Mike Elko Reveals Plans For New Aggies Five-Star Signee Terry Bussey
The Texas A&M Aggies secured their most critical recruit of the 2024 cycle on Wednesday morning, signing five-star Timpson (TX) athlete Terry Bussey to his national letter of intent.
And right from the jump, Aggies head coach Mike Elko already has plans in mind for his new young star and knows exactly where he is going to start his career in terms of position.
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"Terry Bussey, we're going to call him an athlete. When you look at him on tape, he's an elite athlete... There's not a whole lot this kid can't do," Elko said. "He's going to come in as a corner for sure, but will certainly have a role with the ball in his hands as a return game, as an offensive specialist in some certain situations."
The Aggies nearly missed out on Bussey as well, after the LSU Tigers made a serious push for his signature over the last few weeks - a connection that intensified after the firing of Jimbo Fisher in November.
Elko, however, was able to hold off the Tigers, and in doing so, secured the most important recruit of his head coaching career to date.
"A lot," Elko said. 'When you're talking about a kid that's coveted by the entire country that I didn't meet until I got here, committed or not committed, it takes a lot." "(Many different people) Understood the priority he was and how important it was to get him signed as part of this class."
Bussey, of course, was one of the most dynamic players in the nation on both sides of the ball over his four years with Timpson, amassing 1,342 yards from scrimmage and 169 touchdowns on offense, as well as 270 tackles, 24 interceptions (four of which he took back for touchdowns), two forced fumbles, and five touchdowns on special teams.
And Elko realizes that in order to maximize his impact, they are going to have to find ways to get the ball in his hands.
"Both ways all of the time is hard, but when you have a kid that's as dynamic as he is, you have to find ways for him to impact the football game," Elko said. "Some of that will be in the return game, in spot ways on offense, and we anticipate a lot that being on defense."
With all that said, Elko is also keenly aware of the effect that expectations can have on a young player and wants to be careful about managing expectations for the young prospects.
After all, jumping from a 2A school with a stadium capacity of 2,503, to Kyle Field - which maxes out at 102,733 - will be quite the adjustment.
One way or another, the plan is for Bussey to eventually be a major contributor - whether that is immediately or down the road.
"Let's be careful a little bit. He's a really talented player. He's a really great athlete. Let's not put too much on one young man," Elko said. "We're excited about him. He's going to eventually play a big role at Texas A&M, but let's not put too much pressure on him too early."
