The Texas Aggies are going undefeated throughout the 2025 season. And if there’s just one word that pops up on all our social media, defining their grit, it is head coach Mike Elko’s ‘G.R.I.N.D’ philosophy. What is it about? Get to know more.

What Is the Texas A&M Grind?

The word grind in itself means sweating it out on the field. But Mike Elko’s program has incorporated that very philosophy, cementing it together with the Aggie land culture. The word is an acronym that stands for grit, relentless effort, integrity, living in the Now, and being dependable.

Ahead of the Texas matchup, Elko stressed these principles. Entering the Texas matchup undefeated, 11-0, Elko touched on his concept of G.R.I.N.D., hoping to move forward in the championship game.

“It’s going to force us to go 8-0 to get to Atlanta and it is what it is,” he said to the press. “I think in another year, certainly last year, it wouldn’t have taken the same. But that’s just how this conference goes, and so you’ve got a lot of teams playing each other, battling it out. We’re just fortunate to still be in it going into the last weekend of the year again.”

Origin and Meaning of the Texas A&M Grind in Aggie Culture

Mike Elko’s coaching philosophy centers around this acronym.

“We’re gonna have to learn to embrace the grind,” he stated, addressing the Duke community in 2021. “That is a word that gets thrown around by every student athlete that I’ve ever played with or played or coached in my tenure. We’re gonna turn it into an acronym.”

Before becoming the head coach at Aggies, Elko served as the defensive coordinator (2018-2021), helping the program achieve four consecutive bowl appearances.

In December 2021, he made a leap to Duke in the capacity of head coach and posted impressive results. The defensive unit, which gave up 120.9 yards per game, along with 10 touchdowns, was the only program in the ACC to allow 10 or fewer rushing touchdowns. That very year, he received the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year honor.

“The beauty of these five pillars is that they require zero talent,” he said. “There’s no level of excellence that you need in your athleticism; it’s simply a mindset. It’s a mindset that we have to change. It demands us to make a choice that we will not settle for anything else but excellence in anything we do. Once we truly understand that and truly embrace these five pillars, success will follow, and success will follow on the field.”

Upon joining the Blue Devils, he emphasized the very principles that had led to fruitful results over the years, which, to date, have made the Aggies an 11-1 program in the 2025 season.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Texas A&M had a fresh paint job on Kyle Field. When fans arrived at the stadium for the season opener against Notre Dame, they witnessed an exciting addition. Along with the “Home of the 12th MAN” stripe painted on either side of the field, they also noticed the acronym G.R.I.N.D. parallel to it, painted with white color on maroon stripes.

It’s no longer just a word that gets tossed out in locker rooms, but rather a mindset seeped into the very fabric of College Station.

How Texas A&M Students and Athletes Use the Term “Grind”

The term G.R.I.N.D has become a part of the Aggies’ identity. The acronym is printed on the t-shirts in the locker room. Students, players, and coaches alike. Much like the Aggies’ lexicon that includes ‘Gig Em’, ‘Horse Laugh ‘, ‘Good Bull’, and other terms, the word G.R.I.N.D. has become a part of the Texas A&M terminology.

The social media team often frames its feed around it. The photographs feature athletes in live action, with the Texas A&M logo prominently displayed in the background. And the captions summing up the whole narrative.

In October, Texas A&M’s social media team posted a carousel featuring practice reps at Kyle Field. With the athletes draped in maroon and white, and the Aggies’ logo framed in the backdrop. “The G.R.I.N.D is timeless in Aggieland,” the caption states.