Texas A&M’s confidence is starting to sound a lot like a team that believes it has more than just momentum.
With the 2026 season just under two weeks away, the Aggies are carrying a level of optimism that fits the way Mike Elko has pushed the program forward over his first two years. Texas A&M has not won a national championship in nearly a century, but after the way the program has climbed and the roster has filled out, some inside the building clearly think the next jump is there to be made.
That was the message Friday after practice, when wide receiver Terry Bussey and defensive end T.J. Searcy spoke to the media and gave a glimpse of why the buzz around this team has only grown.
Searcy zeroed in on the defensive front first, pointing to the kind of depth that can change a season when the games start stacking up.
"As far as the defensive line we got this year, I think that we've got a lot of depth," Searcy said. "I feel like we might have got a little more depth than we did even last year.
We got a lot of young guys and our portal guys who came in. I feel like they're going to make great contributions to the team."
Bussey, meanwhile, looked at the offense and saw a group that has matured enough to make the most of its talent in more ways than one. When asked whether the unit can do anything new this season, he didn’t frame it as a matter of untapped potential so much as a matter of growth and numbers.
"I wouldn't really say that there's nothing that we couldn't do last year," said Bussey when asked if there is anything new that the offense could do. "I feel like we got a lot more guys that have matured and can make plays.
I mean, you can put the ball in anybody's hands and it could be an explosive play just like that. I just feel like we've got more depth in the rooms and feel like we can do a lot more with a bunch of different people."
He also gave a nod to the wide receiver room, a group Holmon Wiggins has compared to The Avengers. Bussey said the talent in that room is spread across different skill sets, with each player bringing something distinct.
"No, we definitely know that. We know everybody in that room has their different skill sets and stuff like that that they're really good at," said the wideout.
"I mean, we all could do pretty much everything, but you got guys that that's like their main focus. You got Ashton Bethel-Roman.
He's a blazer. He can run routes and stuff like that.
"Then you got big body Zay (Isaiah Horton), and he speaks for himself, and then we got Mario Craver."
Texas A&M will get its first chance to put that confidence on display on September 5, when it opens against Missouri State. For now, the talk is about depth, maturity and a roster that believes it has enough pieces to keep pushing toward something bigger.
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