Texas A&M Football: What impact will Texas have on SEC recruiting?

After Texas A&M Football fans got past the initial shock of hearing that their rival, the Texas Longhorns, would be joining the SEC, the real implications of this move started to set in. For example, the Aggies will no longer be able to brand themselves as the only SEC football program in the state of Texas.

Instead, they’ll be the second program and in all honesty, the second-largest brand.

Beyond that, they’ll now have another tough game on their schedule every single season against Texas. For some, this is a negative, though I think it’s a strong opportunity to build a resume strong enough for the College Football Playoff each season.

The Texas A&M Football team will have a harder time recruiting but it’s not as bad as you think

Right now, the Texas A&M Football team is the only SEC program in the state of Texas. That’s likely a huge selling point for Jimbo Fisher when it comes to recruiting right now, though it won’t be for long. When Texas joins the SEC, the already tough recruiting competitions between the Aggies and Longhorns will get even tougher.

Here are a few top prospects from the state of Texas that these two teams are still fighting over in the 2022 cycle.

• 5-star CB Denver Harris
• 5-star OT Devon Campbell
• 5-star LB Harold Perkins
• 5-star WR Evan Stewart

247Sports’ Josh Pate weighed in on the matter, with the mindset that this won’t make a huge difference. Here’s what he said.

"“Why are they in trouble? And so inevitably, someone says well because Texas is going to be able to recruit the SEC. And I say ‘and’? Well, you know, kids are going to choose Texas now because they’re in the SEC. I asked, why is that? Then they say well, they always wanted to be at Texas, it’s just that now Texas is giving them the final reason with that SEC sticker on their helmet. I don’t believe that. I’m not telling you Texas recruiting won’t improve. That’s not going to be the deciding edge that Horns have over Aggies at all.”"

I have to disagree with Pate in that I believe the fact that Texas is joining the SEC should make a difference. The reason why it won’t have much of an impact on recruiting for the Aggies is that the Texas A&M Football team is in a much better place than the Texas Longhorns at the present moment.

The 5-year outlook for these two programs isn’t even comparable, with Texas A&M coming off of a 4th-ranked finish and a 9-1 season, while the Longhorns have only matched that total twice in the last decade, both in seasons where they had a longer schedule.

Jimbo Fisher has the unique opportunity to put his program in the position of being the best SEC team in the state of Texas by the time the Longhorns arrive. Not only would this avoid the extra difficulty that goes along with recruiting, but it would give Texas A&M a clear edge over their in-state rival.

This is a situation that could go any number of ways. Hopefully, it will benefit the Aggies.