The One Thing Mike Elko Needs to See Marcel Reed Do Better at Next Season

The Texas A&M Aggies had one of their best seasons in program history in 2025. They found themselves 11-0, off to the best start in team history, and with their path in their own hands with one game remaining in the regular season.

A loss to their bitter rivals, the Texas Longhorns, though, kept them away from playing for an SEC Championship. Despite that, though, they still made the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history, before being defeated in the first round by the Miami Hurricanes.

A lot of the focus on the shortcomings was on quarterback Marcel Reed, but head coach Mike Elko believes his turnover problem at the end of the season stemmed from him being on the run the whole time, and that problem shouldn't be as big a deal in 2026.

Finding Where You're Comfortable

Texas A&M Aggies Quarterback Marcel Reed — Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) throws a pass against the Miami Hurricanes during first half of the first round game of the CFP National Playoff at Kyle Field. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Reed was electric for the Aggies last season, taking a step forward in his first full season as the starting quarterback. He finished 25th in the country in passing yards with 3,169, and tied for 19th in passing touchdowns with 25. His shortcomings, though, were his turnovers: he had 12 on the year, ranking 121st in Division One.

"I think part of it is chasing games," Elko said. "I think you want to avoid chasing games; that was certainly some of it. I think the end of the first half at South Carolina, and the end of the game at Texas, when you put yourself in positions where the quarterback feels like he has to make plays because he's chasing the game, that's never a good feeling."

Of his 12 interceptions on the season, six of them came in the final four games of the season, including the back-to-back losses to end the year. He had two during the electric comeback against the South Carolina Gamecocks, but found a way to stage a second-half return to form in the victory. In the losses to the Longhorns and the Hurricanes, though, he had two each and threw for an average of 208.5 yards per game during those contests.

"Part of it is just him again, being a little bit more comfortable visually," Elko continued on. "And seeing things, and knowing what that means. You know it's I see this, so that means I've got to do this and then my body and my feet got to work with my mechanics to deliver the ball where it's got to go."

Back with a full season under his belt and sky-high expectations after showing what he was capable of, Reed is ready to take another step forward in his career. This time, though, as the game continues to slow down for him, Elko expects those late-game situations to be more in the past, and for the Aggies to get where they want to go, they will need that from their signal-caller.