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Texas A&M Recruiting 2025: The Land of Melk & No Money


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17 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

It will be very interesting to see if Sims didn’t visit this weekend because of a “weekend visit” bag, what does that mean? Someone pays to not visit this particular weekend? If so, what an incredible waste of money. Might as well flush dollar bills down the toilet. Or is it to not visit Texas at all? Because if it is the latter, then why are the Ags unsure about a later visit? 

This is what Victor R. Franko would do.....

1) Take the money!

2) doesn't matter what I tell A&M for the money, because it's all under the table non-sense. Spend the money.

3) Publicly make a good sounding excuse to not attend this week to UT. This keeps me in good standing with UT, and A&M can crow over there one time victory.

4) Continue negotiations with UT and set up another meeting. It might be too obvious to set up a UT game visit every time they play. OU week UT is visitor so no visit there. OK, good enough set up Georgia visit, maybe another payday to not attend.

5) Could I get paid to visit aggy again when UT plays in Kyle? If yes, hold off commitment until after the game, get another payday, then no more commitments until I sign. 

 New level of FUPM going on here.

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On 9/28/2024 at 6:51 AM, Victor R. Franko said:

So what's to keep a player/recruit from using the Dickerson end around? Tell A&M everything they want to hear, place fat bag here. Commit on the pool party one day special, place fat bag here. Meanwhile negotiate with desirable team that may win something during my time there. Post negotiations, de-Commit and sign up with a legit NIL deal above board and IRS compliant. 

When aggy complains I tell them what Dickerson did. You want me to tell everyone where I got this money and why?

If I was a stud recruit, I'd be tempted to do this, seems like easy money to me. Easy CASH money that disappears as gasoline, toys, clothes, booze, restaurant meals, computers for family and friends. Bag droppers seem like they want this type of compensation from a player/recruit. 

 

Bag Droppers playing the bag game in the time of legit above board NIL contracts, IMHO will get you broke. A fool and his money were lucky to get together in the first place.

It usually boils down to the uncle, or the trainer, or whoever it is facilitating the transaction. They will never get paid again in the future if their "client" takes the money and signs elsewhere. So the trainer exerts enough pressure on the kid with threats, innuendo, or whatever it takes to make sure that they don't sign elsewhere. 

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Liucci 

Segment 1 (00:00:00 - 13:56:12)

*Liucci walks in, jamming to “King of Wishful Thinking” by Go West and “Dirty Diana” by Michael Jackson*

  • Texas' schedule is easy as hell. They have remarkably easy schedules in year one and year two of the SEC. Whereas, Oklahoma got hammered by the schedule. Florida got hammered by the schedule. Georgia has it rough. Texas has it easy. They hear me say that, and then they run to Twitter. 
     
  • They don't hear me say that Texas A&M got gifted a nice schedule for this year. Next year, it gets harder. It's mostly because of the flip between road and home. Next year at home, Texas A&M plays Florida, Auburn, Mississippi State and South Carolina. The way Florida and Auburn are going, you think that you should win all of those games. On the road, though, Texas A&M plays LSU in Death Valley, Texas in Austin, Missouri in Columbia, Arkansas in Fayetteville and Notre Dame in South Bend. I don't take offense if someone says that Texas A&M drew an easy schedule by SEC standards. It is still tougher than Texas' schedule.
     
  • I normally visit friends at halftime or talk to some people in the stands. I just stayed down there. I was stressed. I told one of the news guys on our football staff that that is how the Arkansas game always goes. It is also how every Saturday in the SEC goes. Look at Georgia. Look how great Georgia is and how their last couple of games have gone. They have had to stress it out against Kentucky. They walked away feeling lucky to get a win. They come in this week and look up, and they're down 28-0. Georgia's last two weeks have been holy hell. 
     
  • I heard Kirby Smart say at one point in the game that they were down that big against Texas A&M at Kyle Field. I guess he was talking about 2013 when Alabama was down 14-0 and 21-7. It was never 28-0 or 30-7. Maybe it felt like that to Kirby Smart because no one scored on them back then.
     
  • Texas is No. 2. They are no worse than one of the five best teams in the country, if not No. 1 or No. 2. Time will tell. They played a team that has looked like the worst team in the SEC, with a backup quarterback, at home and had a letdown. I still think Texas would have won, but it may have been a fourth-quarter game.
     
  • That is the difference. You saw what Kentucky did to Ole Miss. Imagine if you had to go to Kroger Field this week. It gets really tough in this league. I wonder how many times Nick Saban had to win a game in the last five minutes in the past two years. Unless you are one of those top three to four teams in the SEC, every game is going to be like what A&M dealt with on Saturday. Even then, look at Ole Miss and Kentucky. If you can get two out of your eight SEC games to look like the Florida game, then you are either lucky or one of the top three to four teams in the league. 

Segment 2 (13:56:13 - 18:08:04)

  • In 2012, we were up 20-0 against Alabama. The next year, we were up 14-0. An endzone pick on a fade that the receiver should have at least jumped up and broken up happened. I don't know if A&M would've gone up 28-7 or 21-0, but they were up 14-0 to start that game, and still, to this day, I think that was the loudest I've ever seen Kyle Field. When Johnny Manziel just fades to Mike Evans left and right. This was all built up as Nick Saban's revenge, and they ended up winning that ball game the next year.
     
  • One of you, either David or Olin, said that Notre Dame was one of the worst quarterback showings that we had in a big game. I think you guys were going back to that Conner Weigman game against Notre Dame. Kyle Allen against Alabama in 2015. Three pick-sixes against Alabama in a game.
     
  • Then Kyler Murray came in and threw a pick. People now make fun of it like it's not a bad thing because he didn't want to play because of the way they were moving quarterbacks, but that's not funny to me. That is the sign of a loser. That you don't want to go in and compete against Alabama and you threw a pick that half the guys on the team thought was intentional. That's not cool. I don't care if you don't like your coach. You don't want to play against Alabama?

Segment 3 (18:08:05 - 20:07:24)

  • The 2022 Alabama game was a fun game. Texas A&M went in there not expecting to win and came down to the final play. It is crazy what one play can do for a season or coaching tenure. You think of Jimbo Fisher, that play on the goal line, and the chance to beat Alabama again. You think about Kevin Sumlin, and if Deshawn Capers-Smith intercepts that ball, maybe you won't lose that first game to UCLA. It was not his fault. I picked one play out of thirty that I could have picked.  

  • I'll give you one play from Saturday. The Aggies are about to go for it near midfield early in the second quarter. Texas A&M gets a penalty, backs up five yards and punts. If they don't get the penalty and don't convert on fourth down, Arkansas gets a short field. Who knows if A&M would have gone down 21-7 or 17-7? Instead, you punt it and pin Arkansas deep. Shemar Stewart blew up a play, you recover the fumble, and then it's a tie game. You never know when these plays are going to win or lose a game or alter a season or coaching tenure. 

Segment 4 (20:07:25 - 44:41:24)

  • I don’t think the goal is to trend along all year like that because, as we also saw throughout the Jimbo era, it certainly keeps you in the danger zone longer. If they can be playing the level of defense that they are playing now, which isn't perfect yet, but it is good, solid SEC defense without question. If they can keep doing that and if they were to get more explosive on offense, they would be a really dangerous football team.
     
  • As it stands now, this team on that schedule can win every game they play. Until they get more big play explosive, you're going to be in the danger zone every week. That is most of the league for different reasons. LSU is explosive as hell but they're going to give up a lot of plays. Every team is trying to get out of that. LSU is trying to get better on defense, and A&M is trying to be more explosive on offense. I think they're getting closer. It’s hard to see. The running game is getting better, even though they struggled throughout that game.
     
  • First of all, Marcel Reed was sacked three times and two of them were by Landon Jackson. I still think they did a good job of giving him time to throw and protecting him. The running game is hard to do when you're outnumbered. Le’Veon Moss started running like a man possessed. On Saturday, you had the 58-yard touchdown to Noah Thomas. If Marcel connects with Noah, you might've had a 75-yard touchdown. That was the closest we've seen to this offense opening it up, attacking down the field, making the opponent respect and back off.
     
  • There is a ways to go before we say that this is an explosive, lethal, dangerous passing group. I am looking to see this week against Missouri, the following game after a bye week against Ole Miss. Can you make enough plays to win that one? Then when LSU comes in here, can you do that? I think it's moving in the right direction.
     
  • I think people are underestimating that you had a quarterback that won the job, hands down. You have a very inexperienced quarterback who played four quarters of a low-quality ball game, and now he made his third career start on Saturday. He has shown so much as far as checking boxes, but he is very much still a developing quarterback and passer. When A&M's winning these games, you either get a much better Reed week-to-week or you get Conner back. As long as Marcel is progressing, I don't think you change it. This week will be interesting because it's three weeks in.
     
  • They went neutral against Arkansas in a four-quarter game. They had an unexpected test with Bowling Green in a B-game, maybe even a C-game, but they won on an off day. If you had asked me where they would have been this week, I would have said 4-1, and they are 4-1. Maybe, I would have had them 5-0. But I think if they can beat Missouri this week, they really have a chance to get this thing going in the right direction.
     
  • Arkansas probably won't be going to a bowl game, and Florida probably won't be going to a bowl game. I think they both needed to beat A&M to go to a bowl game this year. Most people don't know much about A&M this year except that we have a young quarterback and Mike Elko. I don't know why beating Arkansas close or beating Bowling Green close should catch anyone's attention.
     
  • You win on Saturday, and you catch everyone's attention. Not only because you beat a top-10 team at home, but because you would be 3-0 in the SEC, you would be 5-0 on a winning streak. Then people start going, "You were actually close to beating Notre Dame."
     
  • I'm looking at A&M's schedule and don't call it easy because it never is, but realize you could have been dealt a lot worse hand than you were. This schedule in year one for Mike Elko could have been a lot more tough. Jimbo's second year coaching here, you had No. 1 Alabama, No. 1 Clemson, No. 1 LSU and a Georgia team that was No. 1 earlier in the year. You had Bo Nix and Derrick Brown at a top-10 Auburn team. Like, let me get my footing. They've set it up so that once they get better, the Aggies can get their footing.

Segment 5 (44:41:25 - 48:55:24)

  • I think pass breakups, interceptions, and tipped passes intercepted for pick-sixes are flashy. How many pass breakups did Will Lee III have on Saturday? He had four. That is pretty special. He set the single-game record in the Southwest Classic.
     
  • That secondary has been good. I said before the game that Arkansas was more of a test than we had seen. Not because Arkansas has a great passing game, but because of Taylen Green's elusiveness and mobility and their receiving corps. Green's passing ability is probably driving Bobby Petrino nuts.
     
  • I think that the Arkansas receiving corps, Andrew Armstrong, Isaiah Sategna, Isaac TeSlaa and Tyrone Broden, is the best that A&M has faced so far this year. They don't have a guy to consistently get them the ball in rhythm. They are not like Alabama or LSU. There is no Malik Nabers, Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, or Brian Thomas Jr.
     
  • The secondary gave up some yards, but it was mostly the one big play. It was a busted play. Green should have never had that much time. He made a great move. Three Aggies had a shot at him. He did a great job of getting through that and finding a guy over the top for a touchdown. Other than that, I thought the secondary did a great job. 
     
  • It was nice to see Dezz Ricks get an interception. Mike Elko is still figuring things out in the secondary. Dalton Brooks has missed almost two full games from targeting penalties. He looked great on Saturday.
     
  • Bryce Anderson only played 17 snaps because he is banged up, so you saw more Marcus Ratcliffe and Trey Jones III. You lost Tyreek Chappell, who you loved at nickel. You saw a mix of Jaydon Hill, who did some nice things in the box. You saw more BJ Mayes. They started Dezz Ricks over Jayvon Thomas, who still played and was impactful.
     
  • They are still figuring out what the best look is. They fool good about what they have in the secondary. There will come a time when there is a defined four, nickel and dime unit. One guy that you know will be a part of that is Will Lee III because he has been really good.

Segment 6 (48:55:25 - 57:53:11)

  • Noah Thomas had six catches. He had five other catches outside of the 58-yarder, so he had five catches for 50 yards outside the big play. He had some important catches. I remember he caught one of them on a first down in a key moment to get ahead of the chains. 
     
  • Mike Elko and Collin Klein really believe Noah Thomas can be a big factor in the passing game. There was a quarterback change. I don't know what it looks like if Conner Weigman doesn't get hurt. I'm sure Thomas would have been a favorite target of his. He is capable of these types of games everytime he takes the field. He did it against Ole Miss last year. He is a big-play wide receiver who has gotten better in the possession-receiving game as well. He can do this more consistently. 
     
  • He can have 100 yards and a touchdown in any given week. He needs to make sure it happens by playing well, but he should be a five or six catches and a 45 to 70 yard-guy every Saturday. It would be amazing to see him stack performances like that.
     
  • When was the last time we saw a receiver stack performance like that? Jahdae Walker did last year against Ole Miss and LSU. Before that, I don't know how long it has been. I would assume it would be Ainias Smith. They need that in this offense. Noah Thomas needs to emerge. 
     
  • Le'Veon Moss is forty yards off the SEC rushing lead. Ja'Quinden Jackson had about 200 yards against Arkansas Pine Bluff, so that is a little misleading. 

Segment 7 (57:53:12 - 1:01:00:13)

  • The touchdowns for our tight ends will go up as they continue to show that they can make plays. I have liked Tre Watson since he got here in the spring. Theo Melin Öhrström has been a great find in the passing game, and I think he's getting much better as a blocker. I think that position is becoming a quality position.

  • The credit for that goes to the coaches working with that group and credit to Collin Klein for getting them involved. It's so hard to get those yards in the red zone. Collin Klein at Kansas State was lethal in the red zone, and to get two plays from five yards out against any SEC defense that is especially that easy, just lob it out to your tight end. Those are the touchdowns you pray for. That is outstanding playcalling. I continue to be impressed with the tight end position. Hopefully, we'll see more of them. I think Marcel can find the tight end more as an outlet if he starts to go through the progressions as he continues to develop

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1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

So we go to college station, Fayetteville, and Lexington this year plus host Georgia. Based on what liucci said above about those teams, you’d think that he would say our schedule is moderately challenging.  Not that it’s incredibly easy. 

We play in Nashville, Fayetteville, and Gomerville this year. 

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On 9/28/2024 at 4:54 AM, SHOOTER12 said:

Watched Hitchcock vs Bellville game on TV. The Hitchcock coach(HC?) was bigger than Melko and the old Kansas coach put together. Absolute disgrace when you can barely stand/walk on the sideline.

He makes for quite the panorama, doesn't he?

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18 minutes ago, bizzle said:

after a decade spent basically dominating the league, the only part of the argument i agree with is even the 'bad' teams run out offensive and defensive linemen that don't exist anywhere else in america, which i do think makes for more of a grind when looked at in aggregate. this doesn't necessarily make mississippi state or south carolina Good Football Teams, but it does mean there are some early round defensive tackles and offensive guards beating the shit out of you with hammers that simply don't exist most places. 

obviously a&m has taken this time to adjust our talent accordingly. 

@bizzle what is your username on TexAgs?  I, for one, enjoy your posts here and assume they are pure gold in that bizarro world.

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33 minutes ago, bizzle said:

after a decade spent basically dominating the league, the only part of the argument i agree with is even the 'bad' teams run out offensive and defensive linemen that don't exist anywhere else in america, which i do think makes for more of a grind when looked at in aggregate. this doesn't necessarily make mississippi state or south carolina Good Football Teams, but it does mean there are some early round defensive tackles and offensive guards beating the shit out of you with hammers that simply don't exist most places. 

obviously a&m has taken this time to adjust our talent accordingly. 

I still don’t understand what is the difference between the best player you can attract and a sec player. Does every big 12 team not recruit “sec” guys because they’re in the big 12. Every team recruits the best player they can get. Texas recruits Texas guys, sec player is a great marketing tool for espn. 

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4 minutes ago, Hookem10 said:

I still don’t understand what is the difference between the best player you can attract and a sec player. Does every big 12 team not recruit “sec” guys because they’re in the big 12. Every team recruits the best player they can get. Texas recruits Texas guys, sec player is a great marketing tool for espn. 

The SEC's contribution to spread out offensive systems has been doing it with big lines. Leach wanted guys who could move when he adopted 10ft splits at Tech in the early aughts.

Spoiler

An in-depth look at how Kliff Kingsbury's Air Raid offense adapts to the  NFL - The Athletic

 

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40 minutes ago, Hookem10 said:

I still don’t understand what is the difference between the best player you can attract and a sec player. Does every big 12 team not recruit “sec” guys because they’re in the big 12. Every team recruits the best player they can get. Texas recruits Texas guys, sec player is a great marketing tool for espn. 

the difference is the rather messy and complicated history of the united states, socioeconomics and why 'recruiting the best player i can land within 100 miles of my campus' looks slightly different in western colorado versus northern alabama. 

my username on texags is taylor.hamm

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It's all about the patch.

image.png.f9b5dc9ffc3f012d842c29e923cce8de.png

 

It transformed A&M magically from a BDF team to competiveness in the SEC over one summer!

So far, so good for us, too! Love that patch!

 

ETA: Actually, now that I think of it, did A&M or Missouri show any signs of being ground down in their first seasons? Seriously, was there any evidence of this tired assumption about the brutal business of playing in the SEC?

Edited by RomaVicta
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56 minutes ago, Hookem10 said:

I still don’t understand what is the difference between the best player you can attract and a sec player. Does every big 12 team not recruit “sec” guys because they’re in the big 12. Every team recruits the best player they can get. Texas recruits Texas guys, sec player is a great marketing tool for espn. 

Seth Meyers Thank You GIF by Late Night with Seth Meyers

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6 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

It's all about the patch.

image.png.f9b5dc9ffc3f012d842c29e923cce8de.png

 

It transformed A&M magically from a BDF team to competiveness in the SEC over one summer!

So far, so good for us, too! Love that patch!

 

ETA: Actually, now that I think of it, did A&M or Missouri show any signs of being ground down in their first seasons? Seriously, was there any evidence of this tired assumption about the brutal business of playing in the SEC?

No, but it was an entirely different SEC back then.  Every team was great and getting even a single win was virtually impossible but the grind came later.  Now, the SEC is a grind it out every week schedule...except for TU...They have the easiest schedule ever in the SEC and won't play anyone until they meet 3 or 4 loss aggy in November after grinding thru the typically tough SEC gauntlet.

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2 hours ago, bizzle said:

the difference is the rather messy and complicated history of the united states, socioeconomics and why 'recruiting the best player i can land within 100 miles of my campus' looks slightly different in western colorado versus northern alabama. 

my username on texags is taylor.hamm

university president GIF by South Park

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4 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

ETA: Actually, now that I think of it, did A&M or Missouri show any signs of being ground down in their first seasons? Seriously, was there any evidence of this tired assumption about the brutal business of playing in the SEC?

OK let's check.  TAMU's first season in the SEC was 2012, after a disappointing 2011 campaign in the B12 that ended up 7-6 (4-5 conference).

Game 1 of their inaugural season was a home conference game against Florida, which they lost 20-17.  So unless simply the act of sewing on the SEC patch itself, is a significant part of the grind, this loss can't be attributed to the "SEC grind."

Their next two games are against their typical non-conference scrubs, SMU and South Carolina State (which I'd never even heard of) and they won those games 48-3 and 70-14.  No evidence of any grindage there, but they're pretty hapless opponents after all.

Next game is against an SEC grinder Arkansas, which they won 58-10, no real evidence of a buildup grindy-ness for that one.

Then they barely beat a bad Ole Miss 30-27.  Is this an example of The Grind taking its toll?  The Rebels were 7-6 (3-5) that year.  Not sure how grindy that seems.

Next up was a non-conference but ranked LaTech who they barely beat 59-57.  Maybe LaTech gets some SEC grindy-ness of its own, just by being in the same state as a traditional SEC power?

Speaking of that traditional SEC power, LSU beat them the next game 24-19.  At Kyle Field, at ... 11 AM.  So perhaps the SEC grind really is kicking in?

Except their next two games they blow out Auburn 63-21 and Miss State 38-13.  Guess that SEC Grind really isn't much of a factor after all?

Especially considering the following week they beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 29-24.

Last two games are a blowout of cupcake Sam Houston and a blowout of the other SEC newcomer Mizzou, 59-29.

Moving from the "BDF" to the SECSECSEC didn't seem to affect them much.  Their two losses came to good teams, and their wins came against a bunch of really bad teams other than Alabama.  All it really demonstrates is that, just as we've said for years, the SEC has middlin and bad teams just like everyone else, and beating them is no more of an accomplishment than beating the middle and bottom of any other conference.

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7 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

I’m glad we switched conferences because of the upgrade in competition, but I saw this at the Co-Op Sunday and it’s very Aggie:

 

 

 

IMG_5182.jpeg

was the one in the co-op also photoshopped?

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8 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Wishful thinking, amigo.  Maybe it’s being stocked by the same management who decided these were a good idea…

image.thumb.jpeg.0cacf9c7efc0e998b683d9fc50d1081b.jpeg

Those were a great idea. They brought much laughter. 

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2 hours ago, LCHorn said:

I’m glad we switched conferences because of the upgrade in competition, but I saw this at the Co-Op Sunday and it’s very Aggie:

 

 

 

IMG_5182.jpeg

Congratulations on finding something more embarrassing than a jersey for a grown man to wear to a game.  Fuck all of this.

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