What One Thing Mike Elko Needs To Fix This Spring For Texas A&M

There isn't much Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko needs to fix come this spring.

It is still a very small sample of what the potential of this 2026-27 roster is going to look like, and a lot is still to be determined, like what positions are going to be filled by what players and what the new offense is going to look like after the departure of former offensive coordinator Collin Klein.

Elko has taken this Aggies program to new heights in his short period of time in Aggieland and has done nothing but shape his teams into one of the most premier teams in all of college football.

The leader of the program has punched a ticket to one College Football Playoff and was nearly in the SEC Championship both seasons he developed players to go to the next stage of their career.

If there was one area of emphasis that there are questions going into the spring and entering fall ball, it is what the tight ends group is going to look like, and how he can elevate that group to be the most dangerous in the nation.

Tight End Room

All three tight ends who were a part of the run in the 2025-26 season either declared for the NFL Draft or decided to transfer. Those three stars included the elite blocking techniques and reliable hands of Theo Melin Ohrstrom, Amari Niblack, and Nate Boerkircher.

Now, there are areas that Elko must help address, because there are currently no veterans in that room who have operated in the Elko system, and it will take time to build that chemistry with the Heisman-caliber quarterback, Marcel Reed.

Last season, the Aggies only produced 435 yards of offense from the tight end group between the trio, and they are going to need some red zone weapons who can block efficiently and transition into running precise routes that can punch the ball into the end zone. Between Ohrstrom, Niblack, and Boerkircher, there were also only four touchdowns, which isn’t terrible but needs to increase in the upcoming season to take the pressure off Reed’s legs.

Another thing to keep in mind is that not only did Elko lose his offensive coordinator, but he lost his tight ends coach, Christian Ellsworth, who joined Klein in Manhattan, Kansas, to coach at Kansas State, so there are going to be eyes on how the newly hired coach, Derek Shay, will fill the shoes.

Currently listed in that room are Micah Riley, Kiotti Armstrong, Houston Thomas, and Richie Anderson Ⅲ.

Arguably, one could say that Elko is a defensive mastermind, not one who necessarily operates on offense as much, but this could be the only room where one really knows what to expect.

Two years in a row now, Elko has developed the defense to be one of the best in the nation, so it’s not that side of the ball that many people should be looking into. It could be the offense and what those tight ends can do to become the leaders of men and go win a championship.

Trust Elko.

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