Mike Elko is the Texas A&M favorite whose departure reigned in dark clouds over the Jimbo Fisher era.  So much so that the program had to literally throw away money to buy him out for $77.5 million. The aftereffects of which are felt to this day. Mike Elko came in again after Fisher’s departure with high hopes and has finished his first season with an 8-5 record. Not world-class, but rebuilding seems to be starting somewhere. And that rebuild has the potential to shake the foundations of other SEC powerhouses.

But, first things first. Were there some problems with the Aggies’ 2024 season? Yes. Can Aggies fix all those and roll back their glory days? It’s nothing but a table thumping yes! Take, for example, their 2025 class. They have raked in 25 freshmen prospects and 14 transfers; that itself screams ‘seriousness. Their transfers, too, look well-polished and promising with the likes of Micah Hudson joining from Texas Tech. Their schedule? Well, that’s where things get edgy.

They haven’t got the most difficult schedule in their conference, but it isn’t easy, either. The Aggies will open their season against the UTSA Roadrunners at Kyle Field, which will be a cakewalk. After that, they are slated to face Utah State, which again looks not too difficult. But things start to shape up from here. They will then face Notre Dame on the road, then Auburn at home, followed by tough games against Florida, LSU(on the road),  South Carolina, and the Longhorns on the road. The schedule looks power-packed, and Mike Elko has got a challenge on his hands. But there’s still a catch.

Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman of On3 Sports were discussing how the Aggies could disrupt the high hopes of some of the SEC’s football programs. “If Texas A&M turned out to be a 10-win team, then, as you put it, there’s a lot of teams in dire situations in the SEC that are gonna have to run into them a lot of times on the road. I mean, if you look at this right here, teams that are having pretty important Seasons; offer Auburn they get them at home, Florida, they get them at home LSU again, South Carolina, like their entire schedule is kind of just like,  It’s like a land mine and you don’t know whether it’s going to go off or not. But if it goes off and an A&M wins 10 games this year, there’s going to be a lot of teams in the SEC in the world that would hurt“.

10 wins for the Aggies? That sounds unreasonable at first glance, right? Well, they have got the players and coaches, too, to back up that claim. Amari Niblack, the tight end who transferred from the Longhorns, promises to be the game changer. This will also be crucial since A&M has lately been under-utilising its tight end spots. Then there’s Solomon Williams, the D-line player who will enter his second season for the Aggies. Sure, he didn’t appear in a lot of games in the previous season, but this season, it’s looking to be his year. Daymion Sanford, the linebacker, who appeared in all games last season, will be joining the starters Scooby Williams and Taurean York. Then there’s Micah Hudson, who has the potential to be the leader in the WR room.

So, all in all, things aren’t that bad for Aggies. Surely the 4 teams, i.e., Auburn, Florida, LSU, and South Carolina, will face the heat of the Aggies, as one slip-up could mean disaster for the whole season. Moving on, it seems Mike Elko has another problem in the QB room

Former Texas A&M’s dark-horse QB makes Mike Elko regret?

Yes, we are talking about the former 5-star prospect quarterback Conner Weigman, who has joined Houston on transfer. This is a player who promised a lot in the backup room and had a PFF grade ranking him fourth in the 2023 season. The player lost his potential starting spot when Jimbo Fisher was sacked due to injuries that marred the better part of his days at the Aggies. But now he is waiting to come roaring back.

He said in a recent statement about how he faced the difficulties of sitting on the sidelines. “I love being out with my guys. I just love it. Not being out there was tough”.  He said he is excited to play again, ” I’m just getting back to the way I know I can play. That top quarterback in the class, I’m going to prove it this year”. This will be something that will hurt Mike Elko since the battle between Marcel Reed and Weigman for the QB1 spot could have surely brought out the best of both players. It will all compound to Aggies having that 10-win season that they were looking for. The verdict?

The QB room at the Aggies looks quite unresolved as of now. They have added Jacob Zeno from UAB, with impressive stats of garnering 3,100 yards in the 2023 season. However, with both Jaylen Henderson and Conner Weigman transferring, it seems they have something to figure out in the depth room.