5-star Texas A&M QB commit decommits, chaos ensues
Texas A&M has had a crazy Wednesday night and Thursday morning on the recruiting front, and it all started with the decommitment of QB Tate Martell.
Martell, a five-star recruit considered the No. 1 quarterback prospect for 2017, announced he was reopening his recruitment late Wednesday evening via Twitter.
After talking with my family about
what is best for my future, I have
decided to reopen my recruiting
process.— Tate Martell (@TheTateMartell) May 5, 2016
Martell’s decommitment did not appear to sit well with wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, who fired off a series of tweets about loyalty and backing out on decisions. The tweets from Wednesday night have been deleted, but SEC Country captured screenshots:
Moorehead later claimed he was not tweeting about Martell, but the damage was done. Four-star WR Mannie Netherly also decommited from Texas A&M, directly referencing Moorehead’s tweet.
‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/2g0ee2pRkA
— Mannie. (@yovng_netherly) May 5, 2016
Five-star WR Tyjon Lindsey has also tweeted that Moorehead’s tweets toward Martell have him no longer considering Texas A&M.
I would like to say thank you to TAMU & fans but due to some tweets subtweeted towards my brother, I will no longer be looking at A&M.
— Tyjon A. Lindsey ® (@tyjonlindsey) May 5, 2016
Martell and Netherly’s decommitments leave the Aggies with five commitments for their 2017 class. Martell, from Las Vegas, is expected to possibly be looking at Cal, the new team for former TAMU offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, the quarterback’s primary recruiter when he committed to the Aggies as a junior.
Netherly is very close to Martell, and GigEm247’s Brian Perroni reports his decommitment was likely coming even without Moorehead’s tweets. The optics, however, of Netherly and Lindsey both eliminating Texas A&M and directly referencing Moorehead is a major headache for coach Kevin Sumlin.