Rivals national recruiting analyst Cole Patterson is joined by national recruiting director Adam Gorney, Jack Byers of BulldogBlitz.com and Mark Passwaters of AggieYell.com to tackle three topics in the Mid-South region.
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1. Texas A&M will finish with a top-10 recruiting class despite the coaching change.
Patterson: FACT. Texas A&M has done an excellent job of retaining premier talent in its 2024 recruiting haul even after the Aggies made the big move of firing head coach Jimbo FIsher. Elijah Robinson has great relationships with several commits and is doing a wonderful job of keeping the class together. It appears that prospects such as Cam Coleman and Tristan Jernigan may be looking around, which would hurt. But holding onto the likes of Terry Bussey and Dominick McKinley would go a long way for the next head man in College Station.
Passwaters: FACT. Probably. It all depends on who they hire to replace Jimbo Fisher. But the fact that they have had very little movement in terms of the recruiting class to this point is both surprising and impressive. If they can get a a solid name as a replacement, they should stay in the top 10 and possibly push higher depending on who the new coach is.
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2. Four-star WR JJ Harrell will sign with Mississippi State even after the Bulldogs fired Zach Arnett.
Patterson: FACT. This will come down to wide receivers coach Chad Bumphis staying on staff with the coaching change. Bumphis is a former All-SEC performer in Starkville and has built a great bond with JJ Harrell, the Bulldogs' top-ranked commit in the 2024 cycle. Harrell has some big programs on his offer sheet with some likely seeing if he will change his mind, but the Rivals250 pass catcher is holding strong to this point.
"As long as coach Bumphis is the receivers coach, I’m not going anywhere," Harrell told Rivals earlier this week.
Byers: FACT. Harrell has been outspoken about his relationship with wide receivers coach Chad Bumphis. The expectation is that Bumphis will be retained by the next coaching staff, which should give the Bulldogs the upper hand in Harrell’s recruitment leading into signing day.
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3. Florida commit DJ Lagway is the most interesting prospect heading into the next Rivals rankings update.
Patterson: FACT. DJ Lagway has put his best foot forward in potentially jumping into that five-star tier thanks to a tremendous senior season that includes leading Willis (Texas) to its first ever 10-0 regular season and an outright district championship. The Florida commit is a gamer in every sense as he plays his best when the lights are on and the stage is the biggest. There are some questions about the quarterback pecking order this cycle, but Lagway deserves to have his name in the thick of the discussions.
Gorney: FACT. There is no question that Lagway has had a phenomenal senior season and posted excellent stats but there is still a discussion to be had about whether he's a five-star prospect because that not only entails stats but a projection as to whether he's going to be a first-round NFL Draft prospect. That makes things a little trickier since not every quarterback with great stats ends up in the first round. I'm leaning toward a yes vote on Lagway being a five-star because there is just something to be said about being a gamer and bringing it each and every week but the Florida commit was sort of middle of the pack during the Elite 11 so it's not a lock just yet.
