The Texas A&M football team will hold its first of 15 spring practices Friday. Here are eight storylines surrounding the Aggies before they begin their second spring football campaign under coach Mike Elko, which will end on April 19 with the Maroon and White Game in Kyle Field.
Elko’s plan to improve the defense
Fresh off a 35-31 loss to USC in the Las Vegas Bowl last December, Elko did not mince words about his defense. He said the group “can’t defend the forward pass” and “(does) not understand how to play zone coverage” before expressing optimism about their outlook in 2025 and beyond.
“I won’t watch a defense play like this ever again,” Elko said.
A&M certainly left a lot to be desired defensively late last season, contributing heavily to its 1-4 finish. The issues were all around for the Aggies, too. The group struggled with tackling, underachieved up front, proved to be porous against the run at times and committed a glaring number of coverage busts in the secondary.
In an attempt to clean up those problems, the defensive-minded Elko will now be more involved on that side of the ball. He also hired James Madison defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill, who assumed the role of associate head coach (defense) and will collaborate with defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Jay Bateman.
With the way A&M holds limited and controlled viewing windows of its practices to the media, there might not be much to learn this spring about the new approach Elko devised. But a snapshot of the dynamic among Elko, Bateman and Hemphill should be insightful nonetheless.
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