The Texas A&M Aggies are preparing for their first season under head coach Mike Elko following the departure of Jimbo Fisher from College Station, but expectations for their performance remain unclear.
On one hand, it's fair for the team to underperform — they're coming off a six-year tenure with a coach who completely underperformed in his final two seasons with the team and now face a tough road to recalibrate and regain momentum — but on the other hand, there's also the possibility that in their first year with Elko, the team will get back on track and perform better than expected.
If that happens, the question remains as to how sustainable that success will be — Elko and the Aggies could get lucky and then be back on the outside looking in — or they could capitalize on their early success to build a winning product, but that remains to be seen.
But one analyst sees the former as more obvious.
“You're going to laugh at my expectations for Texas A&M because their expectations are higher than most other teams,” Greg McElroy said. “You look at their roster and their organization and you see how Mike Elko organized Duke and how they've caused problems for opposing teams the last few years. I don't think it's going to be a rebuild.”
“I think the minute he walks in the door he's going to be walking into a pretty good situation.”
With Connor Weigman at the helm and a strong corps of receivers backing him up, the Aggies should boast a strong offense next season. Defensively, with a new coordinator and many returning weapons, the Aggies' chances will be high if they can find cohesion quickly.
That, combined with the broad pool of College Football Playoff-qualifying teams, could give Texas A&M a chance to jump right into the competition and prove itself: Texas A&M and Elko.
“When you look at their schedule, you see it's a lot more manageable than you'd think,” McElroy added. “10-2 is a great season and will put them in the running for a playoff spot. I think it's going to be a great year for Texas A&M and I think they can make it happen.”
Whether they can compete right away under Coach Elko is still a big “if,” but it's not impossible given the resources the Aggies boast and what Coach Elko accomplished in his short tenure at Duke. The question is just whether they can make the most of those resources.
That can make a big difference.
