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Any eavesdroppers around Texas A&M’s football complex the last two months would hear the words consistency and urgency frequently repeated.
“Last offseason, it was about finishing and making sure we finished the right way,” A&M coach Mike Elko said at a Monday press conference. “This year, it’s a little bit more about consistency and urgency. That’s been the two words that we really used a lot in the room.”
Elko hopes to see more of those qualities from the Aggies next season.
The Aggies had a stellar 11-2 campaign in 2025, but in two late losses, they needed more consistency and a greater sense of urgency.
“Our highs were high enough to win the national championship,” Elko said at a Monday press conference. “When we were at our best, we were as good as anybody in the country.
“We did not have the ability to be there all the time. That’s just where we came up short. We just were not able to hit those marks consistently all the time.
“Certainly down the stretch in the last two games, when we needed it, we weren’t able to.”
“When we were at our best, we were as good as anybody in the country. We did not have the ability to be there all the time. That’s just where we came up short. We just were not able to hit those marks consistently all the time.”
- Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko
The Aggies came up short when it mattered most. They fell to Texas 27-17 in the regular-season finale. The loss prevented A&M from playing for the Southeastern Conference championship.
Then, A&M lost to Miami, 10-3, in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Miami then advanced all the way to the national championship game.
A&M's late-season struggles were reflected in the play of quarterback Marcel Reed.
Reed was fifth in the SEC last season with 3,362 yards of total offense. He passed for 3,169 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also rushed for 493 yards and six touchdowns.
However, in the final two games, he passed for just 180 yards and rushed for 71 vs. Texas. He passed for 237 and rushed for 27 vs. Miami. He threw four interceptions and no touchdown passes in those two games.
“I think there were times you saw him play quarterback at an elite level, and there were times he didn’t,” Elko said. “I think how we get him to be urgent and consistent in his performance, week in and week out … that’s the next step for him and everybody in our program.”
Brian Jones
Marcel Reed has thrown for 5,407 yards and rushed for 1,085 with 55 total touchdowns in 27 career games.
Reed will be back on the field working to take the step when A&M begins spring football on March 20.
There will be a lot of new feet striving to take the next steps, too.
The Aggies must replace a plethora of high-level talent. Thirteen players — the most in program history — have been invited to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine, which takes place from Feb. 23 to March 2.
Consequently, A&M is projected to have its highest number of players selected in the NFL Draft since 1976, when 10 Aggies were selected over 14 rounds.
“We talked a lot about that being the mark for this program — needing to have more NFL guys,” Elko said. “We spend a lot of time talking about high school rankings and star and this, that and the other, but at the end of the day, for us to be the program we want to be, we’ve got to be a team that’s consistently producing NFL football players because that means we have some of the most talented football players in the country playing for us at the end of their career.”
Elko is a firm believer that a high number of NFL Draft choices indicates the strength of a team.
Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
An All-American, KC Concepcion amassed 919 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns in his only season as an Aggie. He is now projected as a first-round draft pick.
However, the overall strength of a program requires multiple years with a high number of picks.
“The next step of being a really good program is that’s got to be every year,” Elko said. “If you look around the country at the teams that are really good consistently, that’s the markers.
“They all leave, and then the next wave steps up, right? So that at this time next year, we’re talking about double-digit kids at the combine. Potentially double-digit kids getting drafted.
“That’s the need for kids to step up, fill roles. That’s why you have to go out and get some older guys from the portal. Obviously, we lost a lot of talented players, and for us to be the team we want to be next year, there’s got to be a lot of development this offseason.”
A&M has brought in seven offensive and 10 defensive players through the transfer portal. There are also 25 freshmen (12 offense, 13 defense) enrolling early.
They will join a roster that includes six veterans on offense and six on defense with starting experience.
Last year, Elko predicted A&M would have 10 players drafted. Two of those players were receiver KC Concepcion and defensive lineman Tyler Onyedim, who were transfers in 2025.
Elko won’t make a similar prediction for this year’s roster. Not yet, anyway.
“A lot of those conversions happened during fall camp last year,” he said. “We had seen them play ball. We had seen what kind of mental toughness they had. What type of mental capacity they had in the game of football.
“We’ve got guys that, obviously, we see a path to double digits, but I’m nowhere close to being able to say what we’re going to be doing.”
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