Tate Martell owed Texas A&M nothing more than his consideration. Sure, the nation’s top-ranked dual-threat quarterback recruit had given the Aggies an oral commitment last August, but oral commitments aren’t binding just like college scholarships aren’t guaranteed. On Wednesday night, Martell exercised his right to look elsewhere, announcing he was re-opening his recruitment.
In response, Aggies wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead – a former NFL player – decided it was a good time for a passive-aggressive Twitter lecture about loyalty:
“I feel sorry for ppl who never understand loyalty. I can’t really even vibe with u. At the end of the day trust is 100 & everything else is BS”
Morehead later tweeted that he wasn’t talking specifically about you-know-who – college coaches are prohibited by the NCAA from publicly discussing specific recruits until they sign letters-of-intent – but there was that “loyalty” word again:
“I wasn’t even talking about who everyone thinks I’m talking about. I didn’t even know #badtiming #relevanttho #stillnoloyalty”
Turned off by Moorehead’s scolding, wide receiver Mannie Netherly also announced early Thursday that he was reneging on his oral commitment to Texas A&M.
Another recruit, wide receiver Tyjon Lindsey, announced that he no longer would be considering Texas A&M, citing “some tweets subtweeted towards my brother” in a since-deleted tweet. Martell and Lindsey played on the same high school team in Las Vegas last year, and the nation’s fifth-ranked wide receiver recruit tweeted his support to the quarterback after his announcement.
Texas A&M’s loss might be Ohio State’s gain. Buckeyes quarterbacks coach Tim Beck paid a visit to Martell at his high school on Wednesday, Cleveland.com reports, and Lindsey has had Ohio State at the top of his list, as well.
Moorehead, meanwhile, moved past calling out high school kids for their supposed disloyalty and went straight to calling them soft, which is certain to go over well. Because if there’s one thing high school football players love, it’s having their manhood publicly questioned by authority figures:
“People act like the truth is all the sudden a bad thing. Society is too sensitive. Y’all boys soft. #texastough”