The damage: 359 yards rushing, six touchdowns in a shutout. "That Monday, I got a letter on my desk, an overnight deal. [Texas] A&M offered him after that game. That was the start of the recruiting process," said Peterson's coach at the time, Jeff Harrell.

https://www.espn.com/blog/washington-commanders/post/_/id/37698/adrian-petersons-legend-began-in-the-cowboys-backyard

I found this thread from 8/21/2007: The recruiting of Adrian Peterson

https://texags.com/forums/5/topics/933589

Peterson had a connection to Sumlin. We were in the lead (not sure if he was actually committed though).

After rc was fired stoops hired sumlin and Peterson committed to stoops and sumlin

I followed his recruiting closely. I remember people talking about the color of balloons that were going to be used at his ceremony, people were going nuts and stalking Palestine for any type of Clue.. first I've ever heard of this nonsense

LB12Diamond said:

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RC was mainly let go bc he had fallen behind in recruiting. So who knows if he would have been able to keep Adrien.

He was in the middle of the Saban-Stoops-Brown triangle that we're all on an upswing.

RC also said he was about to be the age of other coaches who started doing really well. So nice of him to think but again Bowden was not dealing with the monster RC was at the time he was that age.

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He mainly fell behind in recruiting because we had fallen waaaaaaaayyyyyy behind in facilities.

While RC was beating tu, LSU and ou in the early-mid 90's, they were all upgrading their facilities and then hiring the likes of Saban-Stoops-Brown. RC was left holding a giant bag of poop to try to compete with them because of our AD's mindset that everything was perfectly fine because we were beating tu up until that point.

Nobody knows if RC would've been able to compete with them if he had been giving a level playing field but he was definitely fighting with at least one arm tied behind his back.

Edit to add: RC also had a revolving door at OC during his latter years and the offense tended to get stale. The debate always raged as to whether he couldn't keep good OCs because they couldn't get along with defensive minded RC or if it was the AD was too cheap to pay the good ones what they were worth and they left for greener pastures so we were left with the duds the AD would pay for. The Wally Groff AD was notoriously cheap.

Peterson did a radio interview last month and said he wanted to go to Texas but they had Cedric and were not recruiting him as hard. Not sure what to believe, feels like these guys all have a different story depending on audience.

VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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Peterson did a radio interview last month and said he wanted to go to Texas but they had Cedric and were not recruiting him as hard. Not sure what to believe, feels like these guys all have a different story depending on audience.

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I had heard (at the time) he really liked A&M and would've liked to have come here, but didn't think Fran could rebuild the program into a winner before he'd be finished playing here.

77-0 doesn't happen but 51-6 did in Stoops 1st signature win over RC's 1999 #13 Aggies team. That was the beginning of the demise unfortunately. Stoops ramped up recruiting at our expense. This thread is right about facilities though, we gave nothing to RC to work with.

I remember reading on here that A&M would've had the #1 recruiting class if they kept Slocum, but I figured that was a stretch at best.

He had A&M on the cusp of greatness multiple seasons and continued what Jackie built but couldn't get over the hump and win bigger bowl games. It was downright maddening how the Ags would manage to lose them.

Nary a mention of dove poppers.

Chicken Pickin said:

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77-0 doesn't happen but 51-6 did in Stoops 1st signature win over RC's 1999 #13 Aggies team. That was the beginning of the demise unfortunately. Stoops ramped up recruiting at our expense. This thread is right about facilities though, we gave nothing to RC to work with.

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Brown was already going ahead in recruiting. Next Stoops and finally Saban at LSU might have been the last straw. RC was always good at getting some solid Louisiana players and Saban changed that one.

Chicken Pickin said:

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77-0 doesn't happen but 51-6 did in Stoops 1st signature win over RC's 1999 #13 Aggies team. That was the beginning of the demise unfortunately. Stoops ramped up recruiting at our expense. This thread is right about facilities though, we gave nothing to RC to work with.

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What was the OU-tu score the 77-0 season?

AWP 97 said:

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Fake News! RC sycophants like to make up a lot of narratives to prop up Slocum.

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I liked RC and like it or not he was the head man during our most successful stretch of football ever

From 1991 to 1994 he went 10-2, 12-1, 10-2 and 10-0-1


We haven't come close to that since

Yes, he had to go after that 02 season, but he was still a pretty damn good coach for us who won us our last conference title and had more 10 win seasons than any coach in our history

that doesn't make sense because 2004 was Benson's senior year

Peterson and Benson would have only overlapped for 1 year

Score was: Red herring - Red herring!

VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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Peterson did a radio interview last month and said he wanted to go to Texas but they had Cedric and were not recruiting him as hard. Not sure what to believe, feels like these guys all have a different story depending on audience.

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AD never striked me as a very bright person. Still perhaps the most NFL-ready recruit ever coming out of high school.

Jugstore Cowboy said:

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My uncle said that Dick Butkus was this close to coming to A&M but Bob Davie wouldn't accept a collect call from an Illinois area code because he got scammed on auto warranty one time before.

I dunno...my uncle says a lot of things. Sometimes I worry about him.

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Ahahaha, whew!

Let me get this straight……

You are upset that a player who retired from the NFL several years ago may have been mishandled in recruiting in high school? You do realize that it is 2025, right?

I can't comprehend how terrible life must be for some of you.

Are you RC?

i'm leaving the actual names out of this. Peterson's home situation was terrible, Dad was in prison and mom went from guy to guy just to have a place to live. Adrian ended up sleeping on the couch at a family in Palestine with a teammate. Let's just say his name was "Mr E" who was the dad. Mr. E's kid was a pasty white kid who couldn't get a scholarship anywhere and I am saying that respectfully because anyone who opens their home to shelter and feed someone else not in their family deserves accolades. God bless this family for their generosity.

Stoops offered the kid a full scholarship as a trainer on the OU team helping solidify the deal (on top of the same cash everyone else was offering probably including us).

When Peterson watched from the field the Texas/OU game and saw the athletic builds of OU's OL vs the fat tubs from Texas that was a factor.

When he watched Longhorn fans boo their own team in Austin and that was a factor.

When Peterson watched us win a close game over Urban Meyer's Utah team it was a positive factor in our direction. He seriously considered A&M and came to multiple games (and our tailgates in the Puryear/law courtyard as well as our truck which unfortunately didn't have any bacon wrapped dove left after the Utah game). He watched Larry Fitzgerald light us up vs Pitt but speaking to him after the game it wasn't a factor.

Yes I spoke to him directly and to paraphrase his quote "I can't believe this place is THIS close to my home". We were a factor for sure and this is what he told me as he was in his Sr year at Palestine. We even drove to Palestine to watch him play twice because he asked us to and thanked us sincerely after the game.

Layne Staley said:

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i'm leaving the actual names out of this. Peterson's home situation was terrible, Dad was in prison and mom went from guy to guy just to have a place to live. Adrian ended up sleeping on the couch at a family in Palestine with a teammate. Let's just say his name was "Mr E" who was the dad. Mr. E's kid was a pasty white kid who couldn't get a scholarship anywhere and I am saying that respectfully because anyone who opens their home to shelter and feed someone else not in their family deserves accolades. God bless this family for their generosity.

Stoops offered the kid a full scholarship as a trainer on the OU team helping solidify the deal (on top of the same cash everyone else was offering probably including us).

When Peterson watched from the field the Texas/OU game and saw the athletic builds of OU's OL vs the fat tubs from Texas that was a factor.

When he watched Longhorn fans boo their own team in Austin and that was a factor.

When Peterson watched us win a close game over Urban Meyer's Utah team it was a positive factor in our direction. He seriously considered A&M and came to multiple games (and our tailgates in the Puryear/law courtyard as well as our truck which unfortunately didn't have any bacon wrapped dove left after the Utah game). He watched Larry Fitzgerald light us up vs Pitt but speaking to him after the game it wasn't a factor.

Yes I spoke to him directly and to paraphrase his quote "I can't believe this place is THIS close to my home". We were a factor for sure and this is what he told me as he was in his Sr year at Palestine. We even drove to Palestine to watch him play twice because he asked us to and thanked us sincerely after the game.

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Justin Blalock and Jonathon Scott were All American OL in college and played close to a decade in the NFL.

Also there are the dove poppers!

W said:

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that doesn't make sense because 2004 was Benson's senior year

Peterson and Benson would have only overlapped for 1 year

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I am trying to recall exactly but I think he said he wanted a shot to start day 1 and knew with Benson that wouldn't happen and I think he mentioned or hinted that tu didnt really recruit him in the same way as OU and A&M which was they went all out while tu was more of "take it or leave it, we have a loaded team"

yes, t.u. was loaded

Benson was replaced the following year by Jamaal Charles

Mack's recruiting was a runaway train during that time

And they had Cabernet Selvin Young ...
(who, contrary to popular opinion, did not get better with age)

RC cut right in front of me in the beer line at Coaches Night once.

Canyon Lake Agbu94 said:

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Super secret silent stealth commit.

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I forgot about that one.

It was surprising yet expected.

W said:

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it is depressing to look back at recruiting in R.C.'s final years

here are the top 5 recruits from 2001:

1. Tommie Harris
2. Ben Wilkerson
3. Jami Hightower
4. Cedric Benson
5. Derrick Johnson

and throw in Jonathan Scott at #7

all of those players were All-Americans and/or major award winners and/or 1st round draft picks except one

the one that came to A&M

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Hightower was a stud. Immediately started at tackle as a true fish. Can't remember what happened to him.

the only thing "Aggied-up" was the original post.

stud at A&M or stud in high school?

not aware of any accolades