Texas A&M Football Recruiting: Is Sumlin the Right Man to Beat Stoops & Brown?

In 1998, Mack Brown took the head coaching job at the University of Texas and turned around their program. In 1999, Bob Stoops took over at Oklahoma and in two years brought the Sooners another national championship.

While OU and Texas were turning their programs into a powerhouses, Texas A&M was struggling to keep up on the field.

For the past decade, the Aggies have been the third or fourth best team in the Big 12 South behind OU, Texas and sometimes Texas Tech. Their struggles on the field have been mirrored by their struggles in recruits' living rooms. OU and Texas have had great success signing the elite recruits in the state of Texas.

Often the Aggies would gain a pledge from a top prospect only to watch the prospect jump ship when Texas or OU came calling.

The Aggies won some of the head-to-head recruiting battles, signing the likes of Martellus Bennett, Jami Hightower and Rod Davis. However, the fact remains that from 2000-2010, the Sooners and Horns got almost every elite prospect they wanted in the state of Texas.

As the Aggies move to a new conference with a new coach, the question facing the A&M faithful is whether Kevin Sumlin can consistently win recruiting battles with OU and Texas.

If early returns are any indication, the future looks bright for the maroon and white.

Sumlin and the Aggie coaches were able to convince Devante Harris to drop his verbal pledge from OU and commit to the Aggies. Harris is considered by many to be the best cover corner in the state of Texas, and is one of the top 100 recruits in the nation.

The Aggies have not flipped a Texas commit yet, but Dallas Skyline wide receiver Thomas Johnson is still considering the A&M after de-committing from Texas. Johnson apparently bonded with Aggie pledges Matt Davis, Bralon Addison and Trey Williams at the Gridiron Kings 7-on-7 tournament in Florida over the summer.

Sumlin has done an outstanding job holding the 2012 Aggie class together. The Ags have only lost two commitments from the class in Collin Blake and Matt Wilson. If they can add Johnson and a couple more defensive pledges, it will go a long way towards proving to Aggie fans that they found the right coach to compete with Stoops and Brown in the living rooms.

Sumlin filled his staff with great recruiters; Brian Polian, Marcel Yates and David Beaty are some of the best in the business. Sumlin and his assistants have a lot to sell with the Ags moving into the best conference in the country.

It will take two or three years before the Aggies will know whether they hired the right man or not, but the early returns are definitely promising.