New Texas A&M Defensive Staffers Are Not Unfamiliar With Each Other

After being hired into head coach Mike Elko's 2026 defensive staff, these two Texas A&M Aggies have had years of experience before arriving in College Station.

Oct 11, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; A detail view of Texas A&M Aggies safety Bryce Anderson helmet prior to the game against the Florida Gators at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The new era of college football has coaches around the nation scrambling to build a staff even amid the thick of the College Football Playoff race. Texas A&M football, too, is no exception as both of its coordinators are set to depart at the end of the season.

With that said, head coach Mike Elko has been balancing recruiting, media, practice and even building a staff while the rest of the Aggies are in the midst of their most historic season in recent history. It was announced that A&M would internally promote associate head coach for defense Lyle Hemphill up to the defensive coordinator role while former Rutgers co-DC Zach Sparber was hired to the defensive staff this afternoon.

Though spending a year apart this past season, Hemphill and Sparber are quite familiar with each other, as their time with the Aggies will mark the third time in their careers that they have worked together on a staff, starting at Duke, then James Madison and now, in College Station.

Hemphill and Sparber have worked together before. Hemphill served as the Defensive Coordinator/Nickels coach, and Sparber was the Linebackers coach at JMU in 2024. Both worked at Duke together too https://t.co/yuuwj0orJK

— Kannon Torres (@TorresKannon) December 16, 2025

Building a Winning Program

Oct 18, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko during the first quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Since his arrival in College Station, Elko has preached time and time again that building a championship program is more than just bringing in the right players, but also the right staff to develop them into NFL talent.

This year, the Aggies have been one of the best pass-rushing units in the country, currently sharing the national sack lead with the Oklahoma Sooners with a whopping 41 quarterbacks wrap-ups. This comes after losing three top-70 draft picks in the 2024 NFL Draft and getting just 25 sacks all season in Elko's first year.

Hemphill brings an understanding of the current A&M program and better yet, an understanding of Elko's system. He previously served his current boss at Duke, where his safety units were among the best in the country with 16 fumble recoveries through the whole defensive effort in 2023.

There in 2023, Sparber was a defensive assistant to Elko and Hemphill and helped develop their linebackers. Both Hemphill and Sparber then moved onto James Madison, where their combined efforts on the staff helped the Dukes lead the country in turnover margin with a 1.54 in 2024.

Now with superior resources and Texas-sized talent at their fingertips, Hemphill and Sparber have everything a staffer needs to keep the Aggies' strong defensive presence something the country fears for as long as the two are developing the Maroon and White defenders.