Press Conference: Elko's No. 3 Aggies host Samford for Senior Day

The following are live, paraphrased notes from the Monday afternoon media availability:

Mike Elko

• Recapping the South Carolina game. Our players of the week: DL was T.J. Searcy. OL was Chase Bisontis. KC Concepcion and Ashton Bethel-Roman's split it on offense. Defensively, it was Dalton Brooks. Special teams was Tyler White.
   
• We started OK. We had the turnover to the half with the worst football we have played in my tenure here. We were panicking and pressing. We went into halftime, and I was proud of the locker room composure. That was the first sign that we could do something.
   
• Turn our attention to Samford, an opportunity to get back to playing to our standard. It's not something we have been good enough at. It will be Senior Day with a lot of kids walking on Kyle Field for the last time.
   
• You can think back to recent seasons at games we lost that, had we won, would have changed the script of the season. It’s the ability to make the plays in those moments to win football games. That’s not really happening anywhere. That is where we are at. At the end of the day, we are going to end up facing those fourth-quarter moments, and the resilience is what will define success.
   
• That play Cashius Howell made at the end of the game is an elite-level play. We dropped him, but he made the play.
   
• The contract meant a lot to see the commitment the university had but not only to me but to the program, staff and players. When I came, we weren't in a position to create that situation. I’m thankfully to all of the people behind the scenes.
   
• It’s how we run our program. I want to value people because I believe they do a good job. I don’t want to have to come to people and say, “This school...” I think everyone agreed. Once we knew the university and athletic department felt the way they did, we were never going anywhere.
   
• The bonus structure for the assistants was married to something that I had. We got the done immediately, and that will go into effect immediately.
   
• Jared Kirkel is back to full health. We still have confidence in Randy Bond. We felt we had got into a better rhythm. We will continue to evaluate it.
   
• There are not a ton of them left that have been here all four years. There is a better mix from the 2021 class. To all of the kids who stuck it out, it is a credit to who they are as people. They endured failure. They spearheaded this revival. It’s a special group.
   
• As attention starts drifting away from the tight ends, they have gotten favorable matchups. Nate Boerkircher is a good football player.
   
• You are dealing with 18 to 21-year-olds. They are not by nature the most consistent group. When you have success, you have to understand the process it takes. If we walk away from the blueprint, it's hard to have success. It is happening more and more across the sport of football. You have to find the recipe for consistency.
   
• Marcel Reed threw 438 yards and three touchdowns to lead a comeback and a win. That should hold a lot of stock with Heisman voters. There has been a lot made of other players leading their team to victory at the end of games. I would like to see our quarterback be rewarded for it.
   
• Trey Zuhn III is what you want an Aggie to be. This place means an awful lot to him. It's awesome to see it working out for him. It's really cool when kids believe in you and make a decision to come back for another year, to see them rewarded with success.
   
• I will not comment on A&M’s NIL money in 2026 publically.
   
• You have to identify different things and identity how to bring players into your program. You recognize how they are wired and how much you are really worth as you go through it.
   
• My desk at Stony Brook was next to a bathroom. No, I didn’t envision signing an extension at Texas A&M then.
   
• Tyler Onyedim jumped out early to us as a good fit. He has grown in his ability to attack and be twitchy and explosive. That is the best second half he has played since he’s been here.
   
• Le’Veon Moss could return before the end of the regular season. Mario Craver and Rueben Owens II are “great.”
   
• You can't identify or predict the script based on how practice goes. You could prepare the same, and that game would go different every time.
   
• Me being calm and collected on the sideline is what we owe to them. We won that game six months ago because of what we did in the winter, not because of what I said at halftime. It’s not how that works. My job is to be the opposite of the moment.