USC Football Recruiting: Tate Martell reopens recruitment

Five-star quarterback and USC recruit Tate Martell announced his decision to reopen his recruitment, decommiting from the Texas A&M Aggies.

Tate Martell is a free man.

The five-star quarterback and top-ranked dual-threat quarterback for the 2017 class announced on Twitter that he has decommited from Texas A&M, opening his recruitment with more than half a year until Signing Day next year.

“After talking with my family about what is best for my future, I have decided to reopen my recruiting process,” Martell wrote on Twitter Wednesday night.

Martell was long considered a USC lean before he committed to the Aggies in August of last year. The Trojans were in his Top 5 before his commitment along with Alabama, Washington and Michigan.

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USC missed out on four-star dual-threat quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who committed to Alabama on Monday night, forcing Clay Helton and his staff to look elsewhere for a QB in the 2017 class.

USC offered San Clemente four-star quarterback Jack Sears Wednesday, but Martell’s decision to put himself back on the board could change their focus once more.

Interestingly enough, Texas A&M wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead took to Twitter shortly after Martell’s announcement with some thoughts on loyalty and accountability, presumably aimed towards the quarterback.

“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,” Moorehead tweeted. “Scared for this next group of kids. There is no accountability and no sense of positivity when it comes to adversity. #selfish #allaboutme”

USC’s 2017 class currently has five commitments: Five-star running back Stephen Carr, four-star safety Bubba Bolden, three-star wide receiver Marlon Williams, three-star athlete Randal Grimes and most-recently three-star Juliano Falaniko.

UPDATE: Moorehead returned to Twitter to clarify that he was not targeting Martell specifically, but didn’t back down from the comments nor their perceived relevance towards Martell’s decision.

“I wasn’t even talking about who everyone thinks I’m talking about. I didn’t even know,” Moorehead tweeted, but added the hastags “#badtiming #relevanttho #stillnoloyalty” to his message.

Piggybacking off that Moorehead continued, “People talk about leadership and this generation flip flops like its nothing. That’s a real issue. My dad would have whipped my ass.”