staying ahead of the decommits - sumlin's 2013 class

[bizzle]

i thought he put together a good staff of recruiters, but this is a better start than i hoped for. it's always easiest year 1 to recruit on hope - especially before playing in tuscaloosa - but i'm curious to see how many of these guys stick.

commits so far and thoughts:

1. derrick griffin - wr: stud, is he capable of counting to 3?
2. kerrick huggins - dt
3. christian lacouture - de/dt: moved to b/cs, we'll have to battle to keep him
4. kohl stewart - qb: overrated, there are better options for sumlin's offense
5. isaiah golden - dt
6. jamar gibson - wr
7. joas aguilar - ol
8. ishmael wilson - ol: stud, lsu will come storming after him soon
9. victor davis - s
10. johnny jefferson - rb/wr
11. james white - rb: love his film, big back we've needed for 3 years
12. jonathan wiggins - db/lb: average film, great frame
13. j.j. gustafson - ol

overall thoughts at the moment are 1. beaty is killing it in d/fw, considering we've had less than zero presence there for the past decade. and 2. i think 8 of these guys will be in the 4 star range, which is quite an improvement in the quality of recruit.

as i've said before, sumlin will succeed or fail based on his defensive front 7 recruiting, and it really doesn't matter who texas gets - if anyone at A&M can beat ou/osu/lsu for a couple of quality kids in dallas, houston and east texas, they can compete on the field.

we shall see how many of these guys are left in the fold novemberish.

[Chuckie Finster]

i thought he put together a good staff of recruiters, but this is a better start than i hoped for. it's always easiest year 1 to recruit on hope - especially before playing in tuscaloosa - but i'm curious to see how many of these guys stick.

commits so far and thoughts:

1. derrick griffin - wr: stud, is he capable of counting to 3?
2. kerrick huggins - dt
3. christian lacouture - de/dt: moved to b/cs, we'll have to battle to keep him
4. kohl stewart - qb: overrated, there are better options for sumlin's offense
5. isaiah golden - dt
6. jamar gibson - wr
7. joas aguilar - ol
8. ishmael wilson - ol: stud, lsu will come storming after him soon
9. victor davis - s
10. johnny jefferson - rb/wr
11. james white - rb: love his film, big back we've needed for 3 years
12. jonathan wiggins - db/lb: average film, great frame
13. j.j. gustafson - ol

overall thoughts at the moment are 1. beaty is killing it in d/fw, considering we've had less than zero presence there for the past decade. and 2. i think 8 of these guys will be in the 4 star range, which is quite an improvement in the quality of recruit.

as i've said before, sumlin will succeed or fail based on his defensive front 7 recruiting, and it really doesn't matter who texas gets - if anyone at A&M can beat ou/osu/lsu for a couple of quality kids in dallas, houston and east texas, they can compete on the field.

we shall see how many of these guys are left in the fold novemberish.

I know if I were a new head coach, I would most want to mimic Mack Brown's recruiting strategy from 2006-2009. Land a few studs early (Wilson, Golden) mixed in with some low-hanging three star fruit (Wiggins, Davis, Aguilar). It worked out real nice for him.

[housious]

Looks like a bunch of $#@!ets

[groverat]

Good work so far by Sumlin.

[alincoln]

Hiring a young, black coach and moving to the SEC are perfect solutions to aggy's short-term recruiting issues.

aggy desperately needed to differentiate themselves from the competition in the region in a positive way and SEC football and a black HC will appeal to recruits more than being a B-12 also ran with an AARP white dude.

What is the downside? Perpetual irrelevance in the SEC instead of perpetual irrelevance in the BIG 12?

I would be shocked if aggy is consistently anything beyond second-tier but I understand the logic of taking a risk as they will ALWAYS be second-tier in the state of Texas.

[AGGHOLE]

Very impressed with all commits except for Wiggins who had an injury most of last year. Coach Sum's is gettin sum.

[groverat]

I used to be very impressed with Texas's early-filled classes full of 3-stars with no offers from major programs.

[The Missing Link]

1. derrick griffin - wr: stud, is he capable of counting to 3?

I wouldn't rely on this one. He can't even spell Derek correctly - is he drilling for oil?

2. kerrick huggins - dt
3. christian lacouture - de/dt
13. j.j. gustafson - ol

Solid guys and I don't think they are much of a decommit threat.

6. jamar gibson - wr

A solid guy but shouldn't be the best WR Sumlin takes.

11. james white - rb

Under-the-radar guy, but very good.

4. kohl stewart - qb

If Sumlin wanted to avoid the drawn-out QB dance, this was probably the right guy.

5. isaiah golden - dt
8. ishmael wilson - ol

Decommit threats.

7. joas aguilar - ol
9. victor davis - s
10. johnny jefferson - rb/wr
12. jonathan wiggins - db/lb: average film, great frame

Who?

[fhetw]

I find it interesting that outside of the supposed blue chip prospects (most of which UT seems to be winning/in a better position for), both schools are targeting different players. It does seem like A&M is pulling the old Mack strategy of filling up early with a few less heralded takes.
Some very solid players in Gustafson, Gibson, White, Golden, Wilson, if they stick.
Hopefully Wiggins' decision won't affect Prevot (though he said he'll make his own decision).

A&M seems like its shooting for a full 25-28 though, which UT should be under 20. So I'm glad were taking a different approach. There have been so many names that have popped up since JD1 who we prob would have missed out on in previous years.

[jt]

I know if I were a new head coach, I would most want to mimic Mack Brown's recruiting strategy from 2006-2009. Land a few studs early (Wilson, Golden) mixed in with some low-hanging three star fruit (Wiggins, Davis, Aguilar). It worked out real nice for him.

i'm not a huge fan of grabbing that low hanging fruit, but that strategy wasn't exactly terrible. go back and keep all the players kicked off/transferred because of arrests or grades and texas wins 9 or 10 in 2010.

[BigVegasHorn26]

If you guys hold on to Wilson after LSU offers, it'll be time to start checking the fedex trucks again.

[r2k3982]

Can you put how much you like each player so that we can quote it when they decommit and you say they suck, they aren't good enough for the SEC, and how you didn't want/need them anyway?

[Chuckie Finster]

i'm not a huge fan of grabbing that low hanging fruit, but that strategy wasn't exactly terrible. go back and keep all the players kicked off/transferred because of arrests or grades and texas wins 9 or 10 in 2010.

Or we could have potentially held out for better players that could have prevented the 2010 season from relying solely on the success of a first year starter at QB. Selling out early for the Brock Fitzhenrys, Britt Mitchells, Dustin Earnests, and Paden Kellys of the world is not a recipe for success.

[Brock Rockswell]

How do Aggies recruit? Do they send everyone on their watch list sheep?

[victory88]

Not a bad start so far for the aggies. However, like many of said... I really don't see all of them sticking.

Studs:
- Derrick Griffin- Seriously... could he even make it into ou? Even if he gets into a&m, I'll be shocked if he has the grades to stay eligible.
- Golden- Stud. Looks like the Sumlin told him he'll start day 1 due to their lack of any talent or bodies at DT.
- Wilson- Stud. If they hold on to him, I'll be impressed. Seriously, I wouldn't even count him as a commit until LSU offers.

Solid guys:
- James White
- Jamar Gibson
- J.J. Gustafon
- Christian Lacouture.
These are the type of guys that usually show up to JD2 at Texas. Talented but not in the first tier. Texas would have probably offered guys like White and Gustafon if we struck/strike out on the first tier guys like Hicks, Perkins, Robinson, etc.

Overrated:
Stewart- Texags has already said he's Tebow and Matt Barkley combined into one and will win the hiesman 4 years. I think Swoopes/Barrett/Thomas are all a tier above Stewart. While a solid guy, he's not what aggies are hyping him up to be.

Rest of the guys, I've never heard of. Probably a few diamond in the roughs that will contribute, but most of them are hanging fruit.

[everybodygodeep]

Being in the SEC has made them king of the 3 stars. About 5 or 6 really good gets out of 13.

The difference is they are not waiting on the top tier, getting shut out and then having to settle for 3rd tier because 2nd tier players are all gone. They go straight for the 2nd tier players. It should really hurt ou and osu more than anything.

[bizzle]

Can you put how much you like each player so that we can quote it when they decommit and you say they suck, they aren't good enough for the SEC, and how you didn't want/need them anyway?

i think all of them are very solid minus kohl stewart (not a great fit for the offense), aguilar (haven't seen any film), and victor davis (seems like a jag).

the rest are pretty damn high potential guys.

[laxtono]

4. kohl stewart - qb: overrated, there are better options for sumlin's offense

He is considered one of the top HS LHP prospects in the state with low to mid 90's with OK mechanics... Would be surprised to see him still around after the MLB draft comes calling... Could stay, but if he goes in the first few rounds, I expect him to be gone.

[bizzle]

These are the type of guys that usually show up to JD2 at Texas. Talented but not in the first tier. Texas would have probably offered guys like White and Gustafon if we struck/strike out on the first tier guys like Hicks, Perkins, Robinson, etc.

i think is the main point. mack is going to always get his, but to the extent sumlin signs some 2nd round tx offers and 1st round ou/osu/lsu offers - assuming he can identify talent - he's in great shape. ou has exactly zero commits at the moment.

as far as qb, kenny hill and thomas are the two guys i want.

[Huckleberry]

I am rooting heartily for A&M to beat OU in head-to-head battles.

[Mouse Rat]

Where is the "Derrick Griffin is a complete idiot" stuff coming from? I'm not saying that he is or isn't. Just that I've only read it here. Has he been held back multiple times and is 22? Is there a youtube video of him speaking where he sounds like, well... Jamaal Charles? Any info would be appreciated.

[MoJames]

Who cares?

[calien]

I've missed it - why is everyone bashing Griffin's intelligence, aside from committing to ATM?

[Huckleberry]

Basically the perfect long-term situation is for A&M to recruit well enough to keep the super studs and other top-level recruits that don't want to come to Texas away from Oklahoma but not well enough to where they actually threaten to consistently perform well in the SEC West. I have confidence that's exactly where they'll end up.

[Huckleberry]

Aren't they already talking to Griffin about a sign and place at a JUCO? That should answer the questions.

[The Moral Compass]

i think is the main point. mack is going to always get his, but to the extent sumlin signs some 2nd round tx offers and 1st round ou/osu/lsu offers - assuming he can identify talent - he's in great shape. ou has exactly zero commits at the moment.

as far as qb, kenny hill and thomas are the two guys i want.

Both are serious baseball players, Thomas the kind that attracts enough money to keep him out of school. With Stewart most likely taking the big league money as well, who do you think Sumlin goes after?

[jt]

Or we could have potentially held out for better players that could have prevented the 2010 season from relying solely on the success of a first year starter at QB. Selling out early for the Brock Fitzhenrys, Britt Mitchells, Dustin Earnests, and Paden Kellys of the world is not a recipe for success.

i don't disagree one bit. but the fact of the matter is that had texas not lost burnette, watts, webb, mcgaskey, jones, collins, etc, you'd have been plenty happy w/ all of those guys as backups. the attrition to law/grade issues from the 06-08 classes killed texas 10x more than the missed evaluations or early takes.

[ag96]

i think all of them are very solid minus kohl stewart (not a great fit for the offense), aguilar (haven't seen any film), and victor davis (seems like a jag).

the rest are pretty damn high potential guys.

I thought the same thing on Davis till I watched his film, he seems to really like to hit and pursues the play well. Could be a nice pickup.

Aguilar is massive and might be one that randomly flew under the radar, too early to see how he works out but he could be a steal.

Very happy with Griffin, Golden, Huggins, Wilson, Stewart, White, Lacouture, and Gustafson, and some of the other guys like Gibson, Jefferson, and Wiggins definitely have potential.

Aren't they already talking to Griffin about a sign and place at a JUCO? That should answer the questions.

Nope, from what I understand there's simply been some questions brought up about his grades. With a year and a half till he graduates I'd think it's way too early to write a kid off as JUCO.

[CPHornFan]

Who cares?

Aaaaand here we have the one and only correct answer.

[closetojumping]

The Gibson guy is like the dude from Spring Woods years ago. He might not get in on the first try, but he could be a guy that is a big player down the road.

Golden is an excellent get and one UT would love to have.

Wilson might not be the complete lock to LSU that everyone believes he is.

White was going to be a potential Texas offer if Hicks didn't come out of the woodwork.

Stewart is a guy that any program would be okay with in a normal year. This year is an exceptional QB year in Texas, so it makes sense that folks wouldn't be as excited by him.

I just can't feign any real interest in the other guys. They're not "SEC good" or "Texas good" and that is a problem.

[the chronic]

I've missed it - why is everyone bashing Griffin's intelligence, aside from committing to ATM?

According to 247 he flunked his way off the Terry basketball team this season.

Even though he plans to be an ag I hope he gets his $#@! together. He has a lot of work to do and would be a waste with all the talent he has.

[groverat]

If you fail your way off a public school basketball team you're either really dumb or really lazy. Odds are on "really lazy". Public schools basically will not fail you if you make minimal effort.

[r2k3982]

According to 247 he flunked his way off the Terry basketball team this season.

Even though he plans to be an ag I hope he gets his $#@! together. He has a lot of work to do and would be a waste with all the talent he has.

He himself said that he has a lot of work to do. That's where all the "rumors" came from.

[the chronic]

If you fail your way off a public school basketball team you're either really dumb or really lazy. Odds are on "really lazy". Public schools basically will not fail you if you make minimal effort.

a lot of these kids come from really rough backgrounds and don't receive the best guidance, and i believe that is the case with griffin. it's not always so black and white that the kid is just stupid or lazy, it is a lot more difficult to succeed without positive role models in your life or good influence.

[HoyaAg]

a lot of these kids come from really rough backgrounds and don't receive the best guidance, and i believe that is the case with griffin. it's not always so black and white that the kid is just stupid or lazy, it is a lot more difficult to succeed without positive role models in your life or good influence.

Former teacher in South Central LA chiming in here. This is accurate. When you're a product of a really terrible education system with not much guidance to get you academically from point A to point B, problems can compound themselves pretty quickly. You'll see kids hit 7th/8th grade with 2nd/3rd grade reading levels. It's not an 8 year olds responsibility to figure out they are academically behind and seek action to improve, thats the role of a parent or teacher. By the time it is the kid's responsibility to get their academic skills up to par, they're so far behind skills wise that the gap is insanely hard to close. How do you study for a biology test if you can't read the book? Algebra 2 if your times tables are rusty? I'm always rooting for kids like Griffin to get it together, even if they're committed to Texas.

[vince4heisman]

Gibson got booted off the team at baytown sterling mid season, on a team that was 0-fer....he transferred to goose creek where he may not even be able to play next year

[dluens]

a lot of these kids come from really rough backgrounds and don't receive the best guidance, and i believe that is the case with griffin. it's not always so black and white that the kid is just stupid or lazy, it is a lot more difficult to succeed without positive role models in your life or good influence.

As an ex high school educator, I agree wholeheartedly with this.

[mileslong]

i thought he put together a good staff of recruiters, but this is a better start than i hoped for. it's always easiest year 1 to recruit on hope - especially before playing in tuscaloosa - but i'm curious to see how many of these guys stick.

you really think that playing in tuscaloosa has any impact at all in your recruiting? you seriously need to get over this SEC $#@!...then why doesn't vanderbilt, ole miss, miss state etc recruit better? they also get to play there...

I'm always rooting for kids like Griffin to get it together, even if they're committed to Texas.

i call bull$#@! on that one, i've never met an aggy who wished nothing but misery on texas fans or students regardless of the situation...

[victory88]

you really think that playing in tuscaloosa has any impact at all in your recruiting? you seriously need to get over this SEC $#@!...then why doesn't vanderbilt, ole miss, miss state etc recruit better? they also get to play there...

The way I read it, I thought he meant that it's much easier to recruit now based on "hope". Because they will get anally raped against bama, where recruits will see just how good (or shall I say $#@!ty) the team really is... making it harder for Sumlin to sell his kool aid.

[Mouse Rat]

^^^^

Methinks he is saying they're going to get rolled by 'Bama and then the commits with other options may re-consider A&M as their college of choice. But right now, and until they get crushed in '12, everything is bright and shiny.

edit: Victory wins (or is victorious). I lose.

[noahconstrictor]

I wouldn't rely on this one. He can't even spell Derek correctly - is he drilling for oil?

maybe my sarcasm meter is broken, but...

[The Missing Link]

It was meant as a knock on his intellegence. Not the Derrick spelling in general (well maybe the last part).

[housious]

Former teacher in South Central LA chiming in here. This is accurate. When you're a product of a really terrible education system with not much guidance to get you academically from point A to point B, problems can compound themselves pretty quickly. You'll see kids hit 7th/8th grade with 2nd/3rd grade reading levels. It's not an 8 year olds responsibility to figure out they are academically behind and seek action to improve, thats the role of a parent or teacher. By the time it is the kid's responsibility to get their academic skills up to par, they're so far behind skills wise that the gap is insanely hard to close. How do you study for a biology test if you can't read the book? Algebra 2 if your times tables are rusty? I'm always rooting for kids like Griffin to get it together, even if they're committed to Texas.

Sounds like you're dealing with retards. Or maybe their teacher is aggy? Who knows.

[bizzle]

The Gibson guy is like the dude from Spring Woods years ago. He might not get in on the first try, but he could be a guy that is a big player down the road.

Golden is an excellent get and one UT would love to have.

Wilson might not be the complete lock to LSU that everyone believes he is.

White was going to be a potential Texas offer if Hicks didn't come out of the woodwork.

Stewart is a guy that any program would be okay with in a normal year. This year is an exceptional QB year in Texas, so it makes sense that folks wouldn't be as excited by him.

I just can't feign any real interest in the other guys. They're not "SEC good" or "Texas good" and that is a problem.

i'm assuming you're leaving griffin off b/c of grades, but i think you're nuts if you don't think lacouture or gustafson could help texas, or anyone else, in a major way.

for what its worth our coaches love victor davis and consider him a huge get. i don't really see it.

[tokamak]

bizzle, what are the odds that Stewart goes to baseball? Are y'all taking another QB for sure?

Wilson, Golden, and Griffin are a step up from what aggy has been getting in recent years. And several others are dudes that in the past, might have waited around a while to see if Texas would offer. Very happy with the class we have so far, but two mediocre seasons in a row is having an effect at least in that regard.

Don't see the decommit epidemic that everyone is crowing about as being necessarily inevitable. Every year is different, and these dudes right now are committing to a staff that will definitely still be in place next February.

[AGGHOLE]

I think we will get Kenny Hill, and personally I think our staff likes him more than Kohl Stewart anyways.

[Chuckie Finster]

I think we will get Kenny Hill, and personally I think our staff likes him more than Kohl Stewart anyways.

But I thought Stewart was the love child of John Elway and Brett Favre?

That's what you guys told me at least.

[victory88]

i'm assuming you're leaving griffin off b/c of grades, but i think you're nuts if you don't think lacouture or gustafson could help texas, or anyone else, in a major way.

for what its worth our coaches love victor davis and consider him a huge get. i don't really see it.

I wouldn't say they would help in a major way. They are both solid 3 star players that are JD2 type of guys who would be back up plans at Texas. Perkins, Robinson, Raulerson, Porter, and Wilson are all better OT prospects than Gustafson. I don't really see anything special about lacouture... he's just okay in a very down year at DE and defense in general. They're not bad gets, but I don't think they're the type of guys that will elevate a&m to the next level. They're players you guys get on a usual basis.

The difference makers are Griffin, Wilson, and Golden. If you guys can hold on them, they will be the stars of your class.

The funny thing is seeing the complete 180 over at Texags. I remember when Mack was taking the same type of questionable commitments before we changed our strategy. Aggies would always say we were taking guys who were willing to commit and really had no business getting an offer at Texas. And they were right for the most part. Now Sumlin is doing it and they are going ape$#@! and praising him as some sort of recruiting God. haha, I just recently saw a thread on there where they were gloating about how all their players were on the ESPN 150 list. Then one of the smarter ones figured out it was just a watch list that has about 500 prospects. I couldn't help but laugh.

[HoyaAg]

The funny thing is seeing the complete 180 over at Texags. I remember when Mack was taking the same type of questionable commitments before we changed our strategy. Aggies would always say we were taking guys who were willing to commit and really had no business getting an offer at Texas. And they were right for the most part. Now Sumlin is doing it and they are going ape$#@! and praising him as some sort of recruiting God.

So what you're saying is that our fanbase reacts inconsistently to news and demonstrates a strong positive bias towards our players and coach's decision making, and a strong negative bias against those of our rivals. You might be on to something here.

[mileslong]

So what you're saying is that our fanbase reacts inconsistently to news and demonstrates a strong positive bias towards our players and coach's decision making, and a strong negative bias against those of our rivals. You might be on to something here.

difference here is that we acknowledge good players when you have them, you people still think reggie/johnson are better than vince young and tannehill was better than colt mccoy was...and of course bucky was better than all of them combined. the most delusional fanbase on the planet, thats the difference...it goes way beyond bias...