Texas A&M Aggies Add to 2027 Class With Australian Punter

The Texas A&M Aggies added to their special teams unit with the addition of an international punter as the 2027 recruiting class grows.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko celebrates after the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Football is about more than the offense and defense; games can be won or lost in the third phase: special teams. Kick coverage teams, punt operations and field goal units are often invisible when done correctly but catastrophic when executed poorly.

The Texas A&M Aggies have not ignored this part of the game in their impressive 2027 recruiting class. Tomball High School kicker Andres von der Meden — the top-ranked kicker by Kohl's Professional Football Camps — committed to Texas A&M on June 8.

About a week later, the Aggies added an intriguing prospect with an international background.

Australian Punter Jamie Sidebottom Commits to Texas A&M

Texas A&M Aggies punter Jared White takes the field with teammates before the game against the Miami Hurricanes during the first round of the CFP National Playoff at Kyle Field. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Australian kickers and punters have taken college football by storm. Often with backgrounds in rugby and Australian rules football, contact sports that heavily incorporate kicking, several programs across the country have explored this pipeline.

Texas A&M is doing the same by adding punter Jamie Sidebottom to its 2027 recruiting class, as reported by TexAgs. Sidebottom turned 19 in January and competes for Swan Districts FC, an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).

According to the WAFL website, Sidebottom is 6’0” and 176 pounds. He is still green to American football and visited College Station, Texas, just days before his commitment, according to Jaxson Callaway of AggiesToday.

This is not the first time Texas A&M has looked for kicking talent from Australia. Two-time All-SEC punter Nik Constantinou played for the Aussie rules PEGS Football Club outside of Melbourne, Australia, before he committed to Texas A&M. He was later drafted fifth overall in the 2024 CFL global draft.

Texas A&M Aggies punter Nik Constantinou celebrates place kicker Seth Small's 28-yard game-winning field goal against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the fourth quarter at Kyle Field. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Texas A&M has a history of developing punter talent. Tyler White, the team’s starter for the last two seasons, was a Ray Guy Award semifinalist as a redshirt freshman in 2024. Constantinou and Braden Mann were both all-conference kickers, and Mann was a unanimous All-American and won the Ray Guy Award in 2018.

While there is a history of Australian rules football players translating as college football punters, there is still plenty of room for Sidebottom to develop. However, he has an impressive athletic background.

Texas A&M enters Year 3 with Patrick Dougherty as its special teams coordinator. He joined the Aggies alongside head coach Mike Elko in January 2024, following Elko from Duke, where Dougherty served a similar role since 2022.

Dougherty and Elko are looking toward the future of their special teams unit with the recent additions of Sidebottom and von der Meden.

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