Texas A&M quarterback Nick Starkel announced last month via Twitter that he was leaving the Aggies to enter the NCAA transfer portal and transfer elsewhere to finish his career. Today, he appeared on The Justin Dunning Podcast today to discuss some possible destinations and one such destination may entail him facing his old teammates.

Starkel mentioned on Dunning's podcast that he was interested in SMU, Arizona, Ohio State, and Arkansas. The last of these might be the most interesting since the Hogs are in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference and face the Aggies on an annual basis. That could result in Starkel facing his former teammates and coaches which make for a difficult situation for everyone concerned....Starkel, his former teammates, coaches, and A&M fans who have generally been supportive of his decision to leave College Station after he lost the starting job to junior to be Kellen Mond.

"That'd be an awkward situation," Starkel said "Those people that are saying, 'I'll root for you wherever you go,' I don't know."

Starkel said on the show which is hosted by a former A&M safety that he wasn't going to waste anyone's time although the process had been "interesting", noting that he had already turned down Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente and perhaps other schools as well. There's pros and cons to each of his potential landing spots and that includes the Hogs who recently took on former SMU starter Ben Hicks as a grad transfer who played for Arkansas head coach Chad Morris when he with the Ponies. In addition, the Hogs finished just 2-10 on the season.

Starkel could also be reunited with former A&M boss Kevin Sumlin and offensive coordinator out at Arizona although the Wildcat's Khalil Tate will be returning for his junior year. He could replace Hicks at SMU and stay in the Metroplex (Starkel went to high school at Argyle Christian) but Hicks already left because sophomore Williams Brown took over the starting role there. Ohio State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich was formerly at Oklahoma State which is where Starkel was committed before the Aggies offered him and flipped him in late 2015.

Starkel will graduate from Texas A&M in the summer, so he will be immediately eligible at his next school of choice. He will have two years of eligibility remaining. He originally signed with A&M in 2016 and redshirted as a freshman. He competed with then true freshman Kellen Mond for the starting gig in the spring of 2017, emerged as the starter in fall camp, and then fractured his ankle in the 2017 opener versus UCLA. Starkel recovered and started in five games as a freshman, throwing for 1,793 yards and 14 touchdowns on 123 of 205 passing. He set the A&M bowl game record throwing for 499 yards against Wake Forest, connecting on 42 of 63 passes including four touchdowns. He also set A&M freshman records for attempts, completions and passing yards for a single game.

Starkel lost the battle for the starting job to Mond in fall camp and appeared in just four games in 2018, completing 15-of-22 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown which included 7 of 11 passing for 67 yards against top rated Alabama. His absence leaves the Aggies with just three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, two of whom have never played a down of college football. Freshman Connor Blumrick played in one game last season and completed a single pass. James Foster redshirted last season during his freshman campaign and Georgia product Zach Calzada enrolled early to take a crack at the job.