Texas A&M’s coaching staff for 2026 is starting to take shape - and it’s looking more like a reunion than a rebuild. Five members of the 2025 staff have earned internal promotions, with wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins stepping into the offensive coordinator role, and assistant Joey Lynch now guiding the quarterbacks.
John Lynch, previously a senior offensive assistant, takes over Wiggins’ old spot coaching wideouts. And as of Thursday night, another familiar face is on the move: Bryant Gross-Armiento has been elevated from nickelbacks coach to cornerbacks coach.
For Aggie fans, this wave of internal promotions has sparked a split reaction. Some are skeptical, wondering if continuity alone can push the program forward.
Others are pointing to the scoreboard: Texas A&M went 11-2 in 2025 with this exact staff in the building. That kind of success doesn’t happen by accident.
Gross-Armiento’s journey to this role has been years in the making - and it’s one rooted in trust and familiarity with head coach Mike Elko. Their connection goes back to Wake Forest, where Gross-Armiento worked under Elko as a recruiting assistant and graduate assistant from 2017 to 2018. After a brief stop at Georgia as a defensive analyst, he landed in College Station before the 2021 season under then-head coach Jimbo Fisher.
Fisher saw enough in Gross-Armiento to promote him to secondary coach before his departure. Since Elko took over, Gross-Armiento has remained a key figure on the defensive side, serving as a senior defensive analyst in 2025 and coaching the nickelbacks - a critical position in today’s pass-heavy college game.
Now, he steps into a bigger role, taking charge of a cornerbacks room loaded with talent and potential. That includes returners like Dezz Ricks and Julio Humphrey, as well as Tennessee transfer Rickey Gibson.
But the real intrigue might lie with the younger crop - particularly incoming freshman Brandon Arrington, one of the headliners from the 2026 signing class. Developing that group will be a major focus moving forward.
Gross-Armiento’s track record with the nickelbacks offers a promising glimpse of what he might bring to the corners. In 2025, senior nickel Tyreek Chappell logged 34 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, and four pass breakups - a solid stat line that speaks to both discipline and playmaking ability. And with Bryce Anderson opting to withdraw from the transfer portal, he’s now in line to take over as the starting nickel in 2026, giving Gross-Armiento another experienced piece to work with on the back end.
The challenge now? Turning familiarity into results.
Texas A&M isn’t just trying to maintain momentum - they’re aiming to take the next step. And with Gross-Armiento now overseeing one of the most important units on the field, his ability to develop talent and keep the secondary sharp will be a key storyline to watch in College Station this fall.