Losers in 5 of their last 7 games and standing at just 1-5 overall in SEC play, the Texas A&M Aggies have fallen heavily from the heights they reached during last year’s run to the College Football Playoff.
And with disappointment on the field comes even more off of it, as recruits have begun to take notice of TAMU’s 2026 decline under Mike Elko.
The latest blow occurred Sunday following a sluggish 17-9 loss to South Carolina, as Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett reported that five-star offensive tackle Mark Matthews has decommitted from the Aggies’ program.
A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a product of powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Matthews also holds offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Texas, Miami and Ohio State.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman was a cornerstone of Texas A&M’s 2027 class and will likely now take his talents elsewhere, with the Bayou Bengals, Bulldogs and Hurricanes being previously featured in his final 4 of choices.
Elko and his staff still boast one of the top recruiting classes for 2027, but the Aggies will have to fend off plenty of other suitors and defend their on-field struggles to recruits in the coming months.
Parker is currently the sports editor for Gulf Coast Media in Foley, Alabama. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
