In the stacked arms race that is the SEC, Texas A&M is trying to go from rich-in-promise to actually-rich-in-wins. At this year’s SEC Media Days, Aggies entered with a chip on their shoulder and a No. 9 preseason power ranking behind Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, and LSU. That’s a respectable neighborhood—especially considering they’re ahead of Tennessee, Missouri, and Auburn—but some think the Aggies deserve more. Maybe even a seat at the top five table.

Mike Elko enters Year 2 in College Station with a roster that’s as deep and experienced as any he’s coached. Expectations? Let’s just say they’re somewhere between “solid season” and “New Year’s Six or bust.” But what does solid actually look like in 2025? Is 8-4 enough? Not according to Josh Pate.

On TexAgs Live, he said, “No, it needs to be better than eight and four. The caveat to that is, I mean you and I have talked about this exact scenario before—eight and four with four losses by a combined 15 points versus 9 and three with three blowouts. What signifies a better result as a program? Probably the eight and four.” The point? Wins alone don’t tell the whole story. If the Aggies go 9-3 but look unprepared or overwhelmed in big games, the shine wears off fast. Still, Pate didn’t just pull a number from a hat.

He continued, “So all we’ve basically got to fly blind in July. Yeah, you need to be nine and three. That is using preview magazine logic. That’s us looking at the depth chart, and it’s pristine. No one’s hurt.” The what-ifs are endless—injuries, timing, opponents’ misfortunes—but 9-3 is a reasonable measuring stick. “Even if 8-4, if that’s the case and the wins are backloaded, like you finish strong, it’s not happy, but it’s acceptable,” Pate said. What A&M fans don’t want is a front-loaded run that collapses under SEC weight again. Despite the heavy microscope, Mike Elko isn’t feeling the heat yet.

According to CBS Sports’ annual hot seat rankings, Elko scores a 1.67 on a 0-to-5 scale, placing him firmly in the “safe” camp. He should be. Texas A&M has brought in 13 portal transfers and invested in veteran talent to reload, not rebuild. The new-look roster isn’t a chemistry experiment; it’s calculated construction. But as always in this sport, expectations age like milk. Nine wins with momentum are progress. Eight and scattered? That’s the kind of middle ground that gets you polite applause and a sharper spotlight in Year 3. But To tactually hit that 9-win mark or beyond, Pate says it starts in the trenches.

“I think you guys would agree with me that at their best they are capable of having one of the best ground games in college football this year. So that needs to be the case,” he said. He also zeroed in on a defensive trend that A&M can exploit: “I still think defensive personnel in this sport has still not fully come back to the middle… linebackers that used to be 255 are now 215.” Translation? Texas A&M’s bruisers have a real chance to bully folks.

“If we sit A&M on the table here and it’s nothing more than a dominant ground and pound, ball control plus turnover type football team this year that plays dependable defense,” Pate added, “that’s minimum baseline stuff.” And that baseline could still carry them a long way. But if this team looks physically dominant, especially late in the year, 8-4 could earn some grace. Do it the right way, and suddenly that No. 9 SEC ranking starts to feel disrespectful.

Mike Elko takes the wheel on A&M’s defense

After an 8-5 finish in 2024, it’s clear that Texas A&M’s defense left meat on the bone, and Mike Elko knows it. The Aggies ranked 9 in the SEC in points allowed at 21.0 per game, gave up 135.2 yards on the ground, and finished a disappointing 13th in pass defense, allowing 232.2 yards through the air. For a coach who made his name as a defensive architect, those numbers don’t sit well.

“I’m involved [more with the defense] because, when something doesn’t meet the standard and you’re the leader of the program, you have two choices: Point the finger or dive in to help fix it. My choice was to dive in,” Elko said during Coach’s Night with the Dallas A&M Club on June 17. And dive in he did, bringing in a trusted former colleague, Lyle Hemphill, as associate HC for the defense. It’s not just a symbolic hire—it’s a signal that Elko wants more control and sharper execution on that side of the ball.

There’s no sugarcoating it. A&M’s defense didn’t hold up late in games, and that matters in the SEC gauntlet. As Pate noted, “Biggest key stat for A&M, and to an extent every team but A&M especially this year, is if you could just tell me like their plus-minus in one-possession games—that’s their season really.” It’s no longer just about yards and rankings. It’s about closing the door when it matters.