Texas Football: 3 Texas A&M commits UT can flip post-Jimbo Fisher firing

The biggest news around the college football landscape on Nov. 12 is something that will have an impact on Texas football recruiting in the 2024 class and beyond. A post on X from Billy Lucci of TexAgs on the morning of Nov. 12 reported that the Texas A&M Aggies are “set to part ways” with head coach Jimbo Fisher.

This could reportedly take effect as soon as today.

There were rumblings of Fisher being on the hot seat this season. And those rumors finally came to a head with Texas A&M firing Fisher this week, despite the Aggies decimating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 51-10 in College Station on Nov. 11.

Which Texas A&M commits will Texas football go after with Jimbo Fisher out in College Station

Fisher’s firing is huge news that has implications across college football, especially for other programs in the state of Texas. The now-former Texas A&M head coach has an enormous buyout that is worth around $76 million.

It’s crazy we’ve gotten to this point after the Aggies looked like they were starting to build something in College Station just a few years ago under Fisher. Since 2019, Texas A&M has recruited only top-10 ranked classes in the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings under Fisher. The Aggies also landed the No. 1 class in the nation for the 2022 cycle.

Around the same time Texas A&M was picking up momentum on the recruiting trail, it looked like Fisher and the Aggies had figured things out with on-field success, too. Texas A&M finished the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season with a 9-1 record and a No. 4 finish in the AP Poll.

But the momentum halted completely for the Aggies on the field, and on the recruiting trail in a sense, last year. Texas A&M had its first losing season under Jimbo, going 5-7. And while the Aggies returned most of their starters and were ranked in the preseason top 25 in the AP and Coaches Poll, it took Texas A&M until mid-November to even reach bowl eligibility.

While the timing of Fisher’s firing in the middle of the season and the vast guaranteed buyout might be a bit of a surprise, the writing on the wall was there for the last few months. The implications of Fisher’s firing and the legacy of this massive guaranteed contract will be felt for the Aggies and on the recruiting trail for a while.

With so many Aggies commitments in the 2024 class holding interest from the Longhorns on the recruiting trail, the possibility of Texas flipping more Texas A&M pledges into their class looks very likely after the firing this weekend. Texas was already targeting multiple Texas A&M commits as flip candidates this fall.

Here are three Texas A&M commits the Longhorns can flip after the news of Fisher being ousted in College Station.

Other names to watch

Terry Bussey, ATH

The No. 1 athlete recruit in the nation in the 2024 class in the 247Sports Composite, Timpson (TX) five-star Terry Bussey had interest in Texas before committing to Texas A&M in late September. Texas was among his five finalist schools when he made his decision on Sep. 28 to pick the Aggies over the Longhorns, Oklahoma Sooners, LSU Tigers, and Alabama Crimson Tide.

LSU is probably the school to watch here, as the Tigers generated the most buzz among the schools trying to flip Bussey from the Aggies in the last couple of months. But Texas still has room to add a receiver in the 2024 class, so Bussey is worth monitoring roughly six weeks before signing day on Dec. 20.

Blake Ivy, IOL

With Texas sitting at three commitments along the offensive line in the 2024 class, offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood is still looking to fill one more spot in the trenches before signing day. Texas hasn’t flipped four-star Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei interior offensive lineman DeAndre Carter from the Auburn Tigers after he officially visited Austin for the Kansas game in late September.

Another option the Longhorns were already considering among possible flip candidates to try and fill the last spot in the 2024 class along the interior offensive line is four-star League City (TX) Clear Springs product, Blake Ivy. The 6-foot-4 and 280-pound Texas A&M IOL commit visited Texas twice during the offseason, including on an official trip in mid-June.

Texas likes Ivy’s skill set and physical tools, so he could be a legitimate option for the Longhorns to pursue further down the stretch this fall on the recruiting trail.

Dealyn Evans, DL*

While there wasn’t much communication between Texas and high-four-star Longview (TX) Pine Tree defensive lineman Dealyn Evans in the last six months or so, the Longhorns did have traction in this recruitment before. Evans visited Texas multiple times during the 2022 offseason, and he had good relationships with head coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive line coach Bo Davis.

Sarkisian even paid a visit to Pine Tree High School early in the 2023 offseason to see Evans.

If Evans decides to de-commit from the Aggies, the Florida Gators and Alabama would probably be the schools he considers first. Florida and Alabama have made the biggest pushes to chip away at Evans’ commitment to the Aggies this fall. He’s visited Florida and Alabama multiple times since committing to Texas A&M in July 2022.

This is still one to watch for the Longhorns if Texas decides to expand its options on the defensive line board in the 2024 class heading into signing day, as they’re looking to take one more commitment there.