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


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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Sad for who? I find it hilarious. I don’t know the guy or his family. Why do I need to feel sad? Plenty of people every day walk away from what their parents want and move to their own beat. He chose not to and now he has neither the adoration of a fanbase that his parents crave nor the accolades to merit much interest from anyone athletically. I’d like to see many aggie athletes finish up that way. 

 

that's totally fair. dude fucked around and found out.

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I'm trying to understand Elk's strategy. He seems to be trying to change the culture of the program by either pushing out certain players or having them decide on their own they don't want to be there.  But the guys they are replacing them with are very pedestrian. I think that strategy might backfire.  Normally, a coach either: a) brings in quality talent right away that he can get from the portal, or b) does the best they can to recruit quality high school talent and bleed out the bad talent over a one to two year period.

Either of these types of approaches ensure the coach can still win 6-9 games in the first year. With the current Elk approach, it could mean 6 or less wins, AND also the need to upgrade the roster over 1-2 years.  But the problem with that is once you've only won <6 games, things can spiral quickly. No top talent is going to join a <6 win team.  MAybe he thinks we can win with just pedestrian talent. He did it at Duke, but that was in a very different league.

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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Sad for who? I find it hilarious. I don’t know the guy or his family. Why do I need to feel sad? Plenty of people every day walk away from what their parents want and move to their own beat. He chose not to and now he has neither the adoration of a fanbase that his parents crave nor the accolades to merit much interest from anyone athletically. I’d like to see many aggie athletes finish up that way. 

I do.  Kid's dumb as a bag of hair.  Would never have cut it at UT.  The reason he's been taking spring football off is he's overwhelmed.

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1 minute ago, Dbeasy said:

I'm trying to understand Elk's strategy. He seems to be trying to change the culture of the program by either pushing out certain players or having them decide on their own they don't want to be there.  But the guys they are replacing them with are very pedestrian. I think that strategy might backfire.  Normally, a coach either: a) brings in quality talent right away that he can get from the portal, or b) does the best they can to recruit quality high school talent and bleed out the bad talent over a one to two year period.

Either of these types of approaches ensure the coach can still win 6-9 games in the first year. With the current Elk approach, it could mean 6 or less wins, AND also the need to upgrade the roster over 1-2 years.  But the problem with that is once you've only won <6 games, things can spiral quickly. No top talent is going to join a <6 win team.  MAybe he thinks we can win with just pedestrian talent. He did it at Duke, but that was in a very different league.

I am not quite sure he has an actual strategy. They really are touting to themselves the notion of The Return To Junction in terms of his perceived approach. Out with the coddled talent and in with the blue collared badasses that just want to get into a good scrap. Right.

That entire outlook presupposes that one can out-tough the more talented opponents and just whip them into submission. How many teams on the 2024 ATM schedule are looking soft to you guys? We can say what we want about Freeman at ND, and I do, but they play tough. Texas under Sarkisian? Please. LSU? right. Auburn? Florida in The Swamp? Missouri? These are all teams with arguably more talent (yes, look at the UF and ATM rosters and then shut the fuck up to yourself) so how many won't be tough enough?

To your point about the knock-on effects of sucking this season and needing to rebuild after that while things spiral, I was talking to an aggie booster yesterday. I know a few really big ones, but this guy isn't that. He is involved and enthusiastic though. We were talking about the past weekend and the two spring game events. He didn't take his family up and said he's having a tough time getting excited about the new regime. Felt fatigued from the Fisher experience. Given the less than 2000 people who attended their spring game, I'd say that's the whole base's outlook. Not good if you're going to really need them to give enthusiastically in future cycles.

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15 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Beyond all of that, I am sure with a little thought, I could come up with someone at Texas that busted as hard as Bobby Taylor, but I don't have time for that. This idiot ran his fucking mouth the entire 2022 recruitment cycle, talked monstrous shit about Texas in the process, and touted himself as a future super star. After doing such, he never touched the field, tested the transfer portal twice and gathered no interest, and now will never be playing football again, with his last meaningful snap coming in his senior year in HS. Another fitting end. 

somehow the truth on this scenario is even funnier than if he never played. he touched the field vs New Mexico last year and had no stats, nor touched the field any other time.

image.png.5caabf5b3feb5b56f2cfdc22e943ef02.png

fuck that guy.

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8 minutes ago, Ricky&#x27;s one-hitter said:

Oh nooooooooooooooooooo..............

 

 

This news had me feeling nostalgic so I was searching twitter for clips of Bryce getting steamrolled, and came across this classic from Carter last season:

He did not, in fact, bounce back in a big way 

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7 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I am not quite sure he has an actual strategy. They really are touting to themselves the notion of The Return To Junction in terms of his perceived approach. Out with the coddled talent and in with the blue collared badasses that just want to get into a good scrap. Right.

i've heard a guy i know/see around town here make that same kind of comment

it's such a fucking dumb thing to bring up considering they went 1-9, were lucky nobody died, had their quarterback break 4 bones in his back (he did not go to the hospital), lost to everyone they could even consider a rival and had the only losing season Bear Bryant ever had.

but hey, the 6-0 win vs Georgia gave us this hilarious headline: https://www.newspapers.com/article/chattanooga-daily-times-texas-aggies-bea/132997713/

image.png.f84fc8adcaf1e5e118736b51294bd987.png

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On 4/22/2024 at 8:24 AM, Tylerocks said:

“Just so you know, I was the head coach of the Maroon team. That is 1-0 on my record here at A&M”.

- Mike Elko

 

Put it on a plaque and hang it on the aggy trophy wall... 😋

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13 minutes ago, NoName said:

somehow the truth on this scenario is even funnier than if he never played. he touched the field vs New Mexico last year and had no stats, nor touched the field any other time.

image.png.5caabf5b3feb5b56f2cfdc22e943ef02.png

fuck that guy.

It was an expression, not a callout for a fact check, Captain Asperger.

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6 minutes ago, NoName said:

it's such a fucking dumb thing to bring up considering they went 1-9, were lucky nobody died, had their quarterback break 4 bones in his back (he did not go to the hospital), lost to everyone they could even consider a rival and had the only losing season Bear Bryant ever had.

Bryant himself said he shouldn't have done it, and it was a mistake to do so.

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7 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

It was an expression, not a callout for a fact check, Captain Asperger.

i thought it was even more funny that he touched the field once in 2 years, and got no stats and then never touched it again before retiring than if he never touched it at all, but whatever

Sesame Street Idk GIF

 

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Elko's "changing the culture" and "going blue collar" is just replacing existing 4 & 5 stars with fresh 2 & 3 stars

I can't see Elko's personality opening up the pockets of the big donors after they just lived through the jimbo years.

I'm of the thinking aggy signed a deal with the devil when they hired jimbo. They thought having to buyout jimbo was the price they paid, but payment hasn't actually been collected yet. It's about to become due.

 

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1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

I'm trying to understand Elk's strategy. He seems to be trying to change the culture of the program by either pushing out certain players or having them decide on their own they don't want to be there.  But the guys they are replacing them with are very pedestrian. I think that strategy might backfire.  Normally, a coach either: a) brings in quality talent right away that he can get from the portal, or b) does the best they can to recruit quality high school talent and bleed out the bad talent over a one to two year period.

Either of these types of approaches ensure the coach can still win 6-9 games in the first year. With the current Elk approach, it could mean 6 or less wins, AND also the need to upgrade the roster over 1-2 years.  But the problem with that is once you've only won <6 games, things can spiral quickly. No top talent is going to join a <6 win team.  MAybe he thinks we can win with just pedestrian talent. He did it at Duke, but that was in a very different league.

Maybe he's trying to do both A&B, but is just spectacularly failing because nobody wants to go that shit-hole, and they no longer have any competitive advantages (SEC/bags of money).

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Spoilered below is one of the more moribund write-ups about team unit after a spring that you'll ever see an aggie $9.95er publish regarding their TB room. Wow.

Spoiler

1. Texas A&M operated its running back position by committee in 2023 due primarily to injuries and the inability of one player to be a full time guy. The 2024 season may result in the same thing but there's hope from the spring that it will because of people fitting into specific roles as opposed to being asked to do more than the coaching staff originally intended.

2. If there's a down to down back on the roster, its third year man Le'Veon Moss who is a little bigger and stronger. He is going to have to stay healthy and that means improvements in running behind his pads and becoming less of a target at contact. His pass blocking is going to have to be stronger as well. Moss retains the ability to plant and go and he also showed off quality hands and route running skills during the spring game which makes him a three down player as well.  

3. Second year back Rueben Owens has put on more mass, but he remains more of a home run hitter than someone who is going to lower his shoulder or necessarily run through tackles. He remains the most fluid runner on the roster and if he breaks onto the second level then he's got the quick feet and acceleration to run away from defenders as you saw last Saturday. Owens has the vision to be an avoid runner. He might be more of a change of pace guy at this stage of his career.

4. Stanford transfer EJ Smith can perhaps provide some of the technique items that some of the other backs can't…the ability to keep his feet under his shoulder pads and then run behind those pads. He's got some vision and can bend plays back the other way if his blocks provide the opportunity. Smith might be able to take advantage of a line that sustains its blocks and moves people, something that didn't happen a lot with the Cardinal. He could also be useful as a third down back given his physical attributes and hands.

5. Another veteran, Amari Daniels, can be a long distance guy like Owens but he's got to be able to run with more power. In addition, Daniels' size was problematic in pass protection last year and it would be again depending on how much the Aggies call on his number. Long term, he is probably best suited to a change of pace.

6. There was a four game stretch in the middle of the season where Moss averaged about 15 carries a game but he never topped more than nine in any contest outside of that.  Owens only had a couple of games over ten carries. Daniel's per game productivity was based on his ability to break off a long run no matter how many touches he got. A&M probably needs Moss to be a 15 carry a game guy with Owens able to go that route less often and Smith able to fill in the cracks if he needs to.

 

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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

BTW, given the ATM thread on the football board basically never discusses ATM football news and spends a lot of time wringing hands about bonfire and cracking yet another hilarious sheepfucking or jizz jar joke,0

Not fair. I have made quite a few bonfire jokes over there.

And like the bonfire in 1999, their #1 recruiting class collapsed before ignition.

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29 minutes ago, Scholz said:

My aggy wife just got her first gander at Fat Elko during their spring game and was all WTF??!!  🤣  THAT'S our new HC??!!

 

66242412107d9.image.jpg?resize=1200,960

"I will not tolerate any player loafing. But if you see a loaf, bring it to me because I'm hungry again."

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2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

I am not quite sure he has an actual strategy. They really are touting to themselves the notion of The Return To Junction in terms of his perceived approach. Out with the coddled talent and in with the blue collared badasses that just want to get into a good scrap. Right.

That entire outlook presupposes that one can out-tough the more talented opponents and just whip them into submission. How many teams on the 2024 ATM schedule are looking soft to you guys? We can say what we want about Freeman at ND, and I do, but they play tough. Texas under Sarkisian? Please. LSU? right. Auburn? Florida in The Swamp? Missouri? These are all teams with arguably more talent (yes, look at the UF and ATM rosters and then shut the fuck up to yourself) so how many won't be tough enough?

To your point about the knock-on effects of sucking this season and needing to rebuild after that while things spiral, I was talking to an aggie booster yesterday. I know a few really big ones, but this guy isn't that. He is involved and enthusiastic though. We were talking about the past weekend and the two spring game events. He didn't take his family up and said he's having a tough time getting excited about the new regime. Felt fatigued from the Fisher experience. Given the less than 2000 people who attended their spring game, I'd say that's the whole base's outlook. Not good if you're going to really need them to give enthusiastically in future cycles.

Didn't the Junction Boys go 1-9 that season? 

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, closetojumping said:

I am not quite sure he has an actual strategy.


Oh yeah? Maybe his strategy is to milk about 24 million dollars from A&M over the next 3-4 years while doing as little as possible, live like a Buddhist pauper, retire at the age of 50 with all that money, buy an RV, then live the life of the bohemian artist he has always longed to be,  going hither and yon, writing in his journals, and doing cowboy poetry recitations. After all, the big cowboy poetry roundup is held every year in Elko, Nevada.  Coincidence? I think not.

Edited by Horn Under a Bad Sign
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I don't think Elko's strategy is that complicated. He's throwing as many bodies as humanly possible at the problem and seeing who sticks. Run off the absolute worst ones and then throw even more bodies at it. I get that's it's mostly bread in / bread out, but what are his other options? 

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24 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I don't think Elko's strategy is that complicated. He's throwing as many bodies as humanly possible at the problem and seeing who sticks. Run off the absolute worst ones and then throw even more bodies at it. I get that's it's mostly bread in / bread out, but what are his other options? 

I think you are supposed to be in the Ukraine war thread

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3 hours ago, closetojumping said:

This cycle keeps getting better and better regarding the aggie roster and The Elk's apparent alchemy with its construction. ATM has now added a third TE transfer to their roster. I have spoilered Karels' article below but it is more terrific shit. Melko has people monitoring the sites and multiple reporters have been reprimanded so these articles get more and more careful, which makes things more and more obvious. It's greatness. 

The new TE was a starter at East Carolina. He put up extremely pedestrian numbers over a 4 year career and ATM beat out Cal, Tulane, UH, and Oregon State for his services. 

Meanwhile, the other two TEs they brought in from the transfer portal both sat out the spring game. Some of the alleged insiders are vaguely stating that The Elk and Crew will not tolerate loafers and that the roster will continue to churn. They'd better fucking hope so, as they now have 8! TEs on the roster. They're gonna have to RIF some more people, man. 

I believe ATM currently has 8 scholarship WRs and 8 TEs on their roster. That is Collin Klein roster-building 101.

  Hide contents

East Carolina tight end transfer Shane Calhoun has verbally committed to Texas A&M, announcing the news Monday via X. He is the third transfer to verbally pledge to the Aggies during the 15-day spring window for the NCAA Transfer Portal, joining Utah center Kolinu'u Faaiu and Pittsburgh linebacker Solomon DeShields.

As a graduate transfer, Calhoun has one season of collegiate eligibility remaining. He entered the portal last Wednesday and landed scholarship offers from several Division I programs, including California, Oregon State, Tulane, Houston, USF, New Mexico State and Marshall. He took an official visit to A&M over the weekend before making his decision public.

Across four seasons with the Pirates (2020-23), the 6-foot-3, 242-pound Calhoun appeared in 38 games with 33 starts. During that span, he recorded a combined 63 catches for 594 yards and six touchdowns. Calhoun enjoyed his best career season in 2022, catching 25 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Through seven games last season, Calhoun tallied 15 receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

East Carolina initially signed Calhoun to its 2020 recruiting class. 247Sports gave the Saint Augustine (Fla.) Creekside product a three-star rating, ranking him as its No. 59 tight end and No. 138 Florida player in that cycle. Per the 247Sports Composite, Calhoun came in as the No. 57 tight end, No. 159 Florida player and No. 1,200 overall player.

Where A&M stands with its scholarship numbers, transfer portal work

Following last season, A&M made tight end a priority during the winter portal window. With Calhoun in the mix, the Aggies have now picked up three transfer tight ends this offseason. Garrett Miller (Purdue) and Tre Watson (Fresno State) were the other additions.

Barring any additions or subtractions, A&M will have eight scholarship tight ends going into the 2024 season: Sixth-year senior Jerry Johnson III and Miller, fifth-year senior Calhoun, senior Watson, redshirt sophomores Donovan Green and Theo Melin Öhrström, redshirt freshman Jaden Platt and true freshman Eric Karner.

When including Calhoun, the Aggies now have a projected scholarship count of 90 players for the fall. Per NCAA rules, A&M will not need to meet the 85-scholarship limit until the first day of its fall semester. GigEm247 will continue to update its spring transfer portal tracker for the Aggies, which can be found here.

Five scholarship players have departed A&M for the portal during the spring window (April 16-30): linebacker Alex Howard, safety Jacoby Mathews, cornerback Sam McCall, offensive lineman Derrick Graham and kicker Ethan Moczulski.

Here are a few gems from the comments:

Big Ham Jones

"Elko & company are adding GROWN MEN. We want to win now!!

Dude has logged 1800 snaps in college!"

 

thedewdbro

"Can he play tackle?"

 

TAMU beat NMSU in the transfer recruiting for this guy. 

Advantage Aggie. 

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13 minutes ago, JesusSweatDuck said:

Was Foster the kid that was really good at shotput and discus? 

 

 

Shotput, I believe.

As for being really good, well ... this post from Aggie 247 puts that in perspective.

Brutal.

 

image.thumb.png.96643b0e615cebb52e6004ef20160a03.png

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

 

Shotput, I believe.

As for being really good, well ... this post from Aggie 247 puts that in perspective.

Brutal.

 

image.thumb.png.96643b0e615cebb52e6004ef20160a03.png

 

 

If there were only a T&F program in the state which could've helped him close the 3 meter gap....

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4 hours ago, closetojumping said:

Also, an update on the greatest recruiting class of all time with the losses of Taylor and the kicker guy:

14 of the 30 signees have now transferred after just two seasons on campus of what could be a total of five eventually. 14/30 = 47% of the class smoke bombed (Smoke Bouie'd) the fuck out of College Station.

Leveon Moss and Brownlow-Dindy are both still rumored to be a part of the faithful departed, so we'll see. 

6 of their top 15 players from that class are still on the roster: Weigman, Brownlow-Dindy, Shamar Stewart, Enai White, Scylla, and Bryce Anderson. Of those players, Weigman isn't healthy, White hasn't played due to injury in years, Brownlow-Dindy missed the spring due to "injury" and the other 3 are either starters or serious contributors. 

Beyond all of that, I am sure with a little thought, I could come up with someone at Texas that busted as hard as Bobby Taylor, but I don't have time for that. This idiot ran his fucking mouth the entire 2022 recruitment cycle, talked monstrous shit about Texas in the process, and touted himself as a future super star. After doing such, he never touched the field, tested the transfer portal twice and gathered no interest, and now will never be playing football again, with his last meaningful snap coming in his senior year in HS. Another fitting end. 

Happy Antonio Banderas GIF

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1 hour ago, Getafix said:

 

 

Shotput, I believe.

As for being really good, well ... this post from Aggie 247 puts that in perspective.

Brutal.

 

image.thumb.png.96643b0e615cebb52e6004ef20160a03.png

 

 

I don't pretend to know anything about shot put or discus but according to Foster's T&F bio, he threw 71'1" (21.7 meters) as a senior in high school. Gatorade player of the year and #1 prospect in the country. His best throw at A&M was 64'9" (19.7m) to make NCAA championship honorable mention in 2022. It makes sense he would stall out by trying to play both sports, but that still seems kinda brutal. At least John Burt was winning conference championships and All-American awards in track. 

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4 hours ago, Scholz said:

My aggy wife just got her first gander at Fat Elko during their spring game and was all WTF??!!  🤣  THAT'S our new HC??!!

 

66242412107d9.image.jpg?resize=1200,960

Isn't that the 7th Stooge?

Moe, Larry, Curly, Shemp, Curly Joe, Joe, Elko...

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2 hours ago, Scholz said:

Yeah. Here he is with his clan. He’s in the back, mom and dad are back right.

image.thumb.jpeg.8578ee8dcebeea5e962b5360ae4660bc.jpeg

Is that Shane Gillis' family?

Which one is Uncle Danny? I see several who have to be making grilled cheese sandwiches at night.

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Just now, Tex Pete said:

Is that Shane Gillis' family?

Which one is Uncle Danny? I see several who have to be making grilled cheese sandwiches at night.


The butch lesbian in front on the right reminds me of a girl I used to work with at Waldenbooks who told me she's not a vegetarian but only eats the flesh of animals that don't dream.

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2 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:


The butch lesbian in front on the right reminds me of a girl I used to work with at Waldenbooks who told me she's not a vegetarian but only eats the flesh of animals that don't dream.

That's a dude.

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