It's Not Texas A&M, It's T-Exit A&M Lately As Aggies Flock To Transfer Portal As If Jimbo Fisher Still The Coach

College Station, Texas, is an outgoing-only railroad town of late, even with the recent hiring of new football coach Mike Elko.

Last year at this time, many top flight college football players left Texas A&M in light of coach Jimbo Fisher's 5-7 season after a No. 6 preseason prediction. A&M fired Fisher on Nov. 12 and hired Duke coach Mike Elko on Nov. 27, but that has not stopped Texas A&M from remaining T-Exit A&M.

Texas A&M led the nation in players entering the NCAA Transfer Portal by Jan. 1, 2023, with 24. The Aggies were better in 2023, but still finished an average 7-5.

Enter Elko (or should I say Exit Elko), a former A&M defensive coordinator who had early success as Duke's head coach. But he was no blockbuster hire by any means. Many Aggies players were apparently not very impressed.

As far at the NCAA Transfer Portal, A&M has lost 12 players to it since firing Fisher. This is not all the backup portal, either.

So with the way things are going, Texas A&M's storied "12th Man" may enter the portal, if he hasn't already.

New Texas A&M Coach Mike Elko Seeing Exit A&M Side

This week alone, Elko lost two of the Aggies' top defensive players in former five-star defensive end Walter Nolen and and fellow starting defensive end Fadil Diggs. And Elko is a defensive coach.

Nolen is expected to be the most sought after non-quarterback in the entire portal. The No. 1 overall prospect in the entire nation out of Powell High in Powell, Tennessee, Nolen was one of the main reasons A&M's 2022 signing class was a consensus No. 1 in the nation. He had 37 tackles in the 2023 seasons with 8.5 for loss and four sacks.

Diggs played for Elko in 2021 as a freshman. He started 12 games in 2023 and made 36 tackles, including 11 for losses with four sacks. He led the team last season with 23 quarterback hurries. In four seasons as an Aggie, he produced 18.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks.

New Texas A&M coach Mike Elko left Duke, where he was head coach in 2021 and 2022. (Photo courtesy of Texas A&M).

Another exiting defensive end is former five-star prospect L.T. Overton of Milton High in Alpharetta, Georgia. He was the No. 4 defensive lineman and No. 12 overall player in the nation in the 2022 class.

The No. 1 tight end in the nation from the 2022 class has entered the portal as well. Jake Johnson of Oconee County High in Bogart, Georgia, had 235 receiving yards and four touchdowns last season. He was the No. 74 overall prospect in '22 and No. 7 prospect in Georgia.

NCAA Transfer Portal Hitting Texas A&M Hard

Johnson's older brother is quarterback Max Johnson, who started at Texas A&M in the 2023 and '22 season after transferring from LSU. Johnson has transferred to North Carolina.

Freshman starting right offensive tackle Chase Bisontis just entered the portal. Bisontis was the No. 46 player in the nation in the 2023 recruiting class and No. 2 offensive lineman.

Another recent portal entry is starting cornerback Tyreek Chappell. A freshman All-American in 2021 for Elko, Chappell started 29 games in three seasons in College Station. He made 105 tackles with six for loss. He broke up 24 passes, intercepted two and recovered a fumble.

Backup wide receiver Raymond Cottrell entered the portal shortly after Fisher's firing. He was the No. 33 wide receiver in the class of 2023.

Firing Jimbo Fisher Did Not Cure Exiting Texas A&M Issue

Other recent A&M transfers are offensive linemen Jordan Spasojevic-Moko and Remington Strickland, defensive back Jardin Gilbert and defensive lineman Micah Overton (brother to L.T. Overton).

Some of the above 12 listed may not have actually entered the portal yet, but they have either said they will or are in the process of entering the portal.

A reporter asked Mike Elko about his message to Texas A&M's current players at his introductory press conference on Nov. 27.

"They've got to know who you are," he said. "And they've got to believe in what you're selling and what you're all about, and that ultimately it's going to get them where they want to go."

Where too many players wanted to go, though, was the exit door.

And there could soon be more.