Texas A&M’s first-round exit from the College Football Playoff was a tough pill to swallow for a program that’s been knocking on the door of national relevance for a while now. The question now: can the Aggies finally take that next step - not just getting to the big stage, but making real noise once they’re there?
From a schematic perspective, the Aggies’ defense under Mike Elko has been nothing if not aggressive. This is a unit that thrives on disrupting rhythm early in drives.
They often start with a two-high safety look before rolling one down into the box. That safety can be used in a couple of ways - either plugging the B gap between the guard and tackle or acting as an alley defender outside the tackle.
It’s a versatile approach designed to confuse offenses and create chaos.
Their linebackers feed off that energy. Typically, one crashes hard into the A gap while the other scrapes over the top, reading and reacting.
It’s a system built to create negative plays on early downs - and when it works, it’s a nightmare for opposing offenses. Get a team into third-and-long, and you’ve got the upper hand.
But here’s the flip side: when that aggression backfires, it backfires big. We saw it late in games, like when a missed assignment turned into a 56-yard run with the clock winding down and the game hanging in the balance.
That’s the risk baked into the philosophy. Elko wants to live in the backfield, but if the defense misses, they’re often left chasing.
That’s where the soul-searching begins. Elko may need to consider dialing back the ultra-aggressive approach - not abandoning it altogether, but finding a better balance. Maybe giving up a few more third-down conversions is worth it if it means avoiding the kind of explosive plays that can flip a game in a heartbeat.
Turnovers - or the lack thereof - were another issue. The Aggies forced just 10 all season.
That’s a surprisingly low number for a defense that prides itself on pressure. And when you’re not flipping the field or stealing possessions, the margin for error shrinks.
In the final four games, A&M was minus-nine in turnover differential. They lost two of those and nearly dropped a third.
That stat alone tells you how costly those missed opportunities were.
Now, with Lyle Hemphill stepping in as defensive coordinator and Travis Williams - formerly at Arkansas - expected to coach the linebackers, there’s a new layer to this conversation. Both coaches bring a history of aggressive, attacking defenses. They’ve leaned heavily into generating tackles for loss and creating chaos at the line of scrimmage.
But as the season wears on and the competition stiffens, that style can get tested. Better offenses adjust.
They find ways to neutralize pressure, exploit man coverage, and hit chunk plays. That’s where the tradeoff becomes real: do you keep loading the box and playing man on the outside, knowing it might leave you vulnerable against top-tier offenses?
That’s the challenge facing this coaching staff going into next season. Can they stay true to their identity while also evolving enough to avoid the pitfalls that cost them late in games this year?
There’s talent on this roster, and the defensive foundation is there. But if the Aggies want to be more than just a playoff participant - if they want to be a real contender - they’ll need to find that sweet spot between aggression and discipline. Because in the SEC, and especially in the College Football Playoff, the margin between winning and watching is razor thin.