“They didn’t finish strong, but the turnaround here was remarkable. As coaches, we talked about the culture at this place really falling to rock bottom under Jimbo [Fisher]. You turn on the tape from Elko and those kids are playing harder, playing smarter. That’s coaching, but it’s culture. It’s the want-to,” said an anonymous coach about the Aggies. And That “want-to” from someone unknown is what separates winning from just surviving in the SEC. They didn’t finish strong, but something looked different in College Station. And for once, it wasn’t just about 5-star talent or another splashy NIL deal. When Texas A&M took the field last season under Mike Elko, they played with something that hadn’t been seen in years—purpose.

J.D. PicKell of On3 put it more bluntly about the Aggies’ culture. “Culture still matters. And A&M is the perfect example of that under Jimbo Fisher and the top recruiting class and all those guys transfer out and like they didn’t achieve anything and we’re all like wait, why did that happen?” The answer was hiding in plain sight—there wasn’t any real identity under Jimbo Fisher. From the outside, it felt like chaos disguised as potential. “From the outside looking in, at best, it looked disorganized and lacking direction. This coach is telling us there was a culture problem. Okay. So if you think that’s true, I mean that would check out with what we saw watching A&M play football.”

Mike Elko, who coached the Aggies’ defense from 2018 to 2021, understood what the place was missing before he even walked back through the doors. “When you talk about A&M for the future, I am believing in A&M as much as anyone else right now in college football,” PicKell continued. “When you talk about the next 5 years, I truly am.” Why? Because Elko brought the non-negotiables: toughness, clarity, and structure. He didn’t inherit a bare cupboard—A&M has never lacked talent. What it lacked was cohesion. With Elko, there’s now a spine behind the swagger, a foundation behind the fireworks.

And Elko isn’t shying away from the big picture. When asked about the playoff changes and how SEC teams stack up in the expanded field, he put it plainly: “When you are in this league and you go through the grinder of what this league really is, it’s hard to say this isn’t the most talented conference in the country.” In fact, two of last season’s top four came from the SEC, and at least one team from the league has made the top four every year over the past decade. But when Mike Elko was asked where his team has improved most since he took over? He didn’t hesitate. “All of them,” he said during spring meetings. That’s a bold claim—but not an empty one.

Texas A&M returns 16 starters, including quarterback Marcel Reed, a reloaded offensive line, and a seasoned secondary. It’s a loaded deck, and if the locker room continues to rally around Elko’s message, the results could finally match the potential. But even as the football program finds its rhythm, there’s turbulence across the athletic department.

The Aggies’ baseball team started the year ranked No. 1, then collapsed to an 11–19 SEC finish and missed the NCAA Tournament entirely. Now, new AD Trev Alberts is weighing whether to fire first-year HC Michael Earley. “I’ll have that dialogue when I return to campus,” Alberts told a group of reporters in Florida. The expectation is that Earley won’t survive the fallout.

And behind all of this looms the cost of the Fisher misfire. A $76 million buyout blunder that still handcuffs decision-making today. Alberts knows what he inherited, and he’s not sugarcoating the rebuild. Culture isn’t just about effort and chemistry anymore—it’s about fiscal discipline too. When $76 million walks out the door, the pressure to get the next hire right multiplies tenfold.

Texas A&M’s baseball blues, budgets & big decisions

Aggies AD Trev Alberts isn’t hiding from the hard truths. With less than 15 months on the job, Alberts already finds himself juggling tough questions, especially after a frustrating and underwhelming baseball season in College Station.

“I’ve had a little bit of communication with Michael, but I’d love to get back to College Station, sit down and sort of recap,” Alberts said. “Obviously we had some highs in baseball. Clearly we fell short. It was a frustrating season and disappointing on a lot of different levels.” No sugarcoating there.

And while money always plays a role, especially at a place that handed Jimbo Fisher a jaw-dropping $76 million buyout, Alberts was quick to clarify that this decision won’t be about just dollars and cents. “But I assure you, in this situation, those decisions are not being driven economically. We’ll do what we think is the best long-term interest of our baseball program and our athletic department.”

Not to mention, there’s more financial chaos coming? With revenue sharing from the House settlement looming, Alberts is practically drowning in spreadsheets—“ones that almost become obsolete by the time they’re printed out.”