Josh Pate believes ingredients are there for Texas A&M football to have huge first year under Mike Elko
I'm glad it's not just Texas A&M football fans who can see the vision at this point. Of course, several media outlets around the country have begun to warm to the idea that the Aggies may have something going for them this year, but not many are willing to quite give them the benefit of the doubt yet.
Josh Pate, on the other hand, likes where the Aggies are going with Mike Elko at the helm—and he's saying what all us Aggie fans have been saying all along. What if what happened with Elko at Duke is the same thing as what happens here in College Station?
Pate contends that the Aggies could be a team that emerges that no one is expecting—or, at least, no one is talking about. They're consistently being ranked in the middle or bottom half of the SEC by the power rankings places like On3 and ESPN are putting out, but they're currently a favorite over a team that many have in the playoff in Notre Dame.
The combination of what Conner Weigman can do in a more optimized offensive scheme and the defensive personnel that the Aggies bring to the table is a tantalizing one. Of course, the stage that the Aggies will have in week 1 lends itself to A&M bursting onto the scene if they're able to take down the Irish—and at that point, if Texas A&M football ends up victorious, they won't exactly be under the radar anymore.
Mike Elko is in a good spot. I think the ceiling here is quite high for him in his first year, but I also don't think anyone will blame him if he doesn't make the playoff in his inaugural season. But the fact that the potential is there should make any Aggie fan excited.