Mike Elko shares what he learned from late-season collapse in 2024
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Mike Elko had Texas A&M positioned for a potential run at a College Football Playoff berth in 2024, as the Aggies shook off an opening-season loss to Notre Dame by putting together a 7-game winning streak capped by a 38-23 win against then-No. 8 LSU.
Then the South Carolina game happened.
The Aggies did recover from that loss by beating New Mexico State, but a three-game losing streak to end the season — including the Las Vegas Bowl against USC — put a damper on what looked at one point to be a promising campaign. Heading into his second year in College Station, Elko discussed what went wrong in Year 1.
“I think going on the road back to back after that LSU win, we just didn’t elevate the right way,” Elko said at SEC Media Days on Thursday. “So I think how you prepare, how you prepare the team, the things that you do to get them ready to maybe get off to a faster star in those types of moments, those types of games, I think it all matters.”
Elko’s objective in 2025 is to put himself, and his team, in a position to learn from what went wrong at the end of 2024.
“If you do it the right way, you learn and you grow and you come back a better coach and a better team, more ready to handle those types of situations in the future,” he said.
Texas A&M opens its season against UTSA on August 30.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
