Mike Elko's Aggies enter spring with a 'higher' starting point in Year 2

Click HERE to view Texas A&M’s Wednesday press conference.

Ten days ago, the clocks sprung forward.

In two, Texas A&M will spring into action with the beginning of, well, spring football practices.

The Aggies will hold their first official spring workout on Friday as Mike Elko & Co. look to improve on an 8-5 campaign.

“We're excited to get back out on the field, get back into spring ball, start year two of this journey and kind of pick up on some of the good things we were able to do last year to move the program forward and then fix and clean up some of the things that maybe cost us ultimately getting where we wanted to go in the end,” Elko said on Wednesday. “We had a great eight-week session through the winter of strength and conditioning and building through our agility workouts. Now, we kind of transition into the next phase of this offseason, which is a five-week period of spring ball.”

There are plenty of reasons to expect improvement beyond the adage of “hope springs eternal.”

At the top of that list is this will be Elko's second spring as A&M's head coach, which means the learning curve should be lessened significantly.

“Certainly, the starting point is so much higher,” Elko said. “Where the kids are from an initial, day one standpoint, it's almost hard to quantify how much further that is along from where it was last year at this time when they really didn't know anything about anything.

“We're at a higher starting point now. We just got to still continue with the growth and development every single day, but I think you're excited about the conversations you can have with them because they're at a much higher level than they were this time last year, and that's just probably natural when you go from year one to year two.”

Additionally, after making eight starts and appearing in 11 games in 2024, sophomore Marcel Reed is the incumbent at quarterback.

He'll be working behind an offensive line that returns all five starters and a couple of experienced backups.

Reed will have a new receiving corps to throw to, headlined by transfers KC Concepcion, Mario Craver and tight end Amari Niblack. X-factor Terry Bussey is also entering his sophomore year and is now a full-time wideout.

“We have a year under this offense now, and it’s going to look a lot different than it did last year, for sure,” Reed said. “The dynamic and how we want to do things and how we’re putting out on the field. We have all types of playmakers, from the running back room, O-line to receivers and tight ends. It’s going to be definitely really exciting to see the growth we have tried to put in.”

On defense, Elko notably told Billy Liucci earlier this month that he's taking over play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Jay Bateman.

That announcement came after Elko's discontent with how A&M played defensively down the stretch and in a Las Vegas Bowl loss to USC.

However, Elko contends that such a change, as well as the addition of Lyle Hemphill, is introspective in nature rather than doubting his staff.

“You're always self-evaluating and trying to find ways to get better,” Elko said. “I've known Jay for a long time. Jay's a great football coach. Jay and I work really well together. A lot of people maybe questioned that after the bowl game. The bowl game frustration was a lot more with me than with any individual coach.

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After a 7-1 start, the Aggies dropped their final three SEC games and the 2024 SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl to finish the season at 8-5 overall and 5-3 in SEC play.

“We just didn't play defense the way I wanted to, and I don't point fingers when that happens. I always kind of look internally. ... It's just making sure we get this defense playing the way we want it to.”

Further, how the Aggies reconstruct the defensive line will be watched closely.

Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart and Shemar Turner elected to chase their NFL dreams, but there will be plenty of competition along that front.

Returners Cashius Howell, Rylan Kennedy, DJ Hicks and Albert Regis, along with transfer portal additions T.J. Searcy (Florida), Sam M'Pemba (Georgia) and Dayon Hayes (Colorado) and a handful of true freshmen will likely factor into those battles.

“We want a program where people are always a little bit unsettled and a little bit uncomfortable and feel as though every day they go out there, they’ve got to compete for opportunities and playing time,” Elko said. “It’s the same thing across the board.

“The reason why we were able to add some of the quality depth and veterans that we were able to add is because I think we’re getting a little bit of a reputation for that competition and giving guys opportunities to go out there and earn things.”

The hope is those competitions over the next 15 practices can spring the Aggies forward to prevent any falling back.

NOTES

• Eight players will miss the entirety of spring practice as they recover from their respective injuries: CB Tyreek Chappell, CB Jayvon Thomas, DB Jamar Beal-Goines, LB Scooby Williams, RB Amari Daniels, RB Le'Veon Moss, OL Ar'maj Reed-Adams and OL Josh Moses. Additionally, Elko confirmed transfer portal WR Micah Hudson is not with the team.

• A&M signed 25 prospects in the class of 2025, and all 24 early enrollees are on the spring roster. The lone exception is Draper (UT) wide receiver Jerome Myles‍. Per a January interview with Cade Draughon, Myles said he plans to enroll in May.

• The 2025 Maroon & White Game at Kyle Field is scheduled for Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m. CT.