Otaro Alaka

Notice how both are doing the "Hook Em" and none are doing the "dont know what EaTmE sign is even called"
 
I hope your reading of the smiles and hookem gesture is on the money. My gut tells me he is gone to the dark side but my gut has been sending confusing signals since I ate some kimchi last week.

Charlie, you got Alaka on the Hook, now reel him in..
hookem.gif
 
I think the difference in pictures is probably that someone had just told a joke right before the Charlie Strong picture was taken. However, for no particular reason, I think Alaka will be a horn.
 
I don't think it is a soft verbal. It seems hard. He tweeted this evening thanking Charlie but saying he is decommitting from Texas and committing to aggy. Sumlin is doing a fantastic recruiting job. Probably the best I have ever seen anybody do without any good results to show. Especially on defense. On what basis are these defensive guys flocking to A&M, I don't know. But best of luck to Otaro, and good job aggy.
 
It would be interesting to know if it's playing time, coaches, or our changes that caused a flip like this. Because the current A&M staff hasn't shown anything to make a kid want to flip. Add to that BCS vs Austin and I just don't get it. Kid seems like a good kid though so best of luck to him unless we meet in the CB and then I hope we run it right at his ***.
 
Best of luck to the kid. Seems strange to me that he was committed for so long and then switches this late. Given all the coaching changes at his position and on defense I would have thought he was in love with UT.....guess not.
 
In the last 15 years how many of these late-in-the-process defectors turned out to suck? Try just about all of them. Dom't sweat it.

Westerman
Perrilloux
Scott

Care to add to the list?
 
I don't know what a soft verbal is. Is it because Rivals can't confirm the rumor? If Alaka or anyone told any school he was giving a soft verbal, they should tell him he only has a soft offer.

As I have said before, schools can stop this nonsense by not allowing commitments until much later in the process as opposed to 18 months in advance of signing day.

I hate for UT to lose Alaka but if he wasn't comfortable with the new staff, he and we are better off. Time to move on.
 
Possibly our top recruit. Well it's safe to say we got zero momentum with this hire and his staff. Sumlin took our top DT and now top LB.
 
The future, undetermined it is.

Coming:
2 years of: Johnny not. Swopes not. Evans not. NFL-OLine, not.

Farther west, for 2 years: #StrongHorns, The Pit, Zero Entitlement. Win now, not later.

February 2016, undetermined it is. But we shall see.

yoda-girl12x7_zpsdf6093a5.jpg
 
Aggy has had the best couple of years that they will see in the sec and all that they did was end up as a mediocre member of that conference. I don't see that as much of a success. They are what they have always been....an average team that will always be a noncontender for championships waving their white towels in surrender.
 
I think relationships are huge with these kids. They may not analyze the situation like we do. The fact is that Sumlin had been pursuing Alaka for a long time. Alaka was probably reasonably comfortable with him and his staff. Then the UT guys that he had built a relationship left so he didn't know Strong et al. So, the relationship and familiarity with Sumlin suddenly became extremely important. We have no counter at this point. It will take some time for us to build that up. I also think it may have been more difficult to say no to the person you know as opposed to a virtual stranger.

Who knows?
 
He has already proven to be an unreliable quitter. We don't need quitters, we already have a bench full of them. Bring on the hard nosed bad asses who care to be here.
 
Looks like Aggies put the full court press on him and 3 guys in Ag gear went at him at once. Ags were selling "we need you, our program already is on the verge of greatness and you will take us there" kind of stuff. Tough to sit across from 3 personalities selling you on your extreme worth to them...while also sugar coating their fool's gold team's worth they have proven to be bunk on the field, but JFF kept so shiny.

Strong had to come at him one-one-one and tell him mostly how Texas is about to toughen up and get BACK to the top. With a UT program soaking of softness, Strong has to come hard and explain that regime is history and toughness is the new way of the Longhorn. That hard speech is great and all for some, but nothing like the gentler "we are already a player away and you are that superman guy" speech.

It's not Charlie's fault at all. It's like pushing Target stock after the massive holiday rip-off incident. The Target Longhorns...lol. We all know Target is solid and will be a leader in their market for many years to come. It's just hard to get consumer confidence back when the customer hasn't seen the improved product.

As for Strong personally, most HS recruits only follow college football in passing during their own seasons. We hired the Louisville coach, they just see Louisville as a mid range team that never was and never will be.
smile.gif
I bet the majority have no clue what conference they are in, why should they? To them Strong is an unknown commodity. Sumlin has been basking in the Texas spotlight for a few years now. After a year of solid Stronghorn results, we'll be right back on track locking down top state recruits, and likely some new national studs.
 
I am glad he is being aggressive and taking a risk to try and get some of these guys, instead of playing it safe and "knowing his place".
So what if comes up empty on a few of these long shots this year. (its not like h'ed been able to pursue these kids for months)
The game still has to be played in the fall, and I have a feeling this time next season man of these same types of kids won't be long shots.
 
It can't be easy for these kids, that is for sure. I will say, it is rare for someone with so much waffling and confusion during their recruting to actually turn out to be worth a damn on the field. We will see...
 
The first couple of year under Strong will depend on how well he develops new talent and changes the mind set of existing players. I trust Coach Strong will get the program back to where it should be.
 
This ESPN article throws light on how things went. Very nice read -
The Link

Just like what many here had guessed. He would have been at UT, had Mack stayed. Sumlin did a great job of continuing to recruit him as Mack was on his way out. He had some comfort level with Sumlin. Liked Coach Strong but probably didn't know where things will go at Texas under Strong. After some thought, he went to A&M. That is that.

No need to blame anybody on this. This is how recruiting goes.

I liked the story about Coach Strong getting an HS coach to his side with some Xs and Os on the board. That kind of stuff will only help in the future. Charlie will be just fine, as long as the current players don't turn on him (probably not) and cause the next season to go below 10-3 or 9-4. Just watch out from next year's recruiting class onwards.
 
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