Jimbo Fisher and Tom Herman have only met as head coaches once. It was the 2015 Peach Bowl when Herman’s Houston squad bested Fisher’s Florida State squad. Both coaches are now with different programs, both of which are in the state of Texas. Unless it happens in a bowl game, Texas and Texas A&M aren’t facing off anytime soon.

But on the recruiting trail? The rivalry is on.

Finally, the state’s 2 biggest programs each have an elite recruiter as their head coach. It’s something that hasn’t happened since the Aggies made the move to the SEC in 2012. The seesaw nature of recruiting in the state finally appears to have come to a stop. The battle for Texas looks like it’s going to be at a different competitive level than we’ve seen in recent memory.

Well, according to new Texas A&M tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Tim Brewster, the scales are still tipped in the Aggies’ favor.

Brewster is, of course, basing that fire take on the 2 months he spent at Texas A&M. Either that, or that opinion was based on the 3 years he spent at Texas from 1998-2001…when both schools were in the Big 12.

But whatever the case, Brewster is obviously just trying to stir the pot. Based on the nearly 1,500 likes and nearly 500 replies he got from it, mission accomplished. As for taking the upper hand from Herman and actually landing more elite Texas recruits? That’s a totally different challenge.

Contrary to what Brewster said about the elite players in Texas totally understanding the Big 12 not being on the same planet as the SEC, the former was pretty dominant in the 2018 class. Fourteen of the 20 top recruits in Texas signed with Big 12 schools compared to 5 for the SEC. Six of the top 7 Texas recruits signed with the Longhorns compared to 1 for the SEC.

So yeah, Brewster might’ve been a bit premature in calling his shot. He, however, wasn’t the first one to take aim.

This whole Big 12 vs. SEC recruiting debate got some added heat last month when Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy came out and said that “the shiny new product of the SEC wore off” in Texas, and that the conference’s presence in the state was a fad like the Hoverboard.

I love it.

We all know these coaches are saying these things behind closed doors in a place like Texas, so why not just say them in public? You’ll do whatever you can to gain an edge in Texas, even if it means taking a jab at another conference. And while Gundy doesn’t have anywhere near the presence in the state that Texas or Texas A&M does, this still feels like an “us vs. them” battle.

Credit: C. Morgan Engel-USA TODAY Sports

If you think about it, Fisher and Herman were put in similar positions. Each was asked to be the savior for programs that spent too much time flirting with mediocrity under their predecessors. A lot of that, many claimed, was because other programs invaded the state and plucked big-time Texas recruits.

From 2014-16, an average of 6 of the top 15 recruits (40 percent) in the state signed with either Texas or Texas A&M. In 2017 — Herman’s abbreviated first class — just 1 of the top 15 recruits in the state picked either Texas or Texas A&M. Compare that to this past cycle, when Fisher and Herman competed against each other for the first time, and that number jumped up to 14 of the top 15 Texas recruits signing with one of those 2 schools.

Yeah, that battle is on and poppin’.

Already, they elevated each other. Herman was asked about recruiting against Fisher a week after he took over at Texas A&M. Surely Herman knew it meant there was another big dog in the fight.

“…Anytime somebody new comes in, the newness of it sells it a little bit,” Herman said of Fisher via 247sports. “It has made things ramp up the last week or so, but I think it will be that way for a long time.”

So far, that looks to be the case. Texas had the upper hand in the 2018 class by finishing No. 3 overall, but Texas A&M has the head start in 2019 with the No. 6 class. The Aggies got early verbal pledges from elite Texas recruits like 5-star safety Brian Williams and 4-star receiver Kam Brown, which likely padded Brewster’s Texas-sized confidence.

Both of these schools will continue to have no shortage of competition in the state, even within the SEC. Alabama and LSU aren’t just going to stop recruiting Texas, and Chad Morris will try to mark Arkansas’ territory in the state. If Gundy and Lincoln Riley have anything to say about it, the Big 12 powers aren’t going to bow down to the new age, either.

But without a doubt, there are 2 clear heavy hitters in Texas. And for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be a joy to watch these heavyweights duke it out.