Texas A&M to hire SEC tight ends coach to same position, per report
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Texas A&M’s top focus right now is preparing to beat Miami in the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20 in College Station.
But while the 7th-seeded Aggies have both eyes on the 10th-seeded Hurricanes, they have coaching staff holes to fill going forward, and on Wednesday morning On3 reported that Texas A&M has filled a hole at tight ends coach. With current Aggies tight ends coach Christian Ellsworth heading to Kansas State to coach under new Wildcats head man Collin Klein, Texas A&M is hiring Kentucky tight ends coach Derek Shay to fill Ellsworth’s spot, according to the On3 report.
Klein was introduced last Friday as the next head coach at his alma mater, but he is expected to stay with the Aggies throughout this upcoming Playoff run, however long it lasts, of course. But when the 2026 season dawns, Klein will be back at Kansas State, where he played and was a longtime assistant coach. And Ellsworth will now reportedly be there with Klein, who has been the Aggies’ offensive coordinator for the past 2 seasons.
Shay would be continuing a long coaching journey in the SEC by landing at Texas A&M in 2026. He was also part of the coaching staffs at LSU and Mizzou in addition to his time at Kentucky.
So, this would be Shay’s 4th SEC school already in his coaching life, as he is reportedly set to head to College Station, where there is still business to take care of for the 2025 season, starting in a little over a week.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
