Veteran DB for Texas A&M football, former portal entry, shares what made him return

Tyreek Chappell credits Texas A&M football head man Mike Elko with decision to return to Aggies

Of all the portal pickups that Mike Elko has had in his first year as the head man for Texas A&M football, it may be a key retention that ends up being the most impactful. Tyreek Chappell was one of many players who entered their names into the portal once Jimbo Fisher was sent packing, but ended up quietly returning to campus after the winter window wrapped up.

Chappell, along with Chase Bisontis, are the only players who ended up returning after putting their names out as transfers. It seems like the coaching staff chased hard after both of these guys to get them to come back—decisions that are working out quite well, as it turns out.

As the offensive line continues to round into shape, Bisontis figures to be a major player in the position group. And though he's in a new role in the defensive backfield, Chappell is reportedly slotted to receive a major share of the snaps as well.

Elko and his staff have been all about finding value, and it looks like their investment in these two has paid off. Chappell, during his media availability on Saturday, spoke about why he ended up returning.

"Once Elko got the job back, I already knew I was going to come back, because Elko, that's my guy," the veteran SEC DB said. "He was the DC in my freshman year, and I made All-American. Once he got the job, I was like, 'yeah, I'm coming back.'"

This speaks to the impact that Elko's hire, specifically, had on the roster. As I've written about several times on here, the move—which almost didn't happen, thanks to Ross Bjork—is proving more and more to be a home run.

Chappell also had some interesting comments that shed light on Elko's strategy to form this Texas A&M football squad as a coherent whole, despite a high amount of roster turnover: an emphasis on team bonding.

"It was the team bonding. Elko made sure we did a lot of team bonding, like we got a chance to know everybody," Chappell said. In a world where the transfer portal reigns supreme, you have to have a strategy like this to keep a team together—and it's encouraging to hear that Elko is just as organized on that front as he is in everything else.

It sounds like the DB room in particular—one of the deepest on the whole team—is developing quite the rapport. Chappell positvely lit up when talking about his teammates in the position group: "BJ [Mayes], Will [Lee], Dezz [Ricks], J-Hill [Jaydon Hill]... every time at practice, we [all say] 'you can't allow that guy to catch that ball, because if you do, you're gonna do ten push-ups.' So we all got that vibe, relationship."

That sounds like a group of guys pushing each other to be better every single day. That's not something Texas A&M football has had in the defensive backfield for quite some time. The depth that Elko has assembled is paying off in more ways than one—and Chappell himself looks to be a very key piece thereof.