Marcel Reed's Heisman hopes are climbing by the week, and it was time that his head coach finally got the chance to address it.
Mike Elko spoke to the media at the 'Houston TD Club' during the bye week. Reed had one of the biggest question marks heading into the season, thanks to the SEC media giving him the business. He was continously ranked among the middle to even the lower tier of quarterbacks over the summer.
The disrespect by Reed got way out of hand, and it was great of Elko to address that while he had the opportunity, especially after a huge, historic win.
Elko: 'A lot of people missed' Reed's growth this offseason
Mike Elko at the @HoustonTDClub: "The reality is Marcel Reed was a top ten guy in QBR and nobody talked about it. For whatever reason the narrative created about him was that he was just a running quarterback, but he's never just been that. He got so much better last year…
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) September 17, 2025
This was definitely a jab at the media, in particular, the SEC talking heads for undermining Reed's abilities this season. Georgia fans with Gunner Stockton and Tennessee fans with Joey Aguilar would probably say the same, as those were two more quarterbacks who were highly underrated at points just like Reed.
Elko made sure to touch on every critique here, as the media just saw Reed as a 'running quarterback.' Reed has changed that completely, as he uses that running to insert into his scrambling ability into the mix.
Aggies fans all knew that Reed had the mechanics to take his game to the next level. SEC fans are probably just stunned at his rapid progression. If only the SEC media took the time to highlight Reed as much as Arch Manning, but since he's a Manning, what do you expect? Manning has the amazing Texas defense behind him, but he has really yet to prove who he is on his own.
This is a great job by Elko defending his quarterback in every way possible. Aggies fans love it, and we can't wait to see what Marcel does the rest of the way.