Texas A&M football will be taken in a new direction in 2024 under new head coach Mike Elko after Jimbo Fisher was fired midseason last year. Those in College Station just hope this new direction leads to more wins and fewer losses. That will require a bit of a shakeup, though. At least Elko seems to be off to a solid start, bringing in the No. 2 ranked transfer portal class in 2024.
It's basically common practice now whenever a program brings in a new head coach that said coach takes a deep dive directly into the portal to fill out his roster. You almost have to because as much as the portal can give, it also takes once a school has a coaching change. If a head coach is fired, leaves, or retires, the rules allow players likewise to seek opportunities elsewhere if they so choose.
Unfortunately for Texas A&M football, they are quite used to adverse effects of the transfer portal, having 31 players transfer last season after what was an abysmal 5-7 season. Mind you, this was all after signing the top-ranked recruiting class in history.
There wasn't quite the exodus from Aggieland during this cycle, though there were still 23 outgoing transfers. However, they were at least able to match there with 23 incoming transfers that consisted of three three-stars and eight four-stars.
Elko should definitely be commended for this, salvaging an Aggies roster he has yet to even step on the field with yet. But come this fall, he should have a solid group of players, starting with this transfer portal class, particularly Nic Scourton transferring from Purdue.
Nic Scourton transfers to Texas A&M football
What makes the 6-foot-4, 280-pound edge rusher such a sneaky get for Texas A&M football is Elko himself. It seems evident that Elko can recruit, as getting Scourton was a big get, especially since the former Duke coach had barely stepped foot on campus up to that point. But also snatching up such a big get at a position of desperate need was massive.
The Aggies lost defensive linemen LT Overton, Walter Nolan, Fadil Diggs, and Isaiah Raikes to other teams, thus depleting the position greatly. But there were likely a ton of other teams seeking Scourton's services due to his skills and abilities.
As a four-star prospect, Nic Scourton ranked as the No. 186 player nationally, the No. 22 defensive lineman, and No. 32 player in all of Texas. After two seasons playing Texas A&M football, the incoming junior vastly improved himself enough to boost his rankings up as a transfer. He was still four-star rated but ranked as the No. 14 overall player in the portal and the No. 1 edge rusher, according to 247sports.
That's all because he not only went from 235 pounds to 280, he became an elite pass rusher and beefed up almost all his numbers in double fashion. Playing in three less games from 2022 (14) to 2023 (11), he went from 15 tackles to 17, two tackles for a loss to 15, two sacks to 10, zero pass deflections to three, and equaled his forced fumbles at one per seasons, per Sports Reference.
Coming from Purdue where a lot gets lost in the midst of Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan, Elko looks to have found himself a talented pass rusher, one that maybe no one knew he could get in his first year.
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