ATLANTA — Texas A&M football head coach Mike Elko’s entrance to SEC media days will almost certainly be less viral than his in-state rival’s, Steve Sarkisian.

Maybe that’s because the Aggies weren’t a College Football Playoff team last year, or maybe it was because event organizers played the right school fight song as Elko took the stage Thursday.

“For those of you who had ‘The Eyes of Texas’ as the song I was walking out to, you lost your bet,” Elko said to open his media day remarks, after Sarkisian came out to the “Aggie War Hymn” earlier in the week.

His counterpart at Missouri couldn’t help but toss a joke out as well: “Well, we got the right fight song; that’s … improvement,” Eli Drinkwitz told assembled media Thursday.

Although the ill-timed playing of the Aggies’ anthem brought humor this week, Elko understands that the challenge ahead for him and his program is no laughing matter. A&M ended the year 1-4 after opening with a 7-1 record, missing out on the SEC championship game and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Here’s what was said as the Aggies closed out SEC media days this week:

Why the Elkos stayed home this offseason

Since Nov. 27, 2023, when Elko was hired as A&M head coach, he has been working to build the program to a championship standard. That work affected his personal life a bit. Elko, 47, mentioned at the lectern that he and his wife didn’t get to take a traditional vacation this summer. He made a public promise to make it up to her next year.

“I heard all the coaches before me come up and talk about the great summers they had. Mine got to spend the summer packing,” Elko said. “To my wife, another apology, and I owe her a huge vacation next summer. She’s the rock of our family.”

As he and his staff begin their second year in College Station, confidence and comfort seem to be growing for everyone involved.

“There’s a lot of guesswork that goes into Year 1. You’ve never really been through it with those guys. And so, you may think they’re responding a certain way, but you don’t really know,” Elko said. “You maybe thinking this is the right way to message things, but you don’t really know. I think when you go into Year 2, you just have such a better feel for the personalities of everyone in the building.”

Some of the personalities Elko referenced include the three he chose to bring with him to SEC media day. Linebacker Taurean York is in his second season as a captain and attended his second media day in a row. Alongside York were Ar’maj Reed-Adams, another captain, and fellow senior Will Lee III.

The trio was given the responsibility of representing the program while echoing the belief that the Aggies are heading in the right direction.

“(York) really is an exceptional linebacker in every aspect of the game. He’s a tremendous leader,” Elko said. “He’s one of the kids that will go down as one of the great leaders in the history of Texas A&M football.”

Elko described Reed-Adams as someone who “really let his voice stand out” last season and called Lee their “best cover guy” and someone he sees developing into an even “better version of himself” in 2025.

Elevating the culture at Texas A&M

While the Aggies will be evaluated based on their on-field performance, Elko is firm on recruiting the right players and guiding the program to new heights properly.

“I think people sometimes get so lost in the X’s and O’s and the play-calling that they lose sight of what that culture can really do to impact and affect our program,” Elko said. “I think as we continued into this offseason, the challenge for us has been to elevate that culture to a championship-level culture, so that we are acting in our lives every step along the way as champions.”

One of those players who will be called upon to help is redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed. Reed has been handed the keys to the offense and, in many ways, the keys to the team.

As the team’s starting quarterback, Reed must take on the challenge of leadership. According to Elko, he has done just that.

“(Reed) did not go into (last year) as the starter, and that makes it really challenging to step into the huddle as a leader,” Elko said. “He’s a leader in his own way as he now steps into being the face of our program and the quarterback of our program.”

The country will see how well that culture has been built when Texas A&M starts its regular season Aug. 30 versus UTSA before conference play begins Sept. 27 against Auburn.

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