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

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• I was sitting on my couch, scrolling through Twitter and saw Evan Stewart‍ posted a picture with no caption. It was a screenshot of his Instagram page. The newest post looked like something with A&M on it. I clicked on it and went, “Oh, crap.” In terms of timing, nobody at TexAgs knew it was coming. Our phones started going crazy. We had to scramble to film an In-Home Visit. We were surprised by the timing, and we think only Bobby Taylor‍ knew it was happening.
   
• There was a time when some crystal balls were rolling in for Evan Stewart and Anthony Lucas‍ and other kids, and they didn’t like that. I think doing this in surprise fashion was a way for him to move away from that.
   
• We had felt good about A&M’s chances with Stewart. A&M blew the doors off when he made trips to College Station. A&M had gone from being off the radar to winning the recruitment, and it’s just more evidence to never count Jimbo Fisher out of any recruitment anywhere in the country.
   
• The remaining spots in the 2022 class will likely be filled by a combination of the following names: Mark Nabou‍, Kam Dewberry‍, Kelvin Banks‍ or Kiyaunta Goodwin‍ on the offensive line. That’s all you’re looking for on offense. On the defensive line, it’s Anthony Lucas‍, Enai White‍, Shemar Stewart‍ and Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy‍. At linebacker, I think it’s Harold Perkins‍. Shemar James‍ is coming to visit, but I wouldn’t put him in this category yet. In the defensive backfield, you’re looking at Denver Harris‍ and Jacoby Mathews‍. Count the number of five stars. It’s incredible what they’re doing. We’re talking about potentially the best class that anybody has ever signed. All of the dominoes don’t fall your way in recruiting, but if you get half of those, you’d have an argument of it being the best in history.
   
• The close could be unheard of, but you can’t overlook what they’ve already done.
   
• If you took five offensive linemen this year, they’d absolutely take the right five. You get into where the scholarships and numbers are going to look like. I still think you leave a spot open for a best-available. You don’t tell Banks, Dewberry or Goodwin no.
   
• A&M finished runner-up in Brownlow-Dindy’s recruitment. With Lincoln Riley leaving Norman and ongoing conversations with the A&M staff has kept that door open. It remains to be seen who leaves that Oklahoma staff.
   
• LSU still has members of the old staff out there recruiting. It’s a weird time of year. You saw it with the Oklahoma defensive back coach recruiting simultaneously for Oklahoma and USC. It creates more distrust for coaches, but it’s huge for Jimbo Fisher and A&M’s continuity. Jimbo’s word is golden now that he turned LSU down and was honest about it. It’s another feather in his cap on the recruiting trail.
   
• Next week, the Houston Touchdown Club awards will happen, and A&M has four commits nominated: Conner Weigman‍, Noah Thomas‍, Donovan Green‍ and Martrell Harris‍. There are a number of targets nominated for awards as well, and Perkins is nominated for the offensive player of the year, which tells you how athletic he is.
   
• I don’t see anything happening with Chris Marshall‍ to USC at all. There is no way to know if Brian Kelly to LSU will have an impact on any of the guys A&M is after. I don’t think he had existing relationships with anybody A&M is after, but will that matter? There is no way to know. The longevity of the relationship plays into A&M’s hand, but we’ll have to see who LSU hires to be their defensive coordinator. The recruiting pitch against Kelly is pretty easy right now after he walked away from a potential playoff spot. Those kinds of actions are not going to be seen favorably. Even the Lincoln Riley stuff, it’s easy to see how the negative recruiting pitch will go. I think he’ll do a good job in California.
   
• We will get the final number of where A&M wants to settle very soon. My guess would be 25 or 26, but it would not surprise me to see them take 27, especially with the names they’re still after.
   
• This class can give you a tidal wave of momentum going into 2023, and you can be selective early with who you take in that class. When you cement yourself in the top five classes every year, that’s when you cement yourself as a Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama or Georgia. That’s where Jimbo Fisher is heading. It’s not going to be resting on your laurels. It’s going to be recharging your batteries to go again. The focus right now is where they finish in 2022.