The Texas A&M Aggies are hitting the ground running under new head coach Mike Elko, both via the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail.
In fact, as it stands right now, the Aggies No. 17 in the nation and No. 9 in the SEC with a score of 91.07 in the On3 Team Recruiting Rankings.
However, it appears that they are just getting started.
According to On3 recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Texas A&M is trending to land not one, but two of the nation’s top defensive backs, starting with starting with five-star Ball (Galveston, TX) safety Jonah Williams, who is set to take an official visit to College Station on June 7.
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“I think the Aggies are the favorite going into the official visit,” Wiltfong said. “I think things have cooled with Oklahoma, and I’m at the point now where I’m debating an RPM (Recruiting Prediction Machine) pick for Jonah Williams and Texas A&M.
Currently, Williams ranks as the No. 10 player in America, No. 1 safety in the country, and No. 3 player in Texas per the On3 Industry Ranking. And were he to commit to the Aggies during the official visit, he would instantly become the highest-rated recruit on the board for Mike Elko.
So what is giving Texas A&M the edge for Williams over other power programs like Ohio State, LSU, Oregon, Texas and USC?
According to Wiltfong, it is the coaching staff, which Williams believes to be one of the best development staffs for defensive backs in the entire country.
“The coaching staff he said excites him on a different level,” Wiltfong said. “He talked about the track record of player development. Mike Elko has had guys like Kyle Hamilton and Jessie Bates, and the way they want to use Jonah schematically as that Swiss army knife is exciting for him. So I think Texas A&M has the momentum.”
Williams isn’t the only top defensive back that is excited about Elko and his staff, however.
Another key name the Aggies are trending for as well, is that of four-star Shadow Creek (Pearland, TX) cornerback Cobey Sellers, who currently ranks as the No. 165 player nationally, No. 20 corner back, and No. 28 player in Texas, per the On3 Industry Ranking.
And just like Williams, Sellers is enamored with the development and upside that could come with playing under Elko, Ishmael Aristide, and Jordan Peterson.
“After taking a couple of visits to see this new Texas A&M staff in the spring, they are trending here,” Wiltfong said. “This is one of the first prospects that the new staff hit the ground running on with coach (Artistide) and coach Elko leading the charge. And then when coach Peterson got hired from Kansas he also has been all in on this recruitment… Oklahoma was at one point considered the favorite, but right now it is Texas A&M.”
Just like Williams, Sellers is on track to take an official visit to Aggieland on June 7, giving Texas A&M a chance to make a major statement this summer, as perhaps the premier destination for defensive back recruits in the county.
And if Wiltfong is indeed right, they have a chance to do just that.
“The Aggies could add Cobey Sellers, I think they’re trending for Jonah Williams right now. And then Trey McNutt, another elite safety from Ohio there in the top three or four for him,” Wiltfong said. “Texas A&M has a chance to put together one of the special defensive back hauls in the country.”