Texas A&M is staring at a 2026 schedule that looks far less forgiving than last season’s version, and Mike Elko is leaning on one thing above all else: depth.
With the SEC moving to a nine-game conference slate, the Aggies are set to navigate a brutal run of opponents that includes Arizona State, LSU, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas. On paper, there’s not much room to breathe, and Elko made it clear this week that surviving that kind of gauntlet starts with how the roster was built.
At his midweek teleconference ahead of Texas A&M’s matchup with Missouri State this weekend, Elko pointed to the work the staff did in both the portal and on the retention front.
“We felt like it was really important to not only go out and fill some holes in the portal last year, but also do a really, really good job of retaining our homegrown talent,” Elko said.
That combination, he said, gave the Aggies the kind of balance they were after. Texas A&M believes it has enough quality throughout the roster to handle the bumps that are bound to come once the season gets rolling.
“And I think we found that balance really, really well, and so I think we’re really happy with the depth that we have across the board,” Elko said. “And, you know, now we got to go out and obviously hope it holds up through the course of the season.”
That last part is the whole game. Texas A&M is almost certainly going to take some hits over the next several months, whether that means injuries, rough stretches or the general wear and tear that comes with an SEC schedule this heavy. The ninth conference game only adds another layer of difficulty.
Still, Elko believes the Aggies have the kind of roster that can weather it.
Retention, in particular, was a major offseason priority.
“I think it’s really important,” Elko said. “I think we have some really, really talented young players that we believe in, and I think keeping them here, keeping them in house and keeping them growing is something that’s really vital to our success.”
That philosophy could end up mattering more than anything once Texas A&M starts moving through the toughest parts of the slate. The trips to Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa and Columbia will stack up quickly, and the grind of the SEC won’t leave much margin for error.
Elko and his staff spent the offseason preparing for exactly that kind of test. Now the Aggies have to prove that the depth they built can hold up when the schedule turns nasty.
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