Texas A&M football picks up verbal commitment from A&M consolidated specialist

Texas A&M football picks up commitment from local kicker Colton Chmelar out of A&M Consolidated high school

Since Mike Elko arrived at Texas A&M football, he has spoken about the importance of locking down in-state talent and currying the goodwill of the state's high school coaches. That strategy has looked to pay off several times already this cycle, and it just did so again.

A&M Consolidated kicker Colton Chmelar announced today that he would be joining Texas A&M football in a preferred walk-on capacity. Even so, this is a big addition—Chmelar is highly-rated as a kicker, and a talented receiver and soccer player as well.

Texas A&M football fans are well-aware of the big impact that quality special teams play can have, especially when it comes to kickers. The Aggies have had the fate of several games shaped by the play of both their own and opposing kickers—who can forget the "Oink Doink" against Arkansas a couple of years ago?—and so it's always important to stay stocked with quality players at the position.

Count me as one who appreciates this move. I like keeping local kids around when they can offer your team something, and Colton can clearly leverage his kicking talent to be a quality addition to the special teams room.

The Aggies began to look a little more locally starting in the 2023 class, but that was dictated somewhat by necessity after the staff had a tough time with a few national recruitments. That ended up netting them Chantz Johnson and Taurean York, so let's call it a win.