Recruiting Country: The latest recruiting news surrounding the Maroon & White

TexAgs' recruiting analyst Ryan Brauninger joined TexAgs Live on Wednesday morning for another edition of Recruiting Country, highlighting the latest news and notes from the recruiting trail surrounding Texas A&M.

Key notes from Recruiting Country

• There is no longer a National Letter of Intent (NLI). It's just the grant and aid paperwork. To keep everything consistent, we will replicate what they would be doing. It is still a signing day, just without the letter of intent.
   
• I think that if you decide to fire a head coach, it will have to be public knowledge three or four weeks before the termination. That is if they are keeping this December 4 date.
   
• What is notable about this A&M’s signing class is the incredible number of early enrollees. I think you would like to add a Lamont Rogers‍ or a Michael Fasusi‍. I think you would, in an ideal scenario, add in another skills player, but it has to be the right guy. I don't think that they are going to go out and add a receiver to add a receiver. I think that if there is a skills player out there that if they like, they will add him, but they won't add them to pump up the numbers.
   
• Outside of those two tackles, it is Javion Hilson‍ out of Florida and Tobi Haastrup‍ from Katy who is going on all of his visits. For right now, those are the main four names that we are tracking: Hilson, Haastrup, Rogers and Fasusi. There is not an uncommitted player out there outside of those four that A&M is on the hunt for. If you are looking for a potential surprise, it will probably be someone from in-state or someone from those spring or summer visitor lists.
   
• The current class has been rock solid for a long time. They have done a great job with recruiting against other schools. The staff has done a lot of their work and a lot of their time and effort has made sure that this is rock solid and this class stays intact.
   
• You’re better off asking a Colorado insider for information about Julian Lewis‍ flipping‍. We cover one school. I would have to make calls to find out. Everything out there right now is about getting clicks. I saw something this week that was over the line from a recruiting analyst that was insinuating things. You have got to be able to sift through whats being reported and the reasons behind it.
   
• We know that Johntay Cook II is from Desoto. He is a highly coveted recruit, and he is leaving Texas. What I would say right now is that he is no different than any other player in the transfer portal. What I would say to A&M is that he is no different from any other transfer that they would recruit. If Mike Elko thinks the player will help them win football games and add to the team culture, he’ll take them. If they don't fit both of the criteria, he won't.
   
• I think A&M is going to hit the receiver portal extremely hard. It is almost like you need an entire separate office for the recruiting out of the portal. You never want to burn a bridge with a high schooler. One of the reasons that Mike Elko got Nic Scourton is because they were honest with him. That stuff pays dividends down the road. You might now get a good player because of how you treated them in high school. I believe they will go in the portal with a plan, and they will go in with those two questions that I mentioned earlier.
   
• They have fixed a lot of stuff. Schematically, it is different. The one area where I thought it would be better would be the penalties. Mike Elko said, “There is no elevator there. We have to take the stairs.” What have the stairs included? In my opinion, it has been the low-hanging fruit that they have cleaned up that has allowed them to be in the position to do things.
   
• If they beat Auburn, they go into that Texas game with it being the biggest game in program history. You’ve never played in the SEC Championship or won the SEC Championship, then went to the playoff. It would be the most wins in a full season since 2012. Most SEC wins since 2012. It would be the first time for a 12-game season since Johnny Manziel was on the team. There is so much on the table, and if you are walking onto the field with all of that on the line, then obviously, they want to win. Mike Elko tackling the problems below the surface level has allowed them to be in the position that they are in. That has been the culture change.