COLLEGE STATION, Texas — During the final years of the Jimbo Fisher era, Texas A&M football embodied the phrase “all hats, no cattle.”
This program was defined not by the championships Fisher was supposed to bring, but by its shortcomings. Instead of winning a ring, or filling in the missing date on the plaque handed to Fisher by Chancellor John Sharp in 2018, A&M ended up being disappointed the past two years. It was a program that was overexposed through recruiting rankings and preseason hype, and it fell short of what was on display. field result. The Aggies’ peak under Fisher, 9-1, a near miss in the College Football Playoff, and a top-five finish in 2020, was the exception, not the rule, under Fisher.
Mike Elko, who served as Fisher’s defensive coordinator for four years before leaving the program after the 2021 season to become the head coach at Duke University, received national attention surrounding the team when he returned to Aggieland in November to replace Fisher. He was well aware of the trends. Elko also understood what A&M needed: a much different approach.
Elko’s press conferences rarely make headlines. Fisher likely won’t get into a spat with SEC officials like he did in response to accusations from Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin. As a defensive assistant for more than 20 years, mostly out of sight of regular fans, Elko has perfected the art of putting his head down, working, and letting the results tell the story.
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And with No. 14 Texas A&M’s 38-23 victory over No. 8 LSU on Saturday night being the latest victory, what a story the Aggies are about to tell in 2024. Eight games into Elko’s first year in charge, A&M enters November alone atop the SEC as the only team without a conference loss. And he’s also a strong contender for the playoffs.
This A&M team is more about substance than style.
“We stand by our actions,” Elko said. “We’re very honest. We’re very open. And this is a real program. It’s not fake. This show isn’t run by fast-talking politicians who are nasty to everyone.”
It is unclear whether this was intended as an attack on Fisher, who is famously fast-talking. This was in response to a question to Elko about how he was able to find success so quickly in his first year at both Duke and A&M. Although it is difficult to ignore this relationship, Mr. Elko has been careful and thoughtful in speaking about A&M’s recent past, choosing not to covertly attack his predecessors or former bosses. It is less likely that they are directly criticizing the government.
Elko pointed to the message to the players, the culture they’ve built and the time he and his staff have spent building relationships with the players.
“I’m not the hugging, pat on the back type of person, but I’m always there for them, and I think they appreciate that,” Elko said.
What unfolded over nearly four hours Saturday night in front of the third-largest crowd in Kyle Field history was a stark reminder that the narrative around A&M is changing.
Now, the Aggies have a chance to do something they never did under a coach who guaranteed them nearly $95 million: win the SEC and make the playoffs.
“The situation we were in when I came here, and the whole rhetoric around this program was about NIL, mercenaries, selfishness and all that stuff, so I could see where we are now… It’s a credit to the kids in the locker room,” Elko said. “It’s a credit to their character. It’s a credit to who they are.”
If A&M’s season opener, a 23-13 loss at home to Notre Dame, was the last time we checked in on the Aggies, things have changed dramatically since then. They have won seven games in a row, some ugly, some dominant. But they keep finding ways.
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Saturday night was a perfect example of that. Trailing 17-7 with less than five minutes left in the first half and LSU looking to extend its lead, Texas A&M looked as if it was veering toward the danger zone.
But they looked like a different team in the second half. After LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeyer smothered the Aggies in the first half, the defense found a way to pressure him in the second half. They caught him three times, increasing their enthusiasm for him.
Offensively, Elco made the wise decision to bench starting QB Connor Weigman in favor of reserve Marcell Reed, and the offense scored on its next five drives. The change in momentum was instantaneous.
Yes, the Aggies had flaws, and Elko later pointed them out, from penalties to turnovers. But in this whirlwind college football season, why not for Texas A&M and its first-year head coach?
“They’re learning what it means to be a winner and how to be a winner from talented soccer players,” Elko said. “They’re doing what winners do, right? They’re playing extremely hard. They’re nervous. They’re playing together. They’re finishing.”
These are all things that couldn’t be consistently associated with the Aggie family these days. Under the Fisher administration, problems within the program ranged from a lax and undisciplined culture to a reluctance to evolve the offense to poor roster management. Lined up across from college football’s Alabama, Georgia and LSU, the Aggies didn’t look much different. But the lack of attention to detail showed on the scoreboard. Texas A&M went 12-13 in Fisher’s final two seasons and hadn’t won a road game in more than two years.
Upon his return, Elko made punctuality non-negotiable and established discipline. He instituted organization and structure, but allowed players the freedom to be themselves as long as they went about their business. With the help of an organized and efficient human resources department, he refilled the roster and filled holes with experienced transfers. Then, once the match started, he pressed the right buttons as needed.
So far, Kyle Field in particular has helped the Aggies reverse negative trends. The Aggies’ optimism for SEC relevance comes at every big moment in the 102,733-seat palace, including an upset of Alabama in 2021 and a seven-overtime victory over LSU in 2018. There were a number of home defeats that shattered the argument. Auburn in 2013, Ole Miss in 2014 and 2016, and the Appalachian State debacle in 2022.
Texas A&M has a home record of 24-20 against SEC teams this season and a 10-15 home record against ranked teams, giving their opponents confidence heading into the big game at Kyle Field. It became. Although the Aggies lost their season opener to Notre Dame, they are now 2-0 in SEC home games this season, defeating Missouri earlier this month.
Before Saturday night, A&M and LSU had played eight times while both were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. LSU won all eight until the Aggies snapped that streak Saturday.
Not everything is going the way Elko wants just yet. The quarterback situation will have to be addressed by coaches when deciding whether to stay with Reid or go back to Weigman. The Aggies must defend better and be more productive in the passing game. Penalties were an issue Saturday, with A&M gaining 10 yards for 101 yards.
But looking at their schedule, it’s no wonder the Aggies win their next three games, against South Carolina, vs. New Mexico State, and against Auburn. That would make them 10-1 by the final regular-season game, a home game against No. 5 Texas, marking the long-awaited revival of a heated in-state rivalry that has been dormant since 2011.
The Nov. 30 game may be the most anticipated game at Kyle Field since the last time the Aggies met 13 years ago, before they were eliminated from the Big 12 to the SEC (the Longhorns would do the same in 10 years). (It just means you’re going through the motions.) If both teams come out with double-digit wins, their storylines and playoff stakes will be unparalleled drama.
But there’s a lot of work to do before A&M considers such a step. Elko said as soon as Saturday’s game ended, his thoughts immediately shifted to South Carolina.
“The price of success and the price of winning games like this is that you have a target on your back,” he said. “And 5-0 (in the SEC) means it’s going to take a very long time to get to 6-0.”
Eleven months after Elko’s hiring, A&M enters November in pole position in the SEC race. Few would have expected the Aggies to open the season in this position, but after their Aug. 31 loss to the Fighting Irish, that seems even less likely.
Meanwhile, they continue to work and provide buzz for their play. Everyone should have heard it by now.
“We have a great opportunity right now, and we want to take advantage of it,” Elko said. “And there’s still a lot of work to do to do that.”
(Top photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)