Tyrie Cleveland

- To get things started, Jeff Banks and the Aggies are still very much in the thick of things with both Irvin Smith and Thaddeus Moss. Just two weeks after Smith was on the verge of decommitting and opening up his recruitment, the Ags have clawed their way back and still hold the four-star talent's pledge. He'll be visiting Alabama this weekend but the Aggies have already been in-house this week and will be there again next week, with none other than DC John Chavis joining the A&M entourage. The thought here is that Chief's presence will go a long way with the Smith family, who are all very familiar with Chavis from his incredibly successful run in Baton Rouge. Texas Longhorn TE/ST coach Jeff Traylor was in-house with Smith tonight, as the Horns remain a head-scratching thorn in A&M's side in this one.As for Moss, he's visiting N.C. State this weekend and, per everything I've heard, the in-state Wolfpack are the Ags' real competition here. How serious a threat are the Aggies to swoop in and steal one of North Carolina's top prospects? Jeff Banks and Noel Mazzone will be in-house on Thursday, and the head coach himself will meet with Thaddeus' legendary NFL father, Randy Moss, at some point this week or next for his head coach's visit.The desperate need here is for the Aggies to sign one tight end but it's no secret that they'd prefer to ink two in their attempt to fully address the requirement at the position. As far as I'm concerned, signing one of the two NFL legacies two weeks from tonight would qualify as a win for Banks and the Ags.- Langham Creek WR Quartney Davis started the week considering visiting A&M this weekend instead of the final weekend before Signing Day but instead will stick with his original plan of tripping to Oxford this weekend before wrapping up the process with his official to Aggieland. All signs continue to point to Davis re-committing and ultimately signing with the Aggies.In related news, the Ags have all but moved on the Tyrie Cleveland recruitment. Barring a major change of course, A&M seems more than content to focus all of their remaining in-state efforts at the position on getting Davis back into the fold.- Jeff Banks was in house with Saguaro CB Byron Murphy last night and the four-star corner also had a lengthy phone conversation with Aggie DC John Chavis. As it stands today, the Aggies are still in the ring throwing punches but all indications are that the talented cover man and longtime target is likely to stay in-state and play for the Sun Devils.- Long Beach Poly WR/ATH Jack Jones is actually still in play, though most insiders believe he's USC-bound. Aggie coaches were by the school on Tuesday and are working hard to pull off the last-second West Coast steal. While I would still call this one a longshot, Jones is still interested enough in the Ags to host Banks in-home two weeks from NSD and has yet to tell the Aggies that he's looking in another direction.A late add to the weekend visit list is actually a second four-star wideout from California: Bishop Amat's Tyler Vaughns. The 6-1, 180-pounder is considered a top five WR in the country and is committed to USC but has decided to make a very late visit to College Station. Vaughns was scheduled to check out Alabama this weekend but is instead tripping to Aggieland. The longest of longshots and highly likely to stick with the Trojans, but the Aggies will gladly see if they can work some Signing Day magic here.- The news out of the San Antonio area today isn't quite as positive surrounding Cibolo Steele DE Mark Jackson. The longtime A&M pledge has been having second thoughts while entertaining Big 12 coaches for weeks now and, per multiple sources close to his recruitment, is a serious flight risk to either Texas or Oklahoma. That's a change from what we've been hearing since Jackson returned from his visit to Texas on Sunday. The Ags' hope here lies in the fact that John Chavis, Terry Price and Co. will get him on campus this weekend, where he'll be reunited with fellow DL commit Justin Madubuike for the weekend in College Station. Despite holding Mark's pledge, I think it's fair to say that the Aggies have significant ground to make up here after seeing momentum slide in the direction of the Longhorns and Sooners. Baylor, who sent Phil Bennett to the school on Wednesday, is also still lurking in the picture and the Big 12 schools are really working overtime to convince Jackson to skip this weekend's visit altogether. Personally, I think this comes down to whether Mark makes it to campus this weekend or not. If he comes to College Station, the thought here is that Chief, T.P. and Kevin Sumlin can exorcise any 'instability' or 'the SEC is a running league so you won't be able to rush the passer as much' ghosts that the likes of Vance Bedford, Phil Bennett and Mike Stoops (no, I'm serious, that's part of what they're selling) have planted in Mark's mind if they get him in for his OV. While I'm normally not one to read into these type of things, I do find the timing of Jackson removing "Texas A&M commitment" from his twitter profile this evening to be interesting (not to mention reason for serious concern for Sumlin and the Aggies). Frankly, I'd consider it pretty shocking if a young man committed to the Ags for months would bail this late without so much as officially visiting the campus. Let's see how this one plays out between now and Friday.- Here's where the Aggies currently stand at corner: The need is to add one more name to the commit list before Signing Day. If you were to ask me at this specific point in time who the Ags lead for with exactly two weeks until the ink dries, I could not give you a name.That said, the Aggies could very well host Eric Cuffee, four-star cover man Kristian Fulton and LSU commits Eric Monroe, Cameron Lewis and Greedy Williams between now and NSD. For all intents and purposes, the Ags would be ecstatic if they're able to sign one member of this particular group. You could also throw Byron Murphy into the same mix. Cuffee is leaning hard Texas' way and may not even remain uncommitted long enough to visit Aggieland next weekend, Fulton is a longshot and the other three are currently committed to the Bayou Bengals. With rumors simmering that longtime Tiger DBs coach Corey Raymond may be heading to Florida, Monroe's flirtation with A&M being modest yet ongoing and the Williams planning to come to town with his brother, OSU commit Rodarius "Lee" Williams, it wouldn't qualify as a shock if Terry Joseph were able to hit on one more corner before February 3 and round out an outstanding three-man haul at the position.- Just a very quick update on 'On an Island' star Brandon Jones: The Nacogdoches safety is still scheduled to be at Arkansas this weekend and Baylor the final weekend before Signing Day. He's now also considering squeezing in a mid-week visit to TCU sometime in between the two. That's not the news the Ags would like to hear, as they'd love nothing more than (and will continue to work towards) getting the five-star safety back on campus one more time between now and next Sunday. Contrary to reports suggesting otherwise, A&M is still very much in the picture here but the Longhorns and Bears have forced their way in the door and are now sitting comfortably on the couch with Ol' Sarge.- No new developments on Argyle Liberty Christian QB Nick Starkel, which is great news for the Aggies. As I said yesterday, I'm expecting good news in the immediate future from the strong-armed QB.- Sources close to the recruitment are starting to sound increasingly confident about the Ags' chances of flipping Manvel RB D'Vaughn Pennamon. The Ole Miss commit will be in Oxford this weekend, so the post-visit temperature check will tell the tale on this one but I continue to hear good things about A&M keeping the Houston-area speedster close to home. Landing Pennamon took on added importance on Wednesday after recent A&M offer Darius Anderson of George Ranch announced a TCU commitment and rumors continue to swirl that Stratford's Rakeem Boyd still has significant hurdles to clear.- While Silsbee OL Patrick Hudson could still sneak in an A&M visit next week or weekend, I'm comfortable calling this a Baylor-Texas battle. The Horns brought out the big guns this weekend when they trotted Vince Young out there and also had well-known Longhorn supporter/Silsbee native Mark Henry in tow for Hudson's mid-week trip to Austin. Again, the Ags are playing from way behind here and might not even get a shot to step up to the plate.- Don't count the Ags out for McDonogh 35 defensive athlete Clifford Chattman (he's a lot like Justin Dunning but probably plays a more physical style suited for LB once he fills out his 6-4, 190-pound frame). The Ags were in-house on Tuesday and will host the one-time LSU pledge next weekend. Chattman will be at Florida State this weekend and saw Arizona on 1/15.- Quick note on Rummel CB Kristian Fulton. The five-star cover man hosted Arkansas coaches in advance of his weekend visit to Fayetteville on Tuesday. Terry Joseph was in-house on Wednesday, working to convince the gifted cornerback prospect to give Aggieland an official look instead. We'll follow up today to see where Fulton stands in terms of his remaining visit schedule.- Aldine Davis LB Jeffrey McCulloch (who hosted Stanford HC David Shaw in-house on Wednesday) cancelling his Alabama visit should certainly help the Aggies' cause but tthe primary reason the four-star 'backer pushed up his A&M visit and made it an official was because the Tide asked McCulloch to push his scheduled Bama visit back. Instead, 'The Shark' decided to cancel his plans to see Tuscaloosa and will instead give the Ags an official look before likely deciding on the Aggies and Longhorns. I'm not saying Notre Dame and Stanford aren't still players here but the smart money is still on McCulloch wearing Maroon & White or Burnt Orange.- Here's a realistic, high-quality close-out for the Aggies that would involve A&M winning some and losing some down the stretch. This is far from a prediction on how Kevin Sumlin and his staff will finish but rather an example of what a strong run to Signing Day could look like for the Maroon & White. Read and discuss:QB- Nick StarkelRB - DeVaughn PennamonTE - Irv Smith* OR Thaddeus MossWR - Quartney DavisDE - Mark Jackson*DT - Chris Daniels OR D'Andre Christmas-GilesATH - Clifford ChathamCB - Any single member of the five-man groupAnd, finally, either LB Jeffrey McCulloch or S Brandon Jones. Obviously, the Aggies would love to and are working their collective asses off to land both. For the sake of keeping this a win some/lose some proposition, let's give the Ags a split when it comes to their two most coveted remaining targets on D.

In light of the news that Aldine Davis LB Jeffrey McCulloch will be making it to College Station this weekend, pushing his visit up a week and bumping Alabama, how about some quick-hitting Tuesday recruiting notes?- The first piece of news was obviously the biggest, with the top linebacker prospect on John Chavis' board making his way to Aggieland a week early. The reasons why this is a significant development are obvious, most of all, it keeps the trip to Alabama from clouding the picture even more and it gives the Aggies the chance to immediately make up for any ground lost while 'The Shark' was in Austin last weekend. It also gives McCulloch and his family time to really think things over following the visit, as opposed to scrambling in the three days before Signing Day, which usually results in the prospect falling back on wherever he'd been leaning the past few weeks.- A&M is also working hard to find options at defensive tackle, as evidenced by their recent run at OU commit and one-time Aggie lean Chris Daniels of Euless Trinity. Along those same lines, I've been told by Louisiana sources today that D'Andre Christmas-Giles is considering taking an official visit to College Station this weekend. Christmas-Giles was once a Tennessee commit, then seemed to be leaning Texas' way. However, sources close to LSU believe he's now trending towards the Bayou Bengals following his visit to Baton Rouge last weekend. I'll keep everyone updated on the big DT's status as this potential story develops.UPDATE: As this update was about to go out, Brice actually confirmed with Christmas-Giles that the Louisiana DT was indeed tripping to College Station this weekend.- In case anyone missed my update yesterday, per sources close to Westfield QB Dillon Sterling-Cole, the Aggies have yet to reach out in an attempt to bring the A&M legacy and Arizona State pledge to town for an official visit. As such, it appears unlikely that the Ags look any further than Nick Starkel for this year's QB pledge. Speaking of Starkel, don't be at all surprised to see him pull the trigger on an A&M pledge in the immediate future. UCLA picked up a QB yesterday and all signs have pointed to the one-time Oklahoma State pledge choosing A&M since Kevin Sumlin tabbed Noel Mazzone as his OC just after the New Year. - That would also indicate that, save for some sort of last-minute rally, the Aggies are stepping off of the Tyrie Cleveland roller-coaster so long as they can lock up one-time pledge Quartney Davis with a strong showing this weekend during the Langham Creek receiver's visit.- As for Silsbee OL Patrick Hudson, he's currently in Austin for a mid-week official and his current plan is to trip to Georgia this weekend. It's a very strange trip for the Baylor commit to take this late and certainly feels like a waste of his time but who knows who is pulling the strings in this particular recruitment at this point. At the end of the day, I still think we'll see Hudson sticking with Art Briles and the Bears but the Ags are going to have a very hard time scrambling to get him in town for an official this weekend or next.- Word out of Nacogdoches is exactly what we've been saying: The Aggies are in for a real battle between now and Signing Day as they attempt to ink two-year A&M lean Brandon Jones. Not only is Jones currently enamored enough with Texas and hard-working lead recruiter Jeff Traylor to lead some of our East Texas sources to concede that the Aggies are now perhaps even playing from behind but those same sources believe that Art Briles and Baylor should now be considered legitimate players for Jones' services...especially with the Bears getting Brandon's final visit before Signing Day. Lots of work still to be done here. Not the best of news on the B Jones front and the Ags have clearly lost their grip on the five-star defender, but if you're counting A&M out of this one, you're doing so prematurely.- On a brighter note, sources feel fairly confident that the Aggies will be able to counter any lost momentum with several key prospects visiting campus this weekend. That and other intelligence have this corner feeling pretty confident that the Ags will hold on to Charles Oliver (Baylor) and Moses Reynolds (TCU) and manage to get long-time, one-time commit Quartney Davis back in the fold. While I'm not quite as confident that Mark Jackson sticks with his A&M pledge as I am Oliver and Reynolds remain committed, I would still call A&M the favorite over Texas and OU and feel good about the direction this one is trending in recent days. - Irvin Smith's recruitment continues to have an odd feel to it. The longtime A&M commit is torn between the Aggies and, of all teams, the offense-less Texas Longhorns (seriously, if the Horns can sell offense without having to 'prove it on the field' the way the Aggies were asked to do this fall by the likes of Jeffrey McCulloch, Brandon Jones and others, then they're simply doing something better in the recruiting arena than the Ags are) but there are two wildcards who would likely step over the Longhorns and emerge as A&M's biggest threat. As we've been saying, Smith will be at Alabama this weekend. He'll be on that visit with LSU tight end commit Jamal Pettigrew. As Ryan and I have been saying, the Tigers are the team capable of sweeping in and ripping Smith away from the Aggies' clutches late if they're desperate to add a tight end to the class. That's not the case today, but neither Alabama nor Florida are backing off of the 6-5, 225-pounder from St. Augustine HS in New Orleans. Something that the Ags must continue to monitor as they work to keep Smith in the fold and find a way to pull Thaddeus Moss out of North Carolina.

On the other side of a key weekend of visits, a few heated battles have cleared up while others seem only murkier. Among the priority targets Texas A&M continues to chase, who lies within reach and how can the Aggies close it out?