Five-star DE Tunmise Adeleye inks with Texas A&M over Florida

In the end, Tunmise Adeleye’s recruitment came full circle.

Adeleye, a five-star defensive end from Katy (Texas) Tompkins, gave his final commitment to Texas A&M and signed his paperwork with the Aggies on Wednesday. Texas A&M fended off strong pushes from SEC rivals Florida as well as Alabama for Adeleye, the nation’s No. 24-ranked player in the country.

The Aggies were the first Power 5 team to extend an offer to Adeleye before he played a down of varsity football for Tompkins. His relationships with both Terry Price and Elijah Robinson trumped family connections in Florida and a chance to team up with fellow Rivals100 prospect Jalen Milroe at Alabama.

Adeleye gave a springtime commitment to Ohio State while enrolled and living at IMG Academy, which followed multiple visits to The Swamp before the NCAA Dead Period went into effect. He backed off that commitment after returning back home to Katy, Texas. Since then, the Aggies have steadily gained steam in Adeleye’s recruitment thanks to the emergence of the defensive line and climbing up the No. 5 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Adeleye bolsters the Aggies’ 2021 recruiting class, which at 18 commitments entered the early signing window ranked No. 12 in the country on Rivals. Texas A&M recently added Rivals100 defensive end Shemar Turner to the fold, and paired with Adeleye gives the Aggies two of the nation’s premier strongside ends to bolster its defensive front and eventually replace DeMarvin Leal.

Overall, Texas A&M put its stamp on recruiting within the Lone Star State by notching commitments from Adeleye and Turner in addition to other in-state Rivals250 talents like Reueben Fatheree, Deuce Harmon and Shadrach Banks. That played a major role in swaying Adeleye toward picking the Aggies.

"It's been on my mind for a long time. If they hadn't taken that chance on me ... In the recruiting game, you have to have that first spark. Texas A&M was my first spark. I had been to a lot of camps, lot of schools and no one was showing interest until A&M did. Texas A&M has been recruiting me the hardest from the beginning -- the hardest in the sense of the relationships being genuine. We had genuine relationships from the beginning. They wanted me before I played a down of varsity football. They had a vision in their heads of what I could be and I was able to attain that vision. There are few athletes that get offers before playing varsity football. Getting that offer was big for me. For me to get the call to tell me A&M wanted to give me an offer was crazy. It was a surreal moment. All the work I had been putting in, the craft I've been building, everything I had been doing since the fifth grade up to now ... it blossomed. It finally made sense."

“In the end, it boiled down to them believing in me before anyone else. There was loyalty from the beginning.”

“My family has been watching my football games forever. My mom and dad, when I was little, flew with Hayden Conner, Jalen Milroe, Bryce Foster and the sixth-grade FBU team from Houston. We played on ESPN3. My parents have been so invested in my football career from the beginning — even when my mom didn’t want me to play football. They were so invested taking me to camps, being at my games. They always found ways to watch me and be at practices, at training sessions, at camps, on unofficial visits. They were always there for me from a football aspect. It just feels disrespectful to jump ship and go far away when they’ve been here up until this point. They’ve been here since the beginning, so why not go an hour, 30 minutes up the road to finish what I’ve already started.”

Adeleye was a well-decorated two-year All-District performer for Tompkins in 2018 and 2019. In that stretch, he accounted for 109 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, a forced fumble and a safety.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Adeleye is the nation’s No. 3-ranked strongside end, and in a lighter frame, provides versatility to Texas A&M, which intends to utilize the Houston product on the edge. Adeleye, of course, presents mismatches as a 3- and 4-technique and gives defensive coordinators versatility with different fronts.

The lighter Adeleye was dominant during the Orlando Rivals Camp series stop in February, where he showcased a whole new array of pass-rush technique and violent hands to trick up opposing linemen. At 245 pounds, Adeleye was lighter and therefore quicker on his feet. He was twitchy with an extra burst.

Adeleye has devoted a lot of attention to developing different pass-rush moves during this offseason before ultimately opting out of his senior season amid the CoVid-19 pandemic. At different RCS stops and camp settings, Adeleye has been more flexible with improved bend to get around the edge and maintain balance. He’s showcased a wide range of pass-rush moves ranging from a swim to spin to push-pull rip.

He possesses a wide range of moves in a deep arsenal and has emphasized that aspect of his game in his time away from the field.

Factor in a high motor and physical demeanor, Adeleye’s improved twitchiness has made him too quick for flat-footed linemen and too powerful for finesse linemen.

While Adeleye is well-equipped as a pass-rusher, he is an absolute terror as an edge-defender against the run. He’s relentless in his path to the football and can move both tight ends and offensive linemen off then all in his pursuit.

Adeleye, who on occasion will see snaps inside as a 3-technique, is a match with his quickness and has devastating reach and closing sleep to cause disruption in the backfield.

Adeleye flies to the football and has rare speed to range sideline-to-sideline and make plays up and down the line of scrimmage. He can be a dominant edge-defender for the Aggies with tremendous upside as a pass-rusher. He has a unique blend of speed and power with special closing speed. He’s massively disruptive and brings splash-play upside.