Texas A&M HC Mike Elko Reveals 'Biggest Lesson Learned' After First Season

Mike Elko's first year as the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies was one for the ages.

A close loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at home gave way to a thrilling seven-game winning streak for the team, with statement wins over teams such as Missouri and LSU.

And then came the month of November.

"We Had Never Been the Hunted"

Of course, the month seeing the team go from undefeated in the SEC to barely even in playoff contention, with a loss to the Texas Longhorns in the season finale not only squashing their SEC Championship hopes, but also their College Football Playoff hopes as well.

With the roller coaster first year, the Aggie coach gave his thoughts on the experience, believing it will help his team become better in the future as they continue to be contenders.

"I think you have to go through some of that sometimes," Elko said at SEC Media Days. "As painful as it is, as it was for us and our fans and everyone involved, we had never been in that position before. We had never been the hunted team. We had never been in November competing for an opportunity to get into Atlanta with our destiny in our own hands."

"I think you learn how you have to elevate your game in those matchups when you become that team. Going on the road in back-to-back weeks, we didn't play the football that we needed to play to finish it. It's been our mantra the entire off-season. Mantras don't turn into wins, but I do believe our kids have a really strong chip on their shoulders to change that story and finish this thing the right way."

Elko also praised the experience of his team, calling it another step into turning the Maroon and White into consistent contenders over the years.

"It feels like an experienced group in that they go about their business, they know what the expectations are, they know what it takes to go out and be successful," Elko said. "There's still another step, though. We have to take that experience and turn it into being really good football players, being technically sound, being fundamentally sound, going out and playing the game at the level that we can."

"I think experience creates knowledge, but we've got to use that knowledge through the rest of the summer, through fall camp, then really every week in the season to go out and put the football product together that it needs."

Elko and the Aggies will look to use that experience as they open up their 2025 campaign against the UTSA Roadrunners at Kyle Field in College Station.