Texas A&M pulled off one of the most unexpected flips yesterday that you'll ever see out of the Aggies, but it's not for the reasons that you might expect. The Aggies picked up a commitment from safety Errol Kerns of Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana— flipping him from Miami.
It's not the Miami that the Aggies have been battling hard with several prospects with, however. No, the Hurricanes were not in on this recruitment— rather, the Aggies flipped Kerns from the Miami of Ohio Redhawks, where he had been committed for quite some time.
This is quite possibly the first time we've seen the Aggies flip a prospect from the Redhawks, I'd imagine, but a little bit of a closer look reveals just why the Ags were so high on Kerns. Though he was committed to Miami of Ohio, he was being hotly pursued by the Michigan Wolverines, the reigning national champions Indiana Hoosiers, and the Ohio State Buckeyes before the Aggies swooped in and landed his pledge.
Texas A&M lands yet another athletic defensive back in Errol Kerns, sending distinct message
The Aggies have dipped into Big 10 territory twice now in this class, landing both Kerns and TE Holden Niemi, who are from Indiana and Michigan, respectively. While that is deserving of some note in and of itself, there's another immediate factor that should be noted for the Aggies.
Kerns is now the sixth defensive back commitment in this class, and the Aggies are still angling for at least one more. Texas A&M has landed commits from Kerns, Loia Valade, Hakim Frampton, JayQuan Snell, Raylaun Henry, and Kamarui Dorsey— and they're still after both John Meredith and Joshua Dobson at the corner position.
Of course, all of those but Henry are currently projected to play safety rather than corner, so with a base nickel look in Elko's defense, that is less of an immediately pressing issue. However, Aggie fans can't help but think of the 2022 class, wherein the Aggies loaded all the way up on defensive linemen— landing five five-star players in that position group alone.
So, are the Aggies making the same mistake as they did all the way back under Jimbo? It's pretty clear that the answer is no. Texas A&M is not star-hunting in the slightest with the last few commitments: Valade and Kerns are both rated as middle-of-the-pack three-stars by most services.
That's not to say that there's no reason to think these guys can stick around in College Station, of course. Both are players that the staff sees something big in, and so they are after them for a reason— other big time programs were as well.
But the point here is that this is not unnecessarily adding big names to the class for the sake of making a statement. These are players that the Aggie staff really sees something in and are pursuing based off of their own evaluations rather than thanks to their stature in the recruiting world.
The other thing is that these are not just guys who have elite traits that project well to the next level— these are real deal ball players. Take a look at the film for Kerns, Valade, and Hampton, and I challenge you to come away unimpressed. These are players that Elko obviously sees something in as he is building the defensive backfield he has been envisioning.
The Aggies' recruiting tear isn't near to over, but Texas A&M fans who have been worried that it bears resemblance to that 2022 class ought to calm their hearts. There is a lot to be excited about in this class— and the Kerns commitment only furthers that notion.
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