Mike Elko Talks Texas A&M's Growth in Year 2

After the Texas A&M Aggies lost four of five games to end the season, it might've been easy for those around the program to feel down heading into 2025. However, that's far from the case.

Across the board, there seems to be a renewed sense of optimism within the program, and it's not hard to see why. The Aggies were aggressive in improving their roster via the transfer portal, and aside from their three NFL-bound defensive linemen, most of their key players from last season return for another go around. If the cards fall the right way, this team could make some noise this season.

Of course, no one feels more optimistic about the Aggies than their head coach, Mike Elko.

Mike Elko Discusses Texas A&M's Growth Over Past Year

While speaking with the media on Tuesday, Elko described how the vibe around the program has improved compared to last year.

"I think it's a buildup. You know, I think the eve is the eve," Elko told reporters. "I think at this point, it's all just excitement and energy. The buildup, I think, is you're starting to look into, okay, like these 30 days, what do we have to do? What do we have to accomplish? How are we going to go about it? How are we going to tailor this camp format to this group?

"I just think you're working with so much more knowledge, and we've talked about that a lot this offseason, but I just think you have such a better feel for what this group is capable of, what this group needs, where it needs to get better, and so you're able to kind of really go in with a tailored plan to attack it. And then the goal of camp, obviously, is to go out and stay healthy and get all of that accomplished."

Elko especially praised the Aggies' offensive line, which features all five starters returning this season.

"Obviously, I think in terms of mindset and how they play the game, there's been a massive shift," You know, we've spoken about this a little bit, but just some of the little things. How hard we play, how we play to the whistle, are picking people up off the pile, are protecting our quarterback, are playing with energy about how we finish plays.

"Those are the things that I look at as a coach. Obviously, there's a technical component of it, and that falls a lot more into coach [Brian] Cushing's lap, but I just think we wanted the offensive line to be the heartbeat of our offense and to some degree of our team. And I think we're just getting closer and closer to doing that."

The Aggies are facing a ton of pressure this season, so Elko's optimism in the face of said pressure is more than welcome.