The Surprising Spot Texas A&M’s Mike Elko Holds in USA TODAY’s SEC Head Coach Rankings—And What It Means for the Season
Texas A&M’s 2025 football narrative is shaping up to be a compelling chapter under Mike Elko’s watch. After a rollercoaster inaugural season that wrapped at 8-5—with a deflating 1-4 skid to close the year—Elko’s second act is met with a cloud of skepticism and expectation alike. The Aggies showed early promise, riding high on a 7-1 start, before the abrupt end to Le’Veon Moss’s season unraveled their offensive mojo. Defensive woes compounded the struggles, prompting moves like bringing in Lyle Hemphill to patch up glaring gaps. Yet, despite robust recruiting classes, questions loom large over quarterback development and the elusive passing game, areas that could define Elko’s legacy here. According to USA TODAY, Elko sits ninth among his SEC peers—a middling spot that underscores the uphill climb ahead. If the Aggies want to flip the script, Elko and his coaching staff have to turn those “what-ifs” into “what’s next.”
LEARN MORE
- Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko enters his second season under scrutiny after a disappointing 1-4 finish to his inaugural 8-5 campaign.
- Elko’s first season earned a B or B+ grade, with the team’s performance declining significantly after star running back Le’Veon Moss’s season-ending injury.
- Elko addressed defensive issues by hiring Lyle Hemphill, but questions remain about the team’s passing game and quarterback development.
- USA TODAY ranked Elko ninth among SEC coaches, highlighting the need for improvement in the passing game despite recruiting success.
Texas A&M’s 2025 football season will be under the national microscope, as head coach Mike Elko enters his second season with the program after finishing his inaugural campaign 8-5, including a disappointing 1-4 finish that resulted in a bulk of the Aggie fan base feeling uninspired heading into the offseason.In Toppemeyer’s rankings, Kirby Smart (Georgia), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Brian Kelly (LSU), Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri) and Shane Beamer (South Carolina) were positioned 1-8.
“While we stumbled over ourselves to applaud Elko’s efforts during his first season, something interesting happened: His team lost four of its last five. Elko’s eight-win debut holds up as an acceptable start. When paired with his Duke success, it’s fair to be bullish about his future. The Aggies still must develop their pass game, a holdover theme from the Jimbo Fisher era. Texas A&M attracts enough talented players to accelerate, but can Elko develop a strong SEC quarterback? That question lingers.”Compared to the program’s recent recruiting success, Elko and OC Collin Klein are fairly under pressure to develop starting quarterback Marcel Reed into a respectable passer this season, especially with the additions of wide receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver from the transfer portal. However, if Reed struggles in the pocket next season, these questions and comparisons to Jimbo Fisher will continue to surface.
For that Elko, deserves more credit for attempting to fix a core issue, but remains in the middle of the SEC coaching ranks until further notice. Last week, USA TODAY’s Blake Toppemeyer released his initial SEC head coach rankings ahead of the 2025 season, placing Mike Elko at No. 9, with a clear focus on Texas A&M’s late-season struggles, and the lack of success in the passing game.
Still, A&M’s poor defensive play also played a big part in the 1-4 finish, as the Aggies’ secondary allowed too many explosive plays, especially against USC in the Las Vegas Bowl, leading to Elko hiring his former Duke assistant Lyle Hemphill, who served as James Madison’s defensive coordinator last season, who will (hopefully) fix A&M’s technical problems at cornerback, safety, and linebacker.Grading Elko’s first season compared to how other first-year SEC head coaches fared was, for the most part, based in reality, deserving a solid B or B+ on a letter grading scale. After starting 7-1, star running back Le’Veon Moss’s season-ending injury was just the start of the Aggies’ poor stretch of play, as the 4 OT loss to Auburn proved that once Moss went down, Texas A&M’s offensive identity crumbled.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.
Post Comment