Five-star safety Bralan Womack picks Mississippi State over Texas A&M, but the Aggies' 2026 defensive back haul still stacks up as elite.
The recruitment dominoes are beginning to fall after the college football coaching cycle continues to become more and more chaotic as we approach the college football playoff.
Five-star safety Bralan Womack, once committed to Auburn, announced he is flipping his pledge to Mississippi State instead of Texas A&M, choosing one Maroon-and-White program over another.
The decision stings, especially with A&M sitting in the College Football Playoff hunt and looking to close on elite defensive talent for the future.
Womack, a 6-0, 195-pound playmaker out of Hartfield Academy in Flowood, Miss., is exactly the kind of back-end weapon championship defenses covet.
Over four high school seasons, he totaled 16 interceptions, showcasing true ballhawk instincts and range.
247Sports scouting director Andrew Ivins raved about his profile, calling Womack a "versatile safety prospect with impressive man-coverage skills" who can become a trusted playmaker and matchup specialist for any CFP-level program.
That's the type of defender A&M has been stockpiling under Mike Elko, and the type you don’t like to see elsewhere in the SEC West.
Context matters here, too. Auburn's firing of Hugh Freeze triggered major turbulence in its 2026 class, and Womack's decommitment was always going to reopen doors.
Texas A&M made the final cut, but in the end, "home is home," and Mississippi State kept an in-state star in close to home.
The good news for the Aggies? The 2026 defensive back class is still absolutely loaded.
Texas A&M already has:
- Five-star athlete Brandon Arrington
- Four-star CB Camren Hamilton
- Four-star S Tylan Wilson
- Four-star CB Victor Singleton
- Four-star S Chance Collins
That's the core of a future no-fly zone, even without Womack in the room. Anyone joining that group will face serious competition just to see the field, which is exactly how an SEC contender wants it.
With Early National Signing Day on Wednesday, the Aggies' focus shifts to locking in their current commits while remaining aggressive in flipping other schools' pledges. Nothing is official until the ink is dry, but as it stands, Texas A&M holds the No. 9 recruiting class in the nation, according to 247Sports, and the back end of that defense still looks like a problem for the rest of the SEC.