Over the last year, there has been a lot of talk about how Jimbo Fisher should be fired, and they haven’t met expectations. Now, they are underperforming; not making a bowl game with that much talent on a roster is 100% underperforming. However, a lot of people have also been looking at how many players have been leaving through the portal. With that being said, numbers came out earlier this week, ranking the retention rate of teams. According to the numbers, Texas A&M has the 7th largest percentage of returning players. This goes against what all the media has been saying. Why is this?
Let’s Look at the Numbers
Texas A&M had 26 players leave through the portal. This is one of the highest in college football. On the other hand, the aggies only had four players leave for the NFL draft. That draft number is lower than normal for prospects coming out of Aggieland.
At the same time, there have been a lot of reports of multiple players leaving from their 2022 recruiting class. That class, by the way, is the highest-rated class ever. How many of them left? Seven. Seven out of 30 recruits from the 2022 class entered the portal. Not to mention 27 of the 30 were four or five stars. That leaves 20 blue-chip recruits from the class of 2022 still on the roster. That is a large number that no one is paying attention to anymore.
Texas A&M true freshman DL Anthony Lucas has officially entered the transfer portal; he played in 7 games this season @Anthonylucas201 @mfarrellsports pic.twitter.com/tZwxwXH56o
— FarrellPortal (@farrellportal) January 4, 2023
There’s still a lot of talent
As I just said, there are still 20 blue-chip recruits. It also seems like the Aggies have found their guy in Conner Weigman as well. In addition to that, they also have a lot more players coming back than we think, again being seventh in the country in returning production. Having a year of experience under their belts for now super young team will do wonders in Aggieland.
A&M also has new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Jimbo may have lost some of the culture, but DJ Durkin and Bobby Petrino might just be able to bring that back and finally utilize the talent Jimbo has acquired over the years.
More Sports News
Conner Weigman ➡️ Evan Stewart
The true freshman 5⭐️ duo connect for the touchdown ?pic.twitter.com/Sp3aemqPv7
— 247Sports (@247Sports) October 30, 2022
Can Texas A&M Make A Quick Turnaround?
The short answer is yes, but on one condition. The culture cannot be built on NIL. It is heavily rumored that the Aggies pretty much bought their recruiting class in 2022, but following it up with not being in the top 10 for 2023 makes me think they have toned it back a little. Look at the best teams in the country, Georgia and Alabama; they are not built off NIL. You can get the talent, but you cannot win. If Jimbo does that, as well as lets Bobby Petrino work the talent out of this offense, the aggies may finally be able to compete in the SEC.
