College recruiting is a strange phenomenon. Programs that are raking in millions of dollars through various avenues annually spend a remarkable amount of time trying to woo 17 and 18 year olds to come to their schools. Without context, it sounds bizarre, but it is the all-too-true reality of college football. The best college teams in the country vie for the best high school players every year. In the case of the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies, recruiting season keeps a long-lasting, hateful rivalry alive.
Tradition is the backbone of college football. It's a sport with roots dating back well over 100 years, with many of the sport's premier rivalries dating almost as long. The Longhorns and Aggies first met in 1894, and for over a century it was one of the top rivalries in college football, at least in the southern half of the nation. But, as has been the case for many great rivalries in college sports, conference realignment put the rivalry to a halt.
Enter the recruiting world. Teams from around the nation pitch their schools and programs to teenagers, in hopes of luring them in and building up their program (or maintaining greatness). While the teams can't battle it out on the field right now, they can still duke it out on the recruiting front. This is exactly what has been happening with Texas and Texas A&M.
Kyler Murray is a teenager. He has dominated in high school on his way to becoming the top quarterback prospect in the nation. He has never played a down of college football, yet fanbases of two prominent programs are discussing him (rather, they are arguing over him) with vitriol and intense animosity towards the other party. He isn't the only one being fought over, but he is a prime example of the intense world of college football recruiting. Rivalries don't necessarily die just because the games are put on hiatus (Kansas and Missouri still hate each other, as do West Virginia and Pitt). When recruits, and the potential future of a program are on the line, the hate between rivals can be just as real as when the teams compete on the field.
It is ignorant to think that fans don't care about recruiting. Visit any team message board and you will see that the recruiting process is not something to be taken lightly. In the case of Texas and Texas A&M, team-centric boards are full of "insider" information and slurs and insults being hurled at the other program. Longhorns fans bash the Aggies, calling them a flash in the pan, using the typical "little brother" insult, etc. A&M fans have no problems with making light of UT's recent struggles as a program, as they have very clearly taken a step back as a program, temporarily losing their place amongst the game's elite programs. The hate doesn't die just because the other team doesn't appear on the schedule.
These recruits can make a huge difference for a program, assuming that they pan out. A star (or a few) could make or break these programs. For one school, the decision of a top-level recruit could be the difference between a return to glory and the continuation of a descent into mediocrity. For the other, a 5 star recruit could be the difference between staking a claim as one of the best teams in their conference and regressing to a traditional level of play (not necessarily a good thing). Recruits don't always pan out, in fact they don't quite often. But when you see a player with an innate skill set and ability, it lends hope to a program for the future, and to some fans, hope is all they have.
Texas A&M has won this round. Kyler Murray decided to commit to the Aggies this week, giving them a potential top-tier starting quarterback heading into the next few seasons. After the team had some struggles under center (or in the pocket, anyway) following the departure of Johnny Manziel, this could be the breakthrough they are looking for going forward. For Texas, it's just another failure (the size of which is notwithstanding) as they attempt to return to the respectability and prestige that they are used to. Don't expect the A&M faithful to hold back their joy as the recruiting period winds down; they'll be sure to let Texas fans know that they just pulled in a stud recruit.
There are still plenty of players out there for both teams to possibly grab, including multiple that both schools are fighting over. The biggest name amongst those is Daylon Mack, an in-state 5 star defensive tackle. Even with Kyler Murray off the board, the Longhorns and the Aggies will continue to do battle, even if it isn't in the most traditional sense. The on-field rivalry is on hiatus, but that certainly doesn't mean that the rivalry itself is dead. The game itself is the most meaningful part of the sport, but for now, fans of these iconic programs can air their grievances with, and hatred for, one another over the teenagers who may or may not make an impact for their team.