Texas A&M Football Just Beat Texas and Alabama for Back to Back Recruits

Elko KOs Saban and Sark; Texas A&M Football Signs Two Quality Defenders

It was a good final day of the Early Signing Period for Texas A&M football, as the Aggies landed both priority targets that were slated to announce on Friday. Mike Elko had to do yeoman's work to get back in a couple of these races, but he crossed the finish line with both DL Dealyn Evans and LB Tristan Jernigan as both inked their signatures with the Aggies on Friday evening.

This is obviously a major win as far as the talent that Elko will be bringing to campus. Evans is a top-100 player in the nation, and his tapes leaves Aggie viewers with shades of DeMarvin Leal. Jernigan, though lower-rated by the services, is a prime linebacker prospect out of Tupelo, Mississippi, who really began to come into his own in his senior season.

This is also a major win, however, as a tone-setter for the Mike Elko era. I mentioned on Wednesday that the commitment of EDGE Solomon Williams was huge not only for the fact that he is an unbelievable talent, but that Nick Saban and Alabama were doing everything they could to bring him to Tuscaloosa.

The same is true of Jernigan. Though he only boasts a three-star rating, Alabama had been making a concerted push to get him to sign since earlier in the fall. He had been on a couple of visits to Tuscaloosa throughout the season, and as recently as two weeks ago was visiting the Saban home. The fact that, in the face of such a push for both prospects by the legendary head man of the Tide, Mike Elko was able to lock these two defenders down is nothing short of extraordinary.

Dealyn Evans had a similar story. Though he is the Aggies' longest-tenured commitment, there were tweets emerging from reputable sources yesterday that Texas had begun a major push for Evans and might be close to flipping his commitment. Aggies began to panic; it's one thing to flip Tyanthony Smith, but Evans is in a different league.

No fear, though: the new coach of Texas A&M football is apparently the new king of closing. Evans signed with the Aggies on Friday, despite reports that he would be delaying and taking other visits, and is officially a member of the Maroon and White.

For a coach who many Aggies thought would be a bit on the weaker side when it comes to recruiting, Elko has astounded in his ability on the trail thus far this year. He's building a staff, too, that is savvy both on field and on the trail. Things are looking really promising right now for Texas A&M football.