When the No. 1 offensive tackle of the 2016 class committed to Texas A&M last June, the Aggies rejoiced.

The pipeline continues, all the headlines read. After watching players like Luke Joeckel, Jake Matthews and Cedric Ogbuehi start at left tackle in College Station, Texas, and then become first-round NFL draft picks, it appeared coach Kevin Sumlin secured the next ready-made body in the assembly line.

Gregory Little is a shade taller than 6-foot-5 and weighs 305 pounds. He ranks as the No. 2 recruit in the country according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He’s been seasoned and tested in football-mad Allen, Texas, protecting the blind side of new A&M arrival and quarterback Kyler Murray.

(In a scene best concocted from a Friday Night Lights writer’s room, Little and Murray team up at the college level to win an SEC and a national title.)

But Little essentially re-opened his search for a college home this summer. He hasn’t decommitted from Texas A&M, but appeared unsettled when the team made a change at offensive line coach from B.J. Anderson to Dave Christensen.

A few recruiting websites wrote that initially, Little didn’t get a chance to communicate much with Christensen, and may have felt unsure about his future position coach. Recent reports seem to indicate the Little-Christensen relationship has progressed, but it’s unclear how much.

Meanwhile, Little has visited Alabama and Ole Miss this month. According to SB Nation, at one point Little planned to visit Georgia, Auburn, USC and UCLA this summer as well. ESPN since has reported that Little still plans to visit Ohio State and LSU, and may or may not make the West Coast trip.

“Even though I’m still committed to Texas A&M, I owe it to myself to take my time and explore all of my options,” Little told ESPN, adding that he’ll make a final decision on National Signing Day.

He posted a picture of himself wearing an Alabama jersey and posing next to Alabama assistant Billy Napier with the caption “great visit with my dude” on Twitter. Little posted a picture from Oxford, Miss. as well.

“I think (his commitment is) pretty strong,” said Tom Westerberg, Little’s head coach at Allen High, according to AL.com. “He’s obviously committed to Texas A&M, but kids may have a change of heart. I think he just wanted to check a couple of things out.”

Alabama likely will be looking to replace Cam Robinson at left tackle after the 2016 season, as the ’14 freshman All-American seems on track to enter the NFL draft early. Locking up Little — and working him into the mix at right tackle during his true freshman season — would be ideal. Surely coach Nick Saban or some member of the Tide coaching staff brought up the team’s 59-0 demolition of the Aggies last fall at some point during the visit, right?

As strong as the Bruins and Trojans are currently in Los Angeles — either team could win the Pac-12 this fall — it seems unlikely that a Texas kid with a deep interest in the SEC would forego that opportunity. And again, Little remains committed to Texas A&M, even though he’s looking around.

His former teammate, Kyler Murray, could be a strong asset to the Aggies in retaining Little. But remember, late in the process, Murray flirted with the Texas Longhorns and then the MLB Draft before signing and then enrolling at Texas A&M. The parallels with his recruiting journey and that of Little’s are interesting.

If Little can grow comfortable with Christensen as his future offensive line coach, Texas A&M still retains “favorite” status to sign the five-star player in February. ESPN reported that Aggies insiders still hold a strong belief that Little will be on campus in 2016.

For what it’s worth, 247Sports’ “crystal ball” predicts the Aggies hold a 50 percent chance of landing Little, with 41 percent to Alabama and 9 percent to Oklahoma.

After a slow recruiting start, Alabama has vaulted back into the consensus Top 5 in the 247Sports recruiting rankings for 2016. The Tide usually gets what it wants, so if there’s any doubt left in Little’s mind about A&M or Christensen, there’s at least a possibility that things could get interesting in the coming months.