Mike Elko has already pushed Texas A&M a long way in College Station, but the job isn’t finished.
In two seasons, Elko has put together a 19-7 record, delivered huge road wins over Notre Dame and LSU, and guided the Aggies to their first College Football Playoff berth. That’s real progress. But after last season ended with a painful home loss to Miami in the CFP, A&M enters this year with something bigger to chase than just another winning record.
The challenge starts on defense. Elko has to replace a unit that opened last season undefeated, held five of its first six opponents to 24 points or fewer, and finished second in the nation with 3.31 sacks per game.
Four core players are off to the NFL draft, and now the pressure shifts to a new group headlined by T.J. Searcy, D.J.
Hicks, Marco Jones, and transfer Anto Saka.
That group may not carry much national name recognition yet, but Elko has already shown he can turn that kind of talent into something much more dangerous. Shemar Stewart and Cashius Howell both developed into first-round NFL draft picks under his watch, and A&M will need a similar surge if it wants to keep pace in a schedule loaded with ranked opponents. Six of the Aggies’ SEC foes are currently in the Top 25, so this defense is going to be tested early and often in 2026.
The same goes for the offense, which has to come out firing. One of the biggest reasons A&M won double-digit games for the first time since 2012 was the way it started last season, with road wins at Notre Dame, LSU and Missouri powering the Aggies to their first 11-0 start since 1992. If the goal is another trip to the CFP, that kind of beginning isn’t just helpful - it’s essential.
And with trips to Tuscaloosa, Columbia and Norman waiting later in the schedule, plus the annual showdown with Texas in Austin, Marcel Reed and the offense need to settle in early. Last season, A&M averaged 40.8 points in its 11 wins, but only scored a combined 20 points in its two losses. Reed’s growth matters here, both for the Aggies’ chances in big games and for his own NFL Draft stock.
That fast start becomes even more important because of what comes next. October and November are packed with high-stakes SEC matchups, and after getting through last season without having to stare down the full weight of the conference grind, A&M won’t have that luxury again.
Still, the clearest test of Elko’s turnaround sits in one place: Texas.
The Aggies have been handled in both Lone Star Showdowns, and in neither game have they managed more than 7 points in the second half. After Arch Manning and company put up 24 points in a second-half comeback in Austin last season, Elko has to find a way to beat Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns on “Black Friday” if he wants the outside world to fully buy in.
A loss would feed the idea that Sarkisian has Elko’s number and could even start to matter in recruiting. That concern isn’t imaginary, either. Just last month, Landen Williams-Callis, the best offensive recruit in Texas and a generational running back, chose Texas over A&M.
That makes the Texas game about more than bragging rights. A win would back up everything Elko has built and help strengthen A&M’s push toward becoming a true CFP regular. A loss, on the other hand, could slow that momentum in a hurry.
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The early read is encouraging because the Aggies are not starting from scratch on either side of the ball. They have experience returning on defense as well, and with kickoff dates and some TV windows already attached to the slate, there is at least a clearer sense of when the real tests will start to stack up and what kind of response this group will need to show once the season begins. [Read more 🡒]