As the Texas A&M Aggies head into Year 2 under head coach Mike Elko, it seems the expectations are rising. That is despite a disappointing finish to his first season, where the Aggies lost four of their final five games.
Yet, after a productive offseason where Texas A&M has garnered praise from the national media as they filled holes on their roster via the transfer portal in addition to signing the nation's No. 9 ranked recruiting class, there is a narrative building that the Aggies' season-opening game versus Notre Dame is a "must-win."
Gigem 247's Jeff Tarpley is a believer in the notion that the Aggies' trip to South Bend, Indiana, is a "must-win" as he believes it is time the athletic department and its donors see a return on investment.
"I talked about this last year a little bit in terms of the fact that that if they gave your predecessor 76 million to go away and you come a lot cheaper than that, there's going to be more pressure on you to perform right away," Tarpley said during a recent appearance on ESPN Central Texas radio. "It didn't help that it was Elko's first game ever and so A&M didn't have the benefit of either him or his players learning on the job in preseason. But there is going to be even more pressure now since they lost to this same Notre Dame last year to open the season, and they went one and four down the stretch this year."
Tarpley even went as far as to compare Elko's situation heading into this coming season to Marcus Freeman's last year with Notre Dame. The 39-year-old head coach inherited the program from Brian Kelly, who took the Irish as far as an appearance in a national championship game over his 11-year tenure.
Although Freeman got off to a solid start as he won 19 games in his first two seasons with the Irish, there was pressure building for him to take them to that next level of making the College Football Playoff.
However, there is a key difference between the two. According to Tarpley, Elko is now facing similar pressure heading into just his second season in charge of the Aggies. No, it is not job pressure, rather just competitive pressure, as the Aggies are still paying Jimbo Fisher to not be on the sidelines on top of the cost it takes to build a talented roster.
Opening a season on the road is never easy, especially when having to make the trip a potentially hostile enviroment like South Bend. But it is those type of games, where Texas A&M is facing another top-25 ranked team that Elko will be expected to deliver wins against.
Especially so if the goal is make the College Football Playoff, then a season-opening win over the Irish could be an early showcase win for the Aggies on their path to securing a top-12 seed.
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