Tom Luginbill on Texas A&M's international recruiting, Achane in 2021

Key notes from Tom Luginbill interview

• Texas A&M is casting a pretty wide net, and we're seeing that more and more. Our group, along with Under Armour and the NFL, has gone to Europe multiple times to operate camps for prospects over there. A&M is developing into a hot commodity with the preseason No. 6 ranking and the SEC brand.
   
• You're seeing measurables and raw athletes with the foreign recruits. What they don't have in Europe is the one-on-one, year-round personal training commitment to being a football player. It's very seasonal. I remember in the 90s with NFL Europe when the fans were rabid for American football. If you have the size that coaches covet, you're going to have to come in and acclimate more than any other freshman has to. Then they have to develop because there is so much they don't know. There is a high ceiling and a high upside for many of these kids.
   
• The most important thing, and we do this every four years, is identifying where the highest population of football players exists. Florida has so many, but the states that board Florida mean so much too, extending all the way to Texas. The player pool in the SEC is so much stronger than it is anywhere else. People think because California has so many people that it must be one of the biggest player pools, but it's not. It's not a state of 38 million football players. Georgia has 11 million, and they're all playing football. Those numbers reveal the advantages. It's highly competitive and seems to be where the top defensive linemen and top corners exist in that Florida footprint, which is why you see so many programs dipping down into Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
   
• The music will eventually stop with conference realignment, and someone will be left without a chair. Right now, it looks like the teams affiliated with the Big 12. This was a huge money move by Greg Sankey and the SEC. This is about finances and revenue drivers. The question is, who are the other blue bloods that are revenue producers and brand-friendly that the ACC, Big Ten or Pac-12 can pluck? Outside of Notre Dame, there aren't any. That's why you're hearing about scheduling alliances so that they can give you matchups that audiences want. It becomes pretty attractive, and it's a strategic move to counteract what the SEC has done. ESPN and FOX are competing in this as well. Conferences, commissioners, ADs and everybody else is trying to figure out how to navigate it.
   
• Devon Achane is dynamic. When you look at Texas A&M's offensive skill players, you have three players in one with Achane. He has return abilities, running back capabilities, and receiver ball-catching abilities. In today's climate, the more versatile you are and the more you can gameplan to get your best player on their weakest player, it gives you so many options when trying to attack your opponent.