TCU lands two recruits within hours of official coaching announcement

TCU’s new coaching staff is hitting the ground running. Sonny Dykes and Co. landed at midfield of Amon G. Carter stadium around 6:00pm on Monday evening and by 10:00pm they had two new commits.

First, some context. Ra’Shaad Samples, TCU’s new Assistant Head Coach and Running Game Coordinator, is one of the elite recruiters in the country, and he has a deep relationship with schools in DFW, especially Dallas.

During Samples’ time at SMU he managed to pull some of the best recruits from the Dallas area and keep them home including, until last week, a handful of four star recruits for the 2022 and 2023 classes.

When news started to leak that Dykes was leaving SMU and Samples was likely joining him in Fort Worth, SMU fans stood helplessly by as they watched five recruits decommit within hours of each other.

Now, two of those decommits are committed to TCU, and it’s undoubtedly because of their relationship with Samples.

The first recruit to commit was 2023 4-star wide receiver Cordale Russell from North Mesquite.

Russell is the No. 36 player in the state of Texas and the No. 26 overall receiver for the class of 2023, according to 247 Sports’ Composite Rankings. He becomes the first commit for TCU’s 2023 class.

Just two hours later, 4-star receiver Jordan Hudson followed suit, committing to the Frogs.

Hudson, hailing from Garland, is the the 8th highest-rated player ever to commit to the Horned Frogs. He’s also the No. 25 player in the state of Texas for the 2022 class, and the No. 147 overall recruit. His teammate, 4-star safety Chace Biddle, is another one to keep an eye on, as TCU was a leader for his services before he committed to SMU alongside Hudson.

We also now know that Samples is being joined by recruiting specialist Bryan Carrington, most recently of USC and formerly of Texas, who is an additional elite-level recruiting talent. With Carrington and Samples on staff at TCU, the rest of the country is starting to take notice.

Add to the mix receivers coach Malcolm Kelly and safeties coach Paul Gonzales, who are responsible for bringing guys like Trevone Moehrig and Quentin Johnston to TCU, and this is quickly becoming one of the most potent recruiting staffs in the nation.

And, if I had to guess, more commits will be on their way sooner rather than later.

Seeing an immediate impact on the recruiting trail has to alleviate some of the worries TCU fans might have had about the school’s first coaching change in more than 20 years, and with more commits likely coming, the hype around TCU football could reach a fever pitch quickly.