DALLAS — When Texas A&M coach Mike Elko stepped before a group of reporters for his SEC media days debut Thursday morning, he was asked what excited him most about what his team has gotten done this offseason.
In these settings, coaches usually offer something from a selection of cliches: how much progress their players made in the weight room, how much closer the team is, or they cite players who have stepped up as leaders.
Elko took it in a different direction.
“I’m probably most proud of the fact that it’s been a really quiet offseason,” Elko said.
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The Aggies have made a lot of noise in recent years, but not much of it was related to their play on the field. Whether it was signing the No. 1 recruiting class in 2022, Jimbo Fisher’s subsequent war of words with Nick Saban, Fisher’s massive contract or his reluctance to adapt offensively, Texas A&M has been in the headlines for things other than winning football games.
Elko has spent this offseason trying to change that, intentionally prodding his team to keep its head down and move in silence.
“We can’t verbalize what we are. Facts tell us who we are,” Elko said. “We were a 12-13 football program the last two years.
“The only way to change that is to work.”
Trey Zuhn and the Texas A&M Aggies have gone 12-13 the past two seasons. (Brett Patzke / USA Today)
That’s what the last eight months have been about since Elko arrived from Duke. The first two months also entailed closing out the 2024 recruiting class and hammering the transfer portal to rebuild a roster that needed depth. The last six months included intentional efforts to establish a culture of discipline and accountability that was missing for much of the final two seasons of the Fisher era.
The players have found it to be a welcomed change.
“We love working in silence,” tackle Trey Zuhn said. “We’re gonna get our work done, we’re gonna grind every single day. We don’t need to talk about it. We’re going to show what we need to show on the field for Notre Dame.”
Zuhn said the level of accountability fostered by Elko thus far has been a “big change” for the players. Being late to a meeting or missing a team meal comes with penalties. Do that too often, and players will find themselves pushing iron plates 500 yards at 7 a.m.
It was an adjustment for some Aggies. At the end of the Fisher era, being late to meetings or workouts was met with few, if any, consequences, and day-to-day discipline was described as poor by multiple people within the program.
Sophomore linebacker Taurean York said it took “probably two months” before the entire team acclimated to Elko’s way of doing things.
“He runs a tight ship,” York said. “He doesn’t allow you any loose ends. He wants you to be on time. … It was definitely an adjustment because when you’re used to doing your own thing, it’s hard to get out your own way.”
Will it lead to more wins? Shemar Turner, a senior defensive lineman, says he thinks it will make a difference. Turner also said Elko has worked to make the team closer. When players gather for team meals, sitting far apart is frowned upon. They’re encouraged to sit together, mixing position groups.
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Initially, Turner wondered why they had to do it. “I didn’t think it meant much,” he said. But the more he spent time with players in other position groups, the more they talked and the closer they became.
“The more you’re around your teammates and the more you build a relationship with them, it helps you go harder for your brother,” he said. “And whenever they’re not (at their best) that day, and you get on them, there’s not going to be a retaliation.”
Those moments, Turner believes, will matter when the Aggies try to get a stop on third-and-3 on a fall Saturday.
“It may seem so miniscule,” he said, “but it matters.”
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After Fisher’s peak in 2020, when the Aggies went 9-1 and just missed the College Football Playoff, expectations outpaced the on-field results. This year, A&M won’t go into the season with a top-10 ranking or anything resembling it, although it likely will be on the back end of the preseason top 25. There’s still substantial talent on the roster from previous recruiting classes and a lot Elko brought in via the portal.
Elko’s not worried about that. He’s focused on the positive energy in his building and waiting to show the results of an offseason’s worth of work when the time comes.
“When it’s not football time, we should be working,” Elko said. “And that’s what ultimately gets you the results you want to have in the fall.”
(Top photo: Brett Patzke / USA Today)
