It is no secret that the Texas A&M Aggies‘ 2024 season ended in a major disappointment.
After starting 7-1 with wins over a top-10 Missouri and LSU teams, the wheels fell off for head coach Mike Elko and company, with the Aggies dropping four of their last five games, including a blown three-score lead to the USC Trojans in the Las Vegas Bowl.
However, despite that harsh end to the year, there is one thing that the Aggies have undoubtedly changed for the better within their program – the culture.
Is that a bit of a cliche excuse to help lessen the blow of a frustrating season? To some programs perhaps. But considering where the Aggies program was from a cultural standpoint before the arrival of Elko, the importance of those changes and what they learned cannot be overstated.
We learned how to become accountable,” Elko said. “We learned how to care for each other. We learned how to practice hard. We learned what work ethic looks like. None of those things existed in this program when I got here – not one of them. We had kids on the football team not at the bowl game last year. That is where we were when I took over.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean the end of the season wasn’t frustrating for the program, or for the fans.
To go from controlling your own destiny for a berth in the SEC Championship and the College Football Playoff, to getting dominated by your arch-rival and blowing a big lead in your bowl game is a jarring turn of events.
But changing the culture was just step one for the Aggies. In fact, it is arguably the hardest part.
With that now changed, Elko and the program can now focus on improving the roster and getting better as a football team – from both a fundamental standpoint and a talent standpoint.
“What we did not do was get good enough at football, and that is ultimately my responsibility. We are fundamentally not good enough. We are just not good enough right now,” Elko said. “The challenge is, when we get back here in January, everything has to get turned up. We are now where we need to be from a culture standpoint. Now we have to become a good football program. That is the next step that we have to take.”
Fortunately, with a talented staff of coaches, a successful recruiting class and an impact transfer haul, the Aggies seem to be on a path to doing just that.
