It’s almost halfway through the college football season, and it is finally starting to look like the Fightin’ Texas Aggies have become one of the top teams in the country. This may sound a little bit premature since conference play has just started, but this year might finally be the Year of the Aggie.
To be fair, nobody saw this coming. Not even my grandma, one of the most passionate Aggie fans I know, had high hopes for this season, and for good reason.
The Aggies were coming off some of their worst years in program history. The offense was broken and dysfunctional, with former head coach Jimbo Fisher calling the plays.
On the other side of the ball, the defense was not terrible, but certainly not good, for a 7-5 team that lost the Texas Bowl to Oklahoma State.
However, Texas A&M’s surprising turn-around can most likely be attributed to their stellar additions throughout the offseason in the transfer portal, coaching, and even recruiting.
Two-thirds of the way through a disappointing 2023-2024 season, Texas A&M fired stumbling and bumbling head coach Jimbo Fisher and gave him an absurd $70 million just to not coach for the Aggies.
In turn, they replaced him with former Aggie defensive coordinator Mike Elko, a green and untested head coach who managed to revive a lackluster Duke program and turned them into a formidable football school in just two years.
Before Duke, however, Elko was one the best defensive-minded coordinators A&M football had seen in decades.
As soon as Elko arrived on campus, the atmosphere transformed. While the football team appeared to stay the same, Elko’s new coaching additions significantly improved the team.
Collin Klein and Jay Bateman, offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, replaced the less efficient coordinators before them and began to develop the team fundamentally into a powerhouse of a program.
Even newly-added strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffit derailed the plague of injuries affecting the Aggies early in the season and kept the players on the field.
In terms of transfers, the Aggies managed to pluck some of the best players in the country straight out of the portal.
A few months into the football season, transfer portal addendums have contributed heavily on both sides of the ball. Offensively, wide receiver transfers Jabre Barber (Troy) and Cyrus Allen (Louisiana Tech) have combined for over 270 yards and 22 catches over just six games.
On defense, the transfers have stepped up and significantly impacted Aggieland.
Former Bryan High football star and defensive end Nic Scourton has been a dominating force on the defensive line and looks like everything a first-round NFL draft pick should be. A transfer from Purdue, the Bryan native has had seventeen tackles, a forced fumble, and 4.5 sacks in six games alone.
Other pivotal defensive transfers who have had good seasons so far include cornerbacks Will ‘The Blanket’ Lee III and Marcus Ratcliff, linebacker Scooby Williams, and Cashius Howell.
Ratcliff, a freshman who transferred from San Diego State, has already had three interceptions and a dozen tackles in just six games. The offense and defense have remarkably improved in terms of production from last year because of Elko’s success in the transfer portal.
Another major factor contributing to the Aggies’ recent success is the players from the 2023 recruitment class.
One of the main reasons people underestimate the value of the 2023 class this season is that freshmen on other college teams have been performing admirably and better than the Aggie’s freshmen. Still, this doesn’t mean that they have not been doing well.
Freshman Terry Bussey, one of the highest recruits in the country at the time, has been performing for the Aggies as a do-it-all player. He has five receptions for 86 yards, 80 rushing yards, a touchdown, and 64 return yards on kick-offs.
Freshmen on defense have played minor yet contributing roles in the defensive schematic. Safety Myles Davis, linebacker Jordan Lockhart, and defensive lineman Kendall Jackson have significantly impacted the defense and made multiple great plays.
While it is unlikely that the Aggies can compete with other top-tier college teams like Texas or Georgia yet, the program seems to have fundamentally improved through smart coaching moves, recruitment additions, and transfer portal embellishments.
