The future of Texas A&M football took a few steps in the right direction as new head coach Jimbo Fisher wrapped up his first National Signing Day.
Before Wednesday, Fisher’s recruiting class ranked within the Top 40 in the country. However, as the day began to wind down, he was able to make his first A&M class jump from being ranked No. 33 overall to No. 16, according to ESPN.
All while being introduced as the Aggies’ head coach on Dec. 4 and being out on the recruiting trail meeting with Texas high school football coaches in the area the next day.
A mission that Fisher was determined to accomplish was trying to fill the roster with Texas talent, as it is one of the most lucrative states with skill. Fourteen of the 23 recruits Fisher signed overall were from the state of Texas.
“There’s a tremendous amount of players in this state,” Fisher said. “The coaching, the development of the players and the game of football is tremendous. We’re always willing to saturate this state from one end to the other.”
This NSD turned out to be much better than anyone inside the maroon bubble could’ve expected. However, there was an indication that the day would be trending upward this morning, when defensive tackle Bobby Brown chose A&M over national champion Alabama.
More of this would come later Wednesday morning, when quarterback James Foster signed his letter of intent with A&M rather than with Alabama, Florida State or LSU.
This is truly incredible, considering Fisher had a lot less time to build these relationships withsome of the best players in the country than other coaches had. Fisher is seemingly starting to give the Aggies their money’s worth in just two months — but this is only the beginning.
A lot with the can be attributed to Fisher’s coaching staff, such as Mike Elko and Tim Brewster. Elko, who will serve as Fisher’s defensive coordinator, joined the staff in January 2018. Six of the 23 signees are on the defensive side of the ball.
Needless to say, Fisher was very successful on his first NSD in Aggieland. But Fisher is looking to the future of the program and was adamant that just because national signing day came to an end, the work is still not done.
“This can be anything you want here,” Fisher said. “That’s the reason I came. When you saw the potential and what is here. Every facet of what you have to have to have a championship program. The new crop of guys are seeing what where we’re were going — the vision which we have for Texas A&M — and what we can go to. I think it’s selling very well. We have to go get this next class and hopefully be a top five class.”
Angel Franco is a telecommunication junior and sports editor for The Battalion.