Seems like a major addition
We thought that Mike Elko’s first Texas A&M football staff was complete for 2024, but news broke Tuesday night of another addition, as the Aggies have lured Florida Director of Scouting & Recruiting Relations/NFL Liaison Joe Hamilton from Gainesville to College Station.
Sources: Florida, Director of Scouting & Recruiting; NFL Liaison, Joe Hamilton is leaving the Gators for Texas A&M.
Hamilton played a major role in Florida’s recruiting success & also helped Louisiana to the #1 recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference three years in a row. pic.twitter.com/a1bE3D2sKE
— Brandon Howard (@BHoward_11) February 28, 2024
While Hamilton has worked under Billy Napier for the past five seasons at Florida and Louisiana LaFayette, he is actually a Texas native, graduating from Lewisville High School and Texas Southern. It’s not yet clear what Hamilton’s title will be at A&M, given that the Aggies already have Derek Miller listed as Recruiting General Manager and Allen Gaudet as Director of Player Personnel (both of whom accompanied Mike Elko from Duke).
Any time you can bring in a recruiter with Texas ties, it’s a win, but in this case, there may also be a very specific reason for optimism, and it comes in the form of Florida freshman QB D.J. Lagway. The five-star recruit from Willis, TX chose the Gators despite a long courtship from A&M (including a late push from Mike Elko’s staff before the early signing period). And it sounds as though Hamilton played a major role in bringing Lagway to Florida. Just ask his dad.
.@DerekLagway’s dad @DerekLagway1 talks about what they saw from @GatorsFB staff including one of the hardest workers in recruiting @JoeHamilton__
“You can’t get any better than Joe Hamilton.”
Mr. Lagway, I agree!
@abc13houston pic.twitter.com/BstM3MNtkk— Joe Gleason (@joeagleason) December 7, 2022
Obviously it’s too late to flip Lagway as a high school recruit. But in the transfer portal era, you never fully close that door. With Napier already seemingly on the hot seat and the Gators facing an absolutely brutal schedule, it’s not hard to paint a picture in which Lagway is looking for a new destination heading into 2025.
Hamilton is one of several Florida assistants poached by Elko’s staff this offseason, joining Defensive Coordinator Jay Bateman and Defensive Line Coach Sean Spencer.