Replacing All-American linebacker Edgerrin Cooper will be no easy task but Texas A&M may have found its leading candidate in the final hours of Early Signing Day 2023.
4-star linebacker Tristan Jernigan signed with Texas A&M on Friday afternoon, choosing the Aggies program over Alabama and Ole Miss among others.
“I’ll be taking my talents to the University of Texas A&M,” Jernigan announced Friday at a press conference held at Tupelo High School in Mississippi.
Jernigan is 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds. He had 23 total offers and took four total visits. Jernigan took a trip to Bryan-College Station over the summer on June 9 when former head coach Jimbo Fisher was still at the helm of the program.
Tupelo linebacker Tristan Jernigan (@Tristan38J) has committed to Texas A&M pic.twitter.com/STAdiWt4Wf
— Grace Ybarra (@gnybarra) December 22, 2023
Following the coaching change, Jernigan and his family did their due diligence. The Tupelo, Miss. native visited Tuscaloosa on Dec. 8 and Ole Miss one week later. He also took another visit to Kyle Field on Dec. 15, where he met new head coach Mike Elko and other members of his staff.
✍️ SIGNED ✍️
Gig ‘Em, @Tristan38J 👍#NSD24 pic.twitter.com/Hc4gqbnm6H
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 22, 2023
To say Elko made a positive first impression would be an understatement given Friday’s signing. Other notable universities that Jernigan had offers to include Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Florida State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oregon and UTSA.
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