Recruiting rankings no reason to despair
Fisher & Co. need more time to make imprint on landscape
COLLEGE STATION — Uninvited advice for any Texas A&M fans expecting immediate returns on a new $75 million coach: Don’t peek at recruiting rankings between now and national signing day, and perhaps even then.
Since firing Kevin Sumlin in late November and hiring Jimbo Fisher from Florida State in early December, A&M has plummeted in the 247Sports composite rankings, from 11 at one point in the fall to its current slot of 29 as of Thursday.
Why? There seem to be two primary reasons: The coaching change itself combined with the new early signing period that A&M, and any other school with a coaching change, experienced up close and personal for the first time.
“With only 10 players having signed in December, A&M is one of the few Power Five schools in the country not to have most of its class already inked,” said Brian Perroni, a Houston-based national recruiting analyst for 247Sports. “With a staff that hadn’t been in place long, it wasn’t surprising that not many of the Aggie ‘commits’ signed, as they wanted to see what happened with the rest of the coaching staff, as well as form relationships with the new coaches.”
Pledges lost in transition
The Aggies have only 14 signees or pledges to date, tied for second-lowest among any program in the top 30 rankings. As Perroni mentioned, 10 of those players signed early, with four still having non-binding verbal pledges to A&M. As for what was once a bigger, bolder class?
“A&M has lost commitments from four-star defensive lineman Bobby Brown, who flipped to Alabama, and four-star linebacker DaShaun White, who changed his pledge to Oklahoma,” Perroni said. “Four-star safety Leon O’Neal Jr. (of Cypress Springs) also de-committed, but most expect him to eventually end up back in the fold.
“Those losses have caused the Aggies to drop from just outside the top 10 to No. 29 in the team rankings.”
All is not lost for A&M between now and Feb. 7, however. Far from it. Perroni pointed out that A&M is considered the leader for O’Neal and four-star receiver Jaylen Waddle of Episcopal High. The Aggies are in the top three for five-star cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart and the top two for four-star defensive end Jeremiah Martin, both from California.
“The Aggies need to close on those and find some linebackers, because the loss of White left the team without a commitment at that position in this class,” Perroni said. “The early signing period made that a lot tougher, though, as many of the wouldbe targets are already locked in with schools.”
Fisher, who won a national title at Florida State in 2013, has argued passionately that the early signing period should be just prior to camp opening in August and not in early December. And then if a coaching change is made at a school, early signees have the option of backing out of the agreement.
Still room for improvement
When the tire tread settles from the recruiting track, Perroni said he expects A&M to at least be in the top 15 or 20 this year, based on the closing abilities of high-revving recruiters like Tim Brewster, Dameyune Craig and Bradley Dale Peveto, along with Fisher.
Brewster, a bountiful user of exclamation marks to convey his excitement via Twitter, posted this week, “The impact that Kyle Field has on recruits is ridiculous!!”
The self-described “hunters” also are keeping in mind next year, considering the new A&M staff got in late on the current class, with so many making their pledges last summer and before. Also, with so many returning lettermen — last season about two-thirds of the traveling squad were underclassmen — there aren’t as many openings as some other programs have.
“The class of 2019 will be a lot more telling on how Jimbo Fisher & Co. will do on the recruiting trail,” Perroni said of giving this staff time to work its purported magic.
Fisher has referred to recruiting as the “lifeline of your organization,” and that was reflected in his eight seasons at FSU. According to 247Sports, the Seminoles ranked fourth nationally in 2014, third in 2015, third in 2016 and sixth in 2017. The Aggies during the same span ranked fifth, 11th, 18th and 13th.
Right now, A&M’s No. 29 is behind noteworthy foes (on the field or in a recruit’s living room) Texas (three), Alabama (five), Auburn (10), LSU (12), TCU (21), Baylor (23) and Mississippi State (24), among others in the Southeastern Conference and in the region.
That should be a little different in early February — or at least it had better be for expectant Aggies — and especially different a year from now, if Fisher has managed to carry his recruiting process across state lines.