten LJ Johnson Jr‍ to sign, and getting him is huge. He’s a great player. He’s a great young man, a great student, and one heck of a back. He’s very smooth, and you don’t realize how good he is with the little nuances of his game.
   
• Obviously, we’re not done. Hopefully, we’ll add some more players before the weekend is out.
   
• LJ complements our backs because he can do everything. He can catch the ball and run between the tackles. When you can leave one guy in there, they don’t know what you’re going to do. He’s strong and powerful, but he ran a 4.4. He can jump. He gets vertical and catches the ball. He’s a complete guy, and he’s a very intelligent young man. He’s very instinctive and very competitive.
   
• I get competitive in recruiting, just like the games. It’s a competition all the time. You’re competing for guys. You have to get them to picture themselves here. It’s extremely competitive. Life and this whole world are competitive every day, especially in this part of the country.
   
• Change is inevitable. Whether you want to adapt is up to you. Sometimes you like the change. Sometimes you don’t. The only changes I don’t like are when people aren’t doing it legitimately. Hopefully, some of these changes are good, but there are not enough scholarships for some of these guys and not enough playing time. You have to be careful in those regards. The ones who graduate are eligible immediately. I hope guys aren’t going to get frustrated when they’re young and push through it. There are times when transfers are good. We need to regulate it and make it fair, but that’s the NCAA’s job.
   
• Our ultimate goal is to win a title. We’re going to keep recruiting, and it’ll help us on the field. We’ll keep going towards the ultimate goal, and hopefully, our toughest games will be the ones in practice. You have to create the competition in the program by stacking classes together to get where you want to go.
   
• When Bryce Foster‍ committed, he surprised me because of when he did it, but I wasn’t complaining. He’s so gifted. Everyone sees how big and strong he is, but the athleticism is incredible. He can create power from low to high. He’s intelligent and smart, and he loves ball. He loves to run and lift weights. He’s going to be a two-sport guy for us here. He’ll throw the shot and disc as well.
   
• Our older guys will help show this class what to do, but you’re seeing freshmen contribute across the country. You have to incorporate for the future, and these kids are too gifted not to utilize them. To win a championship, they all have to be in this together. Hopefully, they’ll learn the culture of how we do things and play at a championship level.
   
• This is what I wanted. We got it across the board, and I’m very excited about our offensive and defensive lines. We have size and length. We’re competitive and intelligent, not just athletic. You have to have those mental tools, and I can’t wait to get with those guys and start working with them.
   
• People didn’t know what to expect from me or our team coming into 2020. The success on the field is definitely helping. We have branded ourselves as a team that is going to contend for a championship each year. If you want to sign those elite guys, it’s always hard. The information we’re taking and the resume we’re taking into these recruitments can make it much better.
   
• We’ll come together in March, and then we’ll have a spring game. We should be able to have fans and recruits there on April 17 for our Spring Game unless things change between now and then.
   
• This signing period turned into Zooms and texts. Everything from home. Everyone did a great job. Hats off to Marshall Malchow and his guys. The Zooms were so informative, and people said our Zooms were better than anybody else’s. Our coaches did a great job and spent a lot of time building these relationships. We took advantage of all our resources. With Zoom, you can still see each other, and it’s the next best thing. There is nothing like being in-person to watch them, but it’s the next best thing. Without Zoom, this would’ve been really tough.
   
• We will see where Kenneth Phillips‍ is physically. What he can and cannot do will be up to his doctors. He was a very gifted young man before his injury, and hopefully, he can get back to it.
   
• The only position we did not take in this class was linebacker, but we got better across the board. Hopefully, next year will be heavy with linebackers.
   
• I love the length, versatility and athleticism with our defensive back haul. All of these guys were offensive players, which means they have ball skills. The best defensive players I’ve ever been around were defensive-minded offensive players. That helps you. We have great space players, and they all have the versatility to play nickel, corner and safety. It’s like basketball in that you can become position-less to matchup.
   
• I think our receivers are going to be great in spring ball. Some of the young guys were pushing guys for playing time. Yulkeith Brown‍ and Shadrach Banks‍ are exciting players, and they should push some guys. It’ll be exciting. So many of our receivers can also play positionless, and that’s very critical for your offense.
   
• I’m not going to let anybody else tell me who is a good player. If I do that, I don’t need to be the head coach. There are some great, great players who were not at the top of the recruiting rankings. There are so many things that get glossed over. Wasn’t Ainias Smith a three-star? Jalen Wydermyer? Drew Brees and Tom Brady weren’t the highest recruited guys. You can make guys successful by how they fit in. That’s what makes football such a great game. At the end of the day, it matters about their production and how they helped your football team.
   
• Tell me when an SEC schedule is ever favorable. I promise you: I’d trade it with any other team in any other league. But seriously, this is a great schedule in 2021. We open up with a good game at Colorado, and then we play all of the other great teams in this league. It’ll be exciting.
   
• I’ve known Steve Sarkisian. I’ve respected what he has done. I’ve always had great respect for Steve. Texas has a lot of resources. Whoever is going to be there is going to be tough, and we have to do a good job of recruiting against them.
   
• Elijah Jeudy‍ is another big end who can run and has power. He is long, heavy-handed and athletic. I love it.
   
• Some of the defensive ends we have on campus are already so good, but you have to keep adding and have that rotation. When you play so much, you have to keep that rotation fresh to keep it going. It’s huge. There will be injuries up front. That’s part of the game. The depth will help us for the year.
   
• Getting Micheal Clemons, Myles Jones, Jayden Peevy and Aaron Hansford back is huge. That’s a lot of experience. The culture of what we have and translating it to the next guys is huge for everything we do.