Rivals250 DL Bobby Brown the latest re-commitment for A&M

Rivals250 defensive lineman Bobby Brown’s flip from Alabama to Texas A&M on Wednesday morning wasn’t exactly a surprise flip, but it certainly gets the Aggies’ National Signing Day efforts rolling with some positive news. After the Early Signing Period, in the wake of a coaching change at A&M, Brown’s head was spinning a bit with all of the back-and-forth he was hearing from the remaining assistants at A&M and the staff at Alabama. In the end, Jimbo Fisher’s shrewd decision to keep defensive ends coach Terry Price on staff was key, and the Aggies were able to convince Brown to re-commit to the school that he always wanted to be at.

Depending on how you look at it, the sky didn’t completely fall following the dismissal of Kevin Sumlin, as is usually the expectation for a team’s recruiting class when a head coach is fired. However, the Aggies get to enjoy the visual of landing big recruits on National Signing Day - even if some of them are players that have stayed close to the program. In addition to Leon O’Neal’s re-commitment on Monday, Brown gives the Aggies another Rivals250 prospect back in the class and sets the table for A&M to make a late charge up the Rivals class recruiting rankings with Fisher’s first go-round in College Station. Brown is a versatile talent that could line up anywhere on the defensive front and be a disruptive player.

Alabama might have a bit of a smaller recruiting class than many of its fans might have expected at this point in year’s past. It seems as though the Crimson Tide weren’t really planning for the Early Signing Period to have been such a popular option for many prospects to take advantage of. That being said, if Alabama could afford to lose a commit, defensive end seems to be the spot where it could take the hit. The Tide still have four other defensive ends signed, and may decide to pick up more of a true defensive tackle than Brown would have been had the plan been to move him to the inside.