The Slumlin v Strong Recuiting Battle is Over - Charlie Wins!

Godz40acres

Godz40acres

Happy Feller
Per BON:

All that is left is to officially hold the funeral.

Besides the rancid stench emanating from Aggieland as a result of a third five-star quarterback in the last six months rocketing away from College Station on Wednesday evening and the subsequent subtweeting fallout, the other noxious fetor wafting away from the Texas A&M Aggies football program is the decaying corpse of head coach Kevin Sumlin's career there.

The A&M collapse started when Malik Jefferson chose the Texas Longhorns in late 2014, gained momentum when Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray departed last December, and took full form when the Aggies limped out of National Signing Day having lost eight straight head-to-head battles with Texas among uncommitted recruits. Even getting Under Armour All-American Jeffrey McCulloch on campus days before reportedly resulted in The Shark attempting to recruit other players to Austin, an incredible insult for Texas A&M, once considered the frontrunner.

After watching Wednesday night's meltdown, it seems like the right time to fully memorialize the #WRTS era in College Station.

Just like it's time to memorialize the #WRTS days, build a coffin, and lower that reeking mess into the ground, Sumlin's ability to successfully recruit the state has a plot right next to it that Moorehead started further excavating late Wednesday evening. And no amount of bleach or air freshener can wash away or cover that gangrenous stink, not even firing Moorehead, which seems unlikely following his public apology on Thursday.

Ding, dong, the Sumlin's dead.

[Much more in the article]
 
Let's assume that the recruiting war of Strong vs. Sumlin is over and Strong has won. If true, then it will be Strong vs. Herman or some other young up-and-comer by signing day next February. I kind of hope Sumlin does just well enough to hang on for another year or two.
 
FROM ESPN Insider:



Five hundred two days. That's how long it took for Texas to reclaim from Texas A&M its spot as recruiting kings of the Lone Star State.

"It's safe to say the narrative that has been repeated by a lot of people for the past two years that Charlie Strong can't beat ou Texas can be erased," a Power 5 at Kevin Sumlin forthe top players inssistant coach that has recruited Texas for decades and has coached in the Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC said. "It's clear to everybody that recruits in Texas, and against Texas and Texas A&M, that there is a lot more love for Charlie than Kevin now, especially with the difference-making recruits."

The top of the food chain in Texas is a position Longhorns fans demand and expect to be, especially after former UT coach Mack Brown created a culture of recruiting domination for 15 years. But Brown wasn't winning on the field, and he was replaced by Strong after the 2013 season. There was a change in College Station, too, as Mike Sherman was replaced by Sumlin following the 2011 season.

Speedy Noil away from SEC rivals LSU and Florida.

But Dec. 19, 2014, will forever be known as the day momentum began to shift back toward Texas. A series of fortunate (for Texas) and unfortunate (for A&M) events led us to last Wednesday when it became crystal clear the Longhorns were once again the top recruiting team in the state. And it all started with a single recruiting victory.

In the 2015 class, Malik Jefferson was the first true program-changing prize fight between Strong and Sumlin, and when the star linebacker narrowed hischoices to Texas, Texas A&M and UCLA, many believed this was going to be another Sumlin recruiting victory, especially since Jefferson admitted the Aggies were his one-time leader. But he clicked with Strong unlike he did with anybody else, especially Sumlin. Strong's sugar-free honesty appealed to him, and he especially loved how the coach preached the importance of character. So when Jefferson committed to the Longhorns on Dec. 19, 2014, not only was it Strong's first major win over Sumlin, it was also the first initial swing of the pendulum back toward UT.

"It was a really big moment for our program," Strong said. "I told Malik when I was at the University of Florida, we signed Tim Tebow. I said this signing is just as big as that one is because now all of a sudden, you get someone who gives us momentum. I said that anytime you're in a recruiting process, there's got to be a player, there's got to be a marquee player -- that was Malik Jefferson for us. When he got on board, it got us started."

The momentum only continued to increase throughout the 2016 recruiting cycle, as Texas A&M finished 8-5 in the 2015 season, top-ranked quarterback recruits Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen announced their transfers from A&M and Texas became the national story of signing day with five head-to-head recruiting victories over the Aggies and a top-10 class.

"People ask me all the time if there's a sense of urgency for us to do better in recruiting or if we've lost momentum in state," Sumlin said in mid-April. "Hell, there was a sense of urgency when I took the job, but I also understand why people are asking that. My answer is that I think we've been pretty consistent in what we're doing."

Despite Sumlin's positivity, things went from bad to worse last Wednesday when A&M assistant coach Aaron Moorehead posted a series of tweets about loyalty and accountability after ESPN 300 quarterback recruit Tate Martellannounced he was breaking his commitment to the Aggies. Soon after Moorehead's tweets, another Aggies recruit, receiver Mannie Netherly, the No. 181 player in the ESPN 300, posted on Twitter he was also reversing his pledge.


The response from many of the top undecided prospects in the Lone Star State was swift and decidedly negative for the Aggies. Through social media postings, ESPN 300 recruits Marvin Wilson, Jeffrey Okudah and Baron Browning were quick to poke fun at the Aggies, and they later said they've cooled on A&M. They weren't the only ones, but they are three of the most important targets in the 2017 class for A&M and collectively represent the current mindset of many elite prospects in the Lone Star State.

Yes, Strong still has questions he has to answer ahead of a make-or-break season. Recruits like Wilson, Okudah and Browning will also want to see results before totally buying in, but most astute observers believe the tide has turned toward Texas and the Longhorns could be building toward a class that would rival some of Brown's best.

"Last Wednesday was the death knell -- the moment it became obvious it's Texas' state again," an SEC West coach that recruits in East Texas and Houston for his program said. "We're already talking to a few kids that were high on A&M but have cooled on them because of this. A&M will have to defend against that for the rest of this class, and unless it goes out and wins a bunch of games, it's going to be hard to recover from. You can bet Texas will take advantage of this and really focuses on the loyalty stuff. It'll work well. It's going to be a really good summer for those guys in Austin."​
​
 
It's a long time until February 2017 and by then most will have forgotten what happened with a few tweets 8 months before. A lot will depend on the seasons UT and TAMU have on the field and there will be a bunch of SEC and B1G teams camping in Texas for the first time between now and signing day. Sumlin may have lost a couple of guys now, but recruiting is far from over.
 
Yeah I was about to say that we can very easily go 5-7 in 2016 if the **** hit the fan again. I don't think winning in February is a bad thing, but it's still not as big a deal as winning on Saturdays when it matters. Strong and Sumlin could both be sent packing if the cards fell just right (or wrong, depending how you look at it).
 
The point is that nobody even thought this possible a couple of years ago, aggy had taken over, no looking back, WRTS and all that swagcopter stuff. We are in the SEC now, all they did was open up recruiting more for Alabama and others, in Texas.

Now not only is Texas winning the recruiting battle, but top players are leaving from aggy. Top recruits are making fun of aggy and they will not forget a coach taking shots at players, especially if that coach sticks around. They will be reminded when recruiting heats up later this year, by all the schools going against them in recruiting.

Winning on Saturday starts by getting the talent, that can get that done. Talent is what won all those games several years ago and lack of it was the start of the losing. Just look at the quarterback situation and how that went from a strength, to a big weakness, also the offensive line.

Other schools camping in Texas hurts aggy just as much or more than Texas. Five star quarterbacks have been replaced by a JC transfer and a retread from OU, who aggy would not consider SEC good enough, if he had went somewhere else. He was beat out by a quarterback that Tech discarded. He is the new savior, now that he is there, it was going to be Hubenak, till he came on board.
 
We wanted Hubenak too.

I don't agree with the premise that "no one" thought this was possible. The only people that applies to would be Texags.com moderators or something. This goes in waves. The only time in history that A&M was mildly successful since 1939 would be in the 80s-90s when FedEx singlehandedly kept them competitive. And they suspended the whole "Aggies don't lie, cheat, or steal" rule for guys like Darren Lewis. I think after JFF's second season, with his Peach Bowl comeback and whatever, there were valid concerns about what A&M would do to stay competitive. Honestly, they haven't done a poor job on the field. Minus the Bama blowouts, their biggest problems have all been off the field.

NBHorn7 said:
Winning on Saturday starts by getting the talent, that can get that done. Talent is what won all those games several years ago and lack of it was the start of the losing. Just look at the quarterback situation and how that went from a strength, to a big weakness, also the offensive line.
Click to expand...

I think that statement implies that we didn't have talent from 2010-today. At the QB position, well, maybe. I don't think our recruiting was poor enough to justify our finishes in Mack's waning years or Strong's first two seasons. Some teams can use what they have on hand in order to win and do it now... much like when Sumlin showed up at A&M. Our problem wasn't talent evaluation, it was figuring out a way to get them to play on the college field the way they were supposed to based on all expert opinions. Kids who have offers from OU, Nebraska, Ohio State, Florida, and Bama typically pan out.
 
Our problem consisted of an offensive line, built for a spread offensive was suddenly told, we are going to be a power rushing team.

We had at best, a hybrid O-line trying to run this new offense, it just didn't work. This was supposed to help solve the quarterback problem, we were going to be like Alabama, not need a star quarterback. We didn't have a real indentity on offense.

Aggy did have every advantage, in the SEC, beat Alabama, and had a Heisman Trophy winner. They had all the momentum, just like Texas had from 2004-2009. They self destructed in record time, hardly a wave. The only real aggy wave I can remember was in the cheating days of the SWC in the 1980's and 90's.
 
As we have seen now, alot of that talent from several years ago went away, due to injury and other reasons.

When you don't have a quarterback who can be conistent and a weak offensive line, yes it causes a lot of problems
 
I wished we had a new qb who played lights out in the spring game. Plus loads of talent at RB, WR, CB, etc. A guy can dream can't he?
 
I was referring to the last two seasons, when it was said we had the talent that didn't justify our record, the last two years. Notice how I said the talent of several years ago, as the reference of the atrition, of the 2011 class.

Things have changed, it's part of getting more talent, as I talked about in post #7.

I have seen the talent level increasing, that's why all those people you talked about are here now, we have dreamed of when this would happen, now it's a reality.
 
NBHorn7 said:
Our problem consisted of an offensive line, built for a spread offensive was suddenly told, we are going to be a power rushing team.

We had at best, a hybrid O-line trying to run this new offense, it just didn't work.
Click to expand...

Agree. This sums it up nicely.
 
Slow down Bevo! We just landed a 3 star WR, number 57 WR per Scout who we plan to move to safety. Aggie landed the number 7 ranked 4 star true safety this month.

There may still be a bit of fight left in Collie Station.
 
LikeMike said:
Slow down Bevo! We just landed a 3 star WR, number 57 WR per Scout who we plan to move to safety. Aggie landed the number 7 ranked 4 star true safety this month.

There may still be a bit of fight left in Collie Station.
Click to expand...

Depending on where you look, he is described as a 4 star Athlete who played both WR and Safety in high school.
We are not moving him anywhere.
He is choosing to play Safety.
 
Also the Aggie recruit is rumored to have 0% chance of qualifying.
 
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