Why Mike Elko Believes Texas A&M is Still Not Ready for the Ultimate Goal

The Aggies head coach made it known there’s still a long way to go.

Nov 22, 2025; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walks off the field after defeating the Samford Bulldogs 48-0 in a game at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Buvid-Imagn Images | Joseph Buvid-Imagn Images

Texas A&M football saw its promising season come to a bitter end on Saturday afternoon with a stunning loss at home in Kyle Field to the Miami Hurricanes in their first-ever College Football Playoff game. 

While the expectations for the Aggies continued to grow during the season, especially with the 11-0 start, those may have been too high at least according to the Texas A&M head coach. Mike Elko made some interesting comments postgame on where he believes his team stands and what needs to be done to get to where they need to be. 

The fans in Aggieland are rightfully devastated after it was looking like it might be a special year, but the real special times might still be ahead of them.

Pump The Breaks

Dec 20, 2025; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts during the second half of the first round game of the CFP National Playoff against the Miami Hurricanes at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

With all the hype and attention that A&M gets along with being ranked at No. 3 for a long stretch of time, the expectations skyrocketed. There is no doubt that this team in 2025 was talented and proved they can win in different ways. However, their weaknesses caught up to them. 

Elko believes they are still not a program ready to win it all. 

“We were not an elite program ready to win a national championship when we took over. We’re still not. We’re working to become it, we’re battling to become it,” Elko said. “Clearly, these last two games have shown there are areas we have to continue to grow, but that’s what this is.”

Many might believe the talent was there this season, but there were multiple issues, whether in run defense, special teams, or turnovers. 

“It’s a credit to those kids that we’ve put ourselves in this position, but we’ve got a lot of work to continue to develop this program into what ultimately it needs to become, and we’re still in the infant stages of that,” Elko said. 

According to those statements, there is a long road ahead. Finally securing a CFP berth is a great step in the right direction if this is still the infancy stages of developing the Aggies program under Elko. The improvement has been there. 

“From where this program was two years ago to where it is now, I don’t think that can be lost on people. I think it’s made massive strides,” Elko said. “There’s still another major step we have to take as a program to finish. The last two games show that. It’s a rallying cry for the guys who’re still here.”

While the mentality at A&M can be national championship or bust, that is not realistic at times. The Aggies finished the 2023 season with a 7-6 record and fired their head coach, Jimbo Fisher, due to a lack of improvement and consistent mediocrity, according to the expectations in College Station. 

Elko established a fresh culture in 2024 and they beat two top 10 opponents at Kyle Field while making the Las Vegas Bowl. The improvement that A&M was looking for clearly happened this season, but there is much more that is needed. 

“I see the direction it’s trending, 8 wins to 11 wins. We’re going to finish the season ranked, which hasn’t happened around here in a while. We’ve got to continue to make positive strides to build this program,” Elko said.