Texas A&M Buying into Mike Elko's New Mantra Ahead of 2025 Season

The Texas A&M Aggies wrapped up their first practice of fall camp Wednesday afternoon. And while starting the right way is important, the Aggies are more focused on how they finish.

That has been the mantra of the offseason for Texas A&M: finish the drill. It was a key theme of head coach Mike Elko's speech at SEC Media Days in Atlanta, Georgia, and now it has translated to his team, where several players mentioned it during the first press conferences of camp.

"I do think there's an understanding of what it takes to get ready to play football in this conference, and, you know, and obviously, nothing is ever going to be handed to us," Elko said on Tuesday. "We learned that lesson last year. We've learned that lesson quite a bit."

Players Echo Mike Elko's Message

A few minutes after Elko left the podium, his sentiments of nothing being given were echoed by some of his leaders. Returning starting inside linebacker Scooby Williams not only acknowledged that the Aggies suffered a disappointing end to last season after a strong start, but took accountability for it.

"We started off 7-1 last year and ended up 8-5, and a lot of us feel like that was on us as a defense," Williams said.

The 7-1 start to the season was as good a start as one could have imagined. The only blemish was the season-opener versus Notre Dame, where Texas A&M fell 23-13. But even with a disappointing opener, they didn't let it beat them twice, even as starting quarterback Conner Weigman missed three games due to injury.

Following a come-from-behind win at home against LSU, where Marcel Reed's insertion as the quarterback in the third quarter propelled the Aggies to victory, they entered November as the SEC's No. 1 team. The only one who was left with an unblemished conference record.

That was until the following Saturday, when a 44-20 loss to South Carolina marked the start of a five-game stretch in which the Aggies won just one game. That one is at home against New Mexico State. Outside of that game, the Aggies couldn't find a way to clinch their spot in the SEC Championship game.

Yet, as Elko spoke about in Atlanta, that failure could ultimately work in Texas A&M's favor going forward.

"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," Elko said in Atlanta. "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."