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Q: In case no one thinks to ask about our DC hire, spill what you can. (Longneck 80)

A: I can’t say much. I honestly though the deal would be done by now, unless their guy is still involved in a big time bowl.

Q: I simply do not understand all the defensive players supposedly leaving. They are getting a top tier HC who is defensive oriented, and going to get excellent positions coaches on that side of the ball. Is this just ERob is leaving, change in DC, or NIL?

A: I think some of it is ERob leaving, some is NIL and some is the new coaching staff telling them that they may want to explore other avenues.

Can you but together a description of NIL at TAMU? Seeing comments that players said they were not paid! Seeming comments about BroBible (hope I remembered that correctly). Has Aggie NIL dropped the ball with some players? What is going on? (DentonAg80) A: First, BroBible is utter garbage. Compost has more legitimacy. And just because the university didn’t pay anyone doesn’t mean a thing. NIL comes from elsewhere. And that’s as far as I’m going to go because I intentionally avoid specifics. I have no interest in finding out how the Spam gets made.

Q: Other than FSU DC Adam Fuller, can you provide additional names of candidates being considered for the A&M DC position?

A: No, I can’t. They’re being kept very quiet and for a reason.

In your opinion, do you think Elko is discussing the position coach hires he is making with the potential DC? (Mozilla)

A: I would be shocked if he wasn’t.

Q: Your Guess at Remainder of coaching staff hires (BJK01)

A: Trooper Taylor at RB coach, Bryant Gross-Armiento at safeties (or DBs), James Coley remains at tight ends and that’s all I have at the moment. Elko is handling this in a very quiet, but still pretty quick, fashion.

Q: I really love how you try to keep us informed and give us you honest opinion and not just pump sunshine. I've been a subscriber to other sites, but really like this the best. How do we help others find you?

A: Word of mouth is always best. Just tell them to come to the site and check out the free content, and if they like that, sign up. There’s also my Twitter, @mbprivals, and they can get most links there too. I keep my DMs open, even though that occasionally is a move I regret.

Second question: I think a good comparison for Elko is Kirby Smart. What do you think? (Gmalone)

A: Both were highly regarded defensive coordinators, but Kirby had more skins on the wall (read: championships) before he got his shot. Apparently Elko interviews far better than Kirby did, because he got passed up several times for jobs before UGA didn’t bother with the interviews and just hired him. Good move.

Q: People are starting to jump to the conclusion that Durkin is going to be our DC under Elko.... Your thoughts? A simple yes or no will suffice. (Jordan.attar91)

A: All signs point to no.

Q: Any insight on whether Moose is staying or heading to the combine? (H273)

A: So far, I have heard absolutely nothing about Moose leaving. It’s a far cry from six weeks ago when it seemed almost a certainty.

Q: In your opinion, How is Buzz doing on recruitment?

It looks like the good guys are 38.

Any reason we don’t do better in this area? (Spar2cus)

A: His last class, for 2023, was quite good. But one of the players for 2024, which would have boosted its ranking, reclassified to 2023 and is on campus now (Dockery). Also, Buzz is very much an anti-Jimbo in that he doesn’t necessarily look for true freshmen to come in so he can mold them, he wants guys with experience who can contribute quickly — look at Boots Radford, Dexter Dennis and now Jace Carter and Eli Lawrence. That means smaller recruiting classes and, consequently, lower rankings.

Q: What is the range of $$ for our NIL? How is it setup? Pyramid-like to incentivize staying? I used for performance? 4th year bonus? (6.William.Bs)

A: I intentionally steer clear of that stuff, but I do know enough to know that all deals are different.

Q: Do you think A&M will be able to get some of the elite transfers who have entered the portal? (ag20)

A: I am under the impression that they are letting some talented guys go because they believe they can find better replacements in the portal, so I’d have to say yes to that one.

Q: We’ve had some big names hit the portal. What percentage are testing the NIL waters? (Elicrow)

A: If it’s a big name, there are likely one of two reasons they’re in the portal: they’re looking for more money or they’re looking to get closer to home (in A&M’s case). Or they want to play with their bother, which I get.

Q: Any truth to this?

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko landed his offensive coordinator for the 2024 season, hiring Kansas State's Collin Klein. Before he made that move, he apparently tried to hire a well-respected coach from a rival SEC program.

According to FootballScoop, Texas A&M pursued LSU offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock before hiring Klein. (Richard23)

A: That is accurate. A&M made a big offer, Denbrock declined it and A&M quickly shifted to Klein.

Q: Several questions about NIL on here already. I know the rules on how it’s supposed to work but I’m still confused. Can you give us a peek behind the curtain on what goes on?

A: No.

Do the poor Ags like myself need to start contributing? I’m ready to tell the wife and kids that Christmas is canceled if needed. (JonnyRocketAg)

A: No way. Nah. Nuh-uh. I don’t want your kids pissed at me because I told you to give money to a college football player. Let the people with lots of commas in their salaries do that.

Q: 1) When does Marble return?

A: If the “university issue” is what I think it is, he should be back at the start of the new semester.

2) When does Radford return? (AgNok)

A: No idea. But he looked ok last night after the game, so hopefully soon.

Q: Has Trey Moore LB UTSA been offered? (Grunt7111)

A: Not that I know of, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t. I just haven’t seen anything indicating he has been. I will say this, though: several members of A&M’s recruiting staff are following him on Twitter. Yes, it’s to the point of the year where I’m checking out who follows who on Twitter.

Q: We have offered a number of kids in the portal. How long before you expect us to start signing players, and do you have any that you believe we lead for?

A: I think they could start getting commitments as soon as next week.

Where do you believe we stand with recruits after all the changes? Do you believe we will have additional decommits before signing day? (Maddog83)

A: I would not be surprised if there are. I think WRs Braylon Hornsby and Debron Gatling are possibilities, but some of the other players who you thought might be in jeopardy are actually making their officials to A&M this weekend. That seems to bode well.

Q: I saw Missouri is asking kids to stay for bowl game. Do you see that as viable?

A: No. They’d be screwing themselves.

Would they do it? (Richard23)

A: See above.

Q: Collin Klein: why here? Why not Penn State? Why not Notre Dame? (Pebbycree)

A: I can think of a ton of reasons: better fit, better personnel, not freaking cold all the time, and possibly better pay.

Q: What is the official status of players in the portal?

A: They gone.

Are they still on scholarship?

A: No.

Can they still participate with the team and play in the bowl game?

A: No.

Which players in the portal do you think they would take back?

A: Not many.

We have a DL coach. Any idea who and when a DC is named?

A: See above.

What new position coaches have been named? (Have Gun Will Travel)

A: Officially, none. But we know Sean Spencer and Ish Aristide, along with Collin Klein, are already in College Station.

Q: Do you think the BMAs of A&M trust the AD, BOR, and the still assembling coaching staff enough to fund whatever is needed through NIL to keep and/or acquire whatever player personnel needed or desired by Elko? (Reckless75)

A: If I were Elko, I’d ask for an absurd, insane, no chance amount like $100 million to see if I could get half that. But while I’m not at liberty to divulge what he asked for, it was still considerable and I’m under the impression he’ll get what he asked for.

Q: On your "Departures" list, will you speak on each one as to whether it's purely an NIL play vs traditional reasons for wanting out - i.e. playing time, etc?

A: Except in a few very specific situations, no. And I think I’ve already discussed the ones that I would talk about — in large part because they were obvious.

My attitude towards the pure NIL play folks is if they couldn't make a deal w/us, they're probably too selfish for my liking anyway so let em go. There must be a balance between individual worth and team value/"brotherhood". If the player only looks at their individual payout & doesn't value the brotherhood at all, let em go. What's the new coaching staff's attitude toward them? (91 Ag)

A: Let me put it like this: not everyone in the portal actually initially intended to go in. Some were told it was in their best interest. And if their intent has been to use the portal as an NIL strategy, the response appears to have been “Vaya con Dios”.

Q: questions about DC - check

questions about Bjork being fired and why not - check

questions about Dick23 stalking said AD - check

questions about the D players - relative to portal - check

questions about Klein being second fiddle to Denbrock - check

very efficient set of questions so will have to dig a bit deeper....

Your thoughts on Hicks, Dindy and the massive Samoan stepping in for MJ and Nolan with Raikes? Anyone else I am forgetting? Portal time?

A: You’re forgetting Albert Regis. Add in DJ Hicks, Gabe Dindy, Samu Taumanupepe and Shemar Turner likely getting work inside and I think they’ve got enough for right now. They’ve also got Jadon Scarlett to work with and Dominick McKinley coming in (hopefully). But I’d look at the portal to see what’s there, for sure.

No scuttlebutt about Shemar's?

A: Turner’s not going anywhere. With Fadil Diggs and LT Overton leaving, Stewart has plenty of playing time coming his way.

Really want them to stay. New DE that were redshirted last year? Are we in trouble or highly depended on portal?

A: Rylan Kennedy didn’t redshirt, but he didn’t play much (4 tackles in 8 games). Enai White will be back after getting hurt this year, and Malik Sylla will be around. But I’d be looking in the portal for some pass rushers, and I think they are.

And DBs - do we have 3 left with Grimes and how many portal CBs are we after? 5 at least? (Rooster77) A: Right now, they have Deuce Harmon, Josh DeBerry, Jayvon Thomas, Bravion Rogers, Sam McCall and Kent Robinson. DeBerry, of course, will be gone after the bowl. Then they’ll have Grimes back and, as it stands now, Terry Bussey to join them. I would be definitely looking for high quality corners, and they seem to be targeting Will Lee of K-State to fill one of those needs.

Q: If a player is leaving for pure NIL reasons he must have either an offer or a reasonable expectation of one based on conversations with someone in a position to offer. Isn’t that collusion? (H273)

A: It’s not collusion, it’s tampering. And until someone gets nailed to the wall for doing it, everyone will do it.

Q: Taking into consideration all of the many moving parts (exiting coaches, incoming coaches, exiting portal players, incoming portal players, NIL, team morale, BMA sentiment, and recruiting), what grade would you give Elko right now? (Battalion Ex)

A: I’d give him a solid B.

Q: Would you chalk up some of these portal transfers being due to these players distance to home.

A: I think that’s part of it, and losing their guy (E-Rob) compounded it.

Definately under Jimbo our National recruiting footprint enlarged and the number of TX atheletes shrank. Is that a big reason for pushing the THSCA connection to repair the bridges from the previous coach and to help with losing players in the future?

A: I think it’s just common sense. One of the most foolish things Jimbo did was not work hard on the relationship with Texas high school football coaches. That just made his life more difficult and made it tougher to recruit in-state. Elko is making his own life easier by trying to strengthen those relationships.

do you see bowl games, outside of CFP games, becoming de-facto exhibition games for backups to show their stuff since more stars and starters are inclined to sit them out? (Btread)

A: I don’t know if I’d go that far, but you’re definitely going to see players you didn’t see during the regular season because that’s what teams are going to have to do thanks to the portal and concerns over the draft.

Q: I was under the impression that transfer rules had changed and players could now transfer one time. But many players are transferring for a 2nd time such as Max Johnson. Are players like Max able to transfer a 2nd time because they have graduated? (AggieWoo)

A: That’s right. Players who have graduated can go back into the portal whenever they want without penalty.