Character matters.

Without putting Jimbo Fisher on blast, Mike Elko has already made plenty of indicators that he’ll go after recruiting differently than Fisher did. Actually, that may not be fair: Fisher seemed to clue in that you can’t just chase talent and you need to do your homework with the 2023 class — which was too late.

I have long said that you can’t judge a recruiting class until it’s two years down the road, and in this case, the 2021 and 2022 classes sunk Fisher. Like his obstinance with his ancient offense, the blame’s on him. This will give you an idea of why Elko immediately crashed the portal when he arrived.

Class of 2022

QB Conner Weigman (starter)

CB Denver Harris (on his third team)

CB Smoke Bouie (out of football)

CB Marquis Groves-Killebrew (at Arizona, his third team)

DT Walter Nolen (transferred to Ole Miss)

WR Evan Stewart (transferred to Oregon)

WR Chris Marshall (transferred to Boise State, his fourth team, counting JUCOs)

LB Martrell Harris Jr. (in the two-deep, probably)

S Jacoby Mathews (in the portal, has not signed anywhere)

OL Mark Nabou (in the two-deep)

OL Kam Dewberry (in the two-deep)

TE Donovan Green (starter)

TE Jake Johnson (transferred to UNC)

DE Shemar Stewart (starter)

DE LT Overton (transferred to Alabama)

DE Enai White (on the team)

DE Malick Sylla (on the team)

DT Gabe Dindy (possibly in the two-deep)

DE Anthony Lucas (transferred to USC, where he is a backup)

RB Le’Veon Moss (starter)

TE Theo Ohrstrom (on the team)

DE Jadon Scarlett (on the team)

S Bryce Anderson (starter)

PK Ethan Moczulski (in the portal)

LB Ish Harris (out of football)

S Jarred Kerr (on the team)

WR Noah Thomas (starter)

OL PJ Williams (arrested, then transferred to SMU)

DB Bobby Taylor (out of football)

OL Hunter Erb (on the team)

14 of the 30 players from this group are gone. Six are clear-cut starters. A lot of the players who are gone were, to be polite, problems in the locker room. Is all of that on the players, though? No. The coaching and recruiting staffs should have known better, or they ignored warning signs.

OL Jordan Moko (arrested, transferred to Charlotte)

LJ Johnson (quit on the team, transferred to SMU)

S Jardin Gilbert (transferred to LSU)

DL Elijah Jeudy (transferred to Nebraska)

OL Bryce Foster (cut, is in the portal)

DE Tunmise Adeleye (is suspended from his third team and may never play again)

DL Shemar Turner (starter)

OL Remington Strickland (transferred to TCU)

WR Yulkeith Brown (suspended twice, transferred to Tulane)

RB Amari Daniels (in the two-deep)

DT Albert Regis (in the two-deep)

DT Marcus Burris (transferred to Indiana)

CB Tyreek Chappell (in the two-deep)

OL Deuce Fatheree (in the two-deep)

DB Dreyden Norwood (transferred to Mizzou)

CB Deuce Harmon (transferred to SMU)

C Matthew Wykoff (transferred to Cal)

TE Fernando Garza (transferred to Sam Houston)

DE Jahzion Harris (transferred to Rutgers)

OL Trey Zuhn (starter)

QB Eli Stowers (is in the portal looking for a third team)

OL Dametrious Crownover (possible starter)

15 of 22 players are gone. There are two clear-cut starters in this class and that’s it.

So, out of the 52 players that A&M signed over these two seasons, less than half — 23 — are still around. This is supposed to be the core of your team, the spine. They have eight sure-fire starters. But they’ve got a lot more than 8 guys who were suspended!

Character matters. That’s why some guys who were in the 2022 class aren’t around anymore, though they may have wanted to stay or gave A&M the chance to keep them.

Before the end of the spring, Elko told the Aggie media that, while you can never be sure, he didn't think any major contributors would be leaving once the spring was done. It seems like he was right.

You can argue that Bryce Foster is a major loss and there's a case to be made for that. But the new staff was looking for a replacement for him before spring even finished, so it seems like they'd made up their mind on him well in advance. Jacoby Mathews is a loss, but they'd already brought in his replacements and then some.

So here's who else left:

OT Derrick Graham (transferred in from Troy). It would have been great if Graham had stayed, because A&M needs tackle depth, but he doesn't have time to mess around. He needs to start, and he headed to Tulane.

CB Sam McCall. He was lit up like a Christmas tree when he played last year. He's a safety who still thinks he's a corner.

TE Jerry Johnson III. He was trying to learn another new position and the numbers weren't in his favor.

LB Alex Howard (transferred in from Youngstown State). Proved to be a bad fit for the defense and, like Graham, he's in his last season and he needs to make an impact. So he transferred to Duke.

PK Ethan Moczulski. Had injury issues his first two seasons and lost a head-to-head competition with Randy Bond.

OL Colton Thomasson. Got caught up in the numbers game, with Blake Ivy and Ashton Funk showing they'd be capable competition as true freshmen. So he transferred to Baylor.

Transfer OL Dorian Hinton hasn't re-entered the portal, so he may have decided that he just doesn't want to play football right now. DB Bobby Taylor has done the same, though I hope he stays around the program.

So it looks like Elko was right in that the departures from the team don't appear to be major, though some certainly gnaw away at overall depth.

There are a few players that I really like who may not have a place in the starting lineup this fall but could end up being critical to the team's overall success. One of those is definitely DE Cashius Howell. Howell was more of a standup guy at Bowling Green, to the point where some national types eyed him as the guy to replace Edgerrin Cooper at linebacker.

He's not going to do that.

Sine he's been at A&M, Howell has been a regular defensive end, and from what we saw in the spring, he's making that transition very well. And that's a big plus, but he's not out there to stop the run. He's there to get after the quarterback. With Nic Scourton and Shemar Stewart set as the every down ends, Howell's role could be very specific -- and could have him on the field at critical moments all through the season.

We've discussed right tackle a lot. And center could still be a competition. And corner certainly is.

But what about safety?

Bryce Anderson will likely start at free safety. But A&M has a bunch of guys who can play strong safety (and free as well). De'Rickey Wright should be in town in a few weeks, Trey Jones is healthy now and Dalton Brooks had a great spring. So who's going to win out -- and does anyone really need to, considering each could have a different role from the others?

Redshirt freshman corner Dezz Ricks. Even though it looked like the Aggies got some solid work this spring from Will Lee, BJ Mayes and Donovan Saunders (and one other guy I'll mention in a second), Ricks is a guy the coaching staff remains really excited about. We're still only a year removed from him being the #2 corner in the nation and a 5-star. He may be able to do some special things and force his way into the competition for a starting job, even with no spring to work with.

Senior Tyreek Chappell is still around. It's kind of a surprise, considering he nearly left last spring and then did go into the portal after the season, only to come back. Chappell, like most of A&M's corners last year, did not have a good season. But at least he showed up most of the time, playing in 10 of 13 games.

With the big haul of corners coming in this winter, Chappell probably felt like he was being pushed out. And maybe there's something to that. But he decided to stick around, and Elko's return likely had everything to do with that.

Chappell played his best ball during his freshman season under Elko. He didn't have as much success under D.J. Durkin. But this spring, he looked rejuvenated and much more comfortable. Like I said about Howell above, Chappell may not be a guy who starts, but if he keeps it up, he could be one of the guys out there when it matters.

Draftkings released some of its early lines for Aggie football today, and they have A&M favored in 11 games. They're a small favorite over Notre Dame, a little bit bigger favorite over Missouri and LSU, and are a 4-point underdog to Texas right now.

I gotta say, some of those numbers surprised me. Not that it matters one iota right now, but those lines tell me they believe Conner Weigman will be healthy, the offensive line will hold up and the defense will be really good. I think the evidence is mounting for the latter, for sure.

As if A&M hadn't toughened up their non-conference schedule enough, it looks like the Aggies are going to play a tournament in Charleston in November and then fly out to Vegas and play in another one.

Within the last hour, CBSsports.com reported that A&M is one of seven teams -- along with Alabama, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers and San Diego State -- to commit to the "Players Era Festival", which will be played in several venues around Sin City. An eighth team will be added later.

The showup bonus for teams is nice: $1 million. There will also be bigtime NIL opportunities for the players.

The 2024-25 basketball season is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in A&M history. Especially if you have a lot of frequent flyer miles.

The thing that makes baseball so tough and the good ones so good is the need to consistently adjust. This past weekend, LSU specifically attacked A&M slugger Braden Montgomery (who was already in a slump, to be sure) by turning him around to hit right-ended at every possible opportunity. It worked, as he went 0-13. Odds are Ole Miss and Arkansas will do the same, especially in high pressure situations.

So now that the "book" on Montgomery is out there, it's up to him and the A&M coaching staff to adjust back. The first lined shot back up the middle or a bomb over the left field fence could cause some re-assessment.