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.
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.
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.
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.
“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…
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Publish date : 2025-05-04 18:27:00
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