Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko met with the media today, and as we've come to expect, there were some fireworks in his comments. It has become clear from Elko's time as head coach that he does not see or communicate about the game in the same way that the average fan does, so if you try to bring certain kinds of talking points to him, he's unafraid to slap them back out to half-court.
That is exactly what happened today in his presser. Coach Elko was asked a question by Olin Buchanan of TexAgs, who asked if LaNorris Sellers posed the same challenge this year as he did last year, given his much-reduced numbers comparatively.
Mike Elko's response shows the fire with which he is approaching his team this week as they prepare for the Gamecocks. He's not about to let this team forget what they faced last year at the hands of Shane Beamer's crew, and Sellers in particular.
Mike Elko won't let his team forget last year's embarrassment at LaNorris Sellers' hands
Elko's response was nothing if not emphatic: "I see the same big, physical, athletic kid that ran all over us and threw all over us last year... Our kids better see the same kid, because he absolutely lit us up last year."
It's an incontrovertible fact that Sellers is having a far worse year in 2025 than he did in 2024, but Elko is not going to let that mentality creep into his program and his building in the slightest. This team has been preaching "finish" all year, and so this is absolutely no time to let up.
The film from the South Carolina game should have been playing on repeat in defensive meeting rooms this entire offseason. The number of missed tackles and straight-up embarrassing plays that the Aggies had on that side of the ball in Columbia was stark, and it was the beginning of last year's slide.
Outside of the final game of the year, this one is probably the most personal on the schedule for this team. The Gamecocks did flat-out embarrass the Aggies, and Texas A&M is no doubt ready to do the same thing to them this season.