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

TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger joined TexAgs Radio on Wednesday morning for another edition of Recruiting Country, highlighting the latest news and notes from the recruiting trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• Everything that Mike Elko has done has been almost 180 degrees different than the way things were happening a year ago. When the pool party looks different than it has in the past, everybody in the fanbase, up to this point, has been on board with these changes.
   
• What Mike Elko said yesterday about nobody having missed a workout last summer when last year we had guys missing multiple workouts a week. All of that has changed. When they have a different feel for the way they want to run these recruiting events, shouldn’t this guy get the benefit of the doubt? Everything he does has been done with a purpose.
   
• To me, I’m confident that whatever Mike Elko does. There is a real thought process, strategy and reasoning for it. In a month, you are going to host a massive home game in front of the national audience, and that is going to portray what Texas A&M is better than a late-July pool party with nobody on campus.
   
• It would be great if they went out and got Trey McNutt III‍, Jonah Williams‍ and Kaliq Lockett‍, but if they don’t, just stick with Mike Elko. There is a method to what he is doing. He has a lot of his class done, and a lot of the work is already done. I think this party was more of a jump start for the class of 2026 rather than creating more momentum for the class of 2025.
   
• Noah Mikhail‍ and a bunch of the California guys were able to come. I believe there were only two from in-state that didn’t make it. Deondrae Riden‍ had a test to graduate early, and Tyler Thomas‍ at Dickinson had it hard due to all the rain.
   
• This was the first time that this mass group of commitments was all together in one place. It was about making a bond. The group chat got so much better, I bet. Getting them together was the important thing here. To learn to be tight-knit and loyal to each other so in a month, you have those guys coming in with that bond formed already.
   
• Texas A&M’s best selling point in the fall is what Saturdays look like in Kyle Field. To open this season with a marquee matchup, they’re going to take every advantage. From what we are hearing right now, that guest list is going to be star-studded. There are going to be some elite players from the class of 2025 and 2026 on campus.
   
• Trey McNutt is the big one. He came in the day before the pool party and went to Oregon for an unofficial visit. A&M did a fantastic job. They had a very personable and personalized visit. There were a lot of one-on-one talks about how Texas A&M would serve Trey McNutt and vice versa.
   
• The Aggies did a really good job heading into that Oregon visit. It was massively important that he moved his commitment date back. I truly believe that it is a coin flip.
   
• This is a kid that, if A&M lands him, will be Mike Elko’s best recruiting job. When a kid gets set in his mind that he is favoring one place, it is hard enough to break into that line of thinking, much less to surpass it. It is hard enough to find a crack in the door to get in. 
   
• If A&M wins out, not only have they come from behind, but they have completely changed this kid’s mind on what his future is going to look like. From what I’ve heard, I think his family is very comfortable with him playing football in the state of Texas. Trey McNutt has been in Houston a lot this summer training. That could play a factor in this thing. I’m not sitting here saying who is going to win, I am just giving you the reasons why it could be Texas A&M. 
   
• Jonah Williams’ decision is going to be 99.99 percent a football decision because of what has happened to the baseball rosters. You only get 34 players. Jonah is a legitimate dual-sport athlete. I think he is a professional baseball prospect, but he is also an NFL player. He is a rare breed of athlete.
   
• For Texas A&M, they have always been in it. They have been kind of under the radar. It goes to what Mike Elko was talking about at SEC Media Days. All the work is being done behind the scenes. I feel the same way about Michael Fasusi‍. I have a feeling that Texas A&M is closer to those guys than people are saying.
   
• Do not throw your toys out of the bin if Texas A&M doesn’t land any of those guys. There is so much time now. Talent acquisition and roster management is almost a year-round thing. The Aggies could start a linebacker that didn’t even play spring ball in Solomon DeShields. 
   
• A&M will be able, under this coaching staff, to put a plan in place if you don’t land your big high school guy. Obviously, that is the priority, but if we don’t, there is a plan to mitigate that.
   
• People freaked out about some Snapchat Kiotti Armstrong‍ posted from his Texas visit. He was wearing A&M stuff the same day. Kiotti is fine with Texas A&M. I have heard nothing else.