Q: I have a question. When a player enters the transfer portal, how much due diligence can a prospective school/ program do on that player as they are trying to determine if they want to take him? Are prospective programs allowed to inquire of the program that the player is leaving of any concerns that they should know about. You know off the field stuff? Also, can they ask about how he was with his teammates? All things programs do when they are recruiting these players while they are still in HS. (Aggdoc)

A: They can, and should, do all of those things.

Q: In what order of “coolness” would you put these guys? Who would you add to this list as a bonus?

Steve McQueen

Paul Newman

James Dean

Samuel L. Jackson

Harrison Ford

Frank Sinatra

Brad Pitt

George Clooney

Antonio Banderas

Clint Eastwood

Dwayne Johnson

(Big Smoothie)

A: Man, this is ROUGH.

Ok, let's start with Frank. Nobody was cooler than Frank, even though I'm a big fan of Deano.

Sinatra

Eastwood

Ford (come on, he's Han Solo AND Indiana Jones AND Jack Ryan. Like he can go any lower than this).

McQueen

Sam Jack

Newman

THE ROCK

James Dean

Antonio Banderas

Pitt

Clooney

Now, if you want me to add some guys, I can do that. John Wayne, Arnold Schwarzengger and, especially, Sean Fing Connery would be on my list. Like, up at the top.

I also have a story involving Sam Jackson, albeit peripherally. During my newspaper days, one of my friends was interviewing one of the smoothest men ever, the great Lando Calrissian -- Billy Dee Williams. It was about some play he was in. But I sent him an IM that said, "Ask him who the coolest MFer of all time is: Him, or Samuel L.?"

I did not expect him to do so. But at the end of the conversation, he blurted out, word for word. There was a pause, then a long laugh. "Me, of course," Billy Dee said.

Lando wins over Mace.

Q: When do you expect B. Thomas to announce? (AgNok)

A: There's some thought he could tomorrow (Friday). But nothing's set in stone. He could really do it whenever.

Q: Have you ever had this much confidence in the program’s direction?

A: Nope.

My opinion: when we find ourselves THE QB, the team that’s being assembled will be ready for that natty - what do you see as the next step to be a NC contender? (FatRobby)

A: Get the offensive line and QB some experience. Then beat Alabama.

Q: do we have in our roster (including 2021 recruits) that QB that can take us to the next level, and make sure that our offense can keep up scoring points like the Bama, O$U, ZeroU offenses? (MrDoctore86)

A: I don't think it's that simple. A&M's defense is going to make it difficult for opponents to score, and controlling time of possession will slow them down even more. The question is, does A&M have a quarterback that can move the offense enough to score points with those limitations on the other guys? I am a big believer in Haynes King, so I'm saying yes.

Q: When did you know Foster was going to commit and how much influence did he have in getting LJ to sign? (h273)

A: I knew about a week to 10 days before he did. We knew that he had talked to Jimbo -- about what, we didn't know -- and then communication with OU dried up. At that point, I could put two and two together.

As for LJ, I doubt he had much impact at all.

Q: So I saw LJ signed.....did anyone else sign yesterday?

A: No.

Bummed bear committed somewhere else. Need to get my former Aggie co-workers at the school to show their pride to him so he will see the light.

So whom is likely to fill out this class? Seems at least one signed elsewhere that was forecast for the good guys. Have lost track or gotten confused at this point (DentonAg80)

A: Jordan Moko will announce very early Friday morning. Odds are he will be an Aggie.

Q: Also, what's the point of having 2 separate deadline signing days/opportunities if kids can just hold off and sign whenever they want to? What more convincing does Brian Thomas need at this point?

A: First, you can't sign except for the three days in the early period. It's always been open season after the February signing day, but most guys don't want to wait around and get it done. As for what Thomas needs, I don't know. He's not talking.

Any update on Chris Morris' status? (Gigem85)

A: No.

Q: Jimbo talked about cheating in his press conference yesterday. I read his tone as it was something recent. Maybe more than TN handing out Big Macs.

Any buzz out there on programs we are going head to head with crossing the line? (map87)

A: Dan Patrick mentioned Georgia as being dirty when he outed Tennessee for the McDonald's bags. Considering their level of success lately, they're an easy target, but they did sign the guy that Tennessee allegedly paid. If they cross Alabama, then you'll know.

Q: After reviewing the rivals top 100 one thing that jumped out was OU landing a 5-star LB from Texas. I’m surprised to see a linebacker that highly rated land with a big 12 team. Seems a little out of the norm. We’re we in on him at all? I don’t recall hearing much about him.

A: No, they weren't.

You said Weigman is the closest thing you’ve seen to JFF since he arrived in 2012. Is he more like Johnny than Kyler Murray? (Aggiewoo)

A: Considering his running style and throwing motion, no doubt.

Q: Why did Crownover drop so much in the rankings? Did his significant increase in size cause confusion about his role at the next level? Is he Wyd 2.0?

A: I don't know, but no, he is not Wydermyer 2.0. Wydermyer has better speed and the ability to elude opponents.

Which 2 3stars are going to be awesome finds for Jimbo when it's all said and done, and why? His "I told you so's"? (elicrow)

A: There aren't many 3-stars, so I'll go with Matthew Wykoff and Albert Regis.

Q: I noticed Alabama is the only team in the top 10 to sign a full class and they are actually heavy by 2. Do you expect this to change over the next couple of weeks or is this due to the portal? Also, How did alabama sign 27? (aggdaddy)

A: I think this is largely due to the portal. Teams want to keep their powder dry in case someone of interest pops up. And Alabama probably signed 27 the way A&M used to: they had two scholarships left over from 2020 and used them on mid-termers. so they have 2020 scholarships but can be counted as 2021 recruits.

Q: Best guess on ‘22 numbers by position?

Can you list top 2 recruits being targeted at those positions? (haas89)

A: Not yet. Let me do a little work on this and I'll get you a good answer. Maybe for Tidbits tomorrow.

Q: I noticed that Jimbo had zoom conversations and offers on back to back nights three weeks ago With Klubnik and Weigman. Is it safe to assume it was a first come first serve on who we were going to take.? (agcatter123)

A: Yeah, probably so. It's really on Klubnik to decide whether he wants to follow his parents to A&M or be the only QB in someone else's class. I'm betting on the latter.