On Wednesday, during the open media period, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko was excited to discuss the Aggies’ consistent effort this spring, as the 32-day practice window has provided ample opportunity for competition at every postion to take place while the new transfer portal additions have begun to gain ground in just the first few practice days.
The recent news that presumed to start quarterback Conner Weigman is not quite 100% healthy after receiving surgery on his lower body injury suffered during last season’s week 4 matchup with the Auburn Tigers has taken most of the oxygen out of the room, but this isn’t really breaking news for those who have been paying attention. Weigman, barring any setbacks, will be fine come fall. Still, Elko, during an interview with SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum, noted backup quarterbacks Jaylen Henderson and Marcel Reed’s ability to take over if anything were to happen.
As straightforward as ever, Elko provided plenty of context regarding the Aggies’ spring practice efforts, which is much appreciated by those covering the team.
“Happy with and love the way our guys are working. There is definitely a need and a desire to get better each day.”
“You have a lot of confidence that growth will occur at a really rapid rate.”
“We’ve only had one padded practice so far, so we won’t draw any large conclusions on this yet, but I’m pleased about where things are.”
“We watched Taurean (York) when I was at Duke. … We fell in love with him really quickly. He had committed to Baylor, and we were in hot pursuit. We had reached the point where we thought he would come to Duke, but like 24 hours later, they offered him here, and he ended up here.”
“He has had a really good offseason. What you saw last year was a true freshman in the SEC. He has made the natural development and growth with his body this season that you’ll see an even better version of him as we set out this fall.”
“You start to figure out where that separation is as you go throughout spring. You have to be really conscious of a new system, new practice, new scheme, new everything… You never know when it’s going to click for a kid.”
“What we have in Taurean (York) is a kid that’s a budding leader, a kid that has respect of everybody in the locker room and does everything the right way.” “I don’t want to put him in the box of ‘I’m excited we have a freshman linebacker.’ I’m excited we have Taurean York.”
“It’s such a weird dynamic in college athletics in the way football transitions because you feel like you’ve accomplished so much, but it’s like, ‘Now, we get to go out and practice with our guy.'” “Everybody is excited to get out there for these 32 days and take advantage of every opportunity we have.”
“We’ll do a draft, and it’ll be a true Maroon & White Game and a true football game. We’ll play it out.” “The spring game is for the players and the fans… From the start of January, these kids put in an awful lot of work, so you want to give them the opportunity to go out and play the game they love in a format they’re comfortable in.”
“If you look at our plan to win, the No. 2 piece of that is ‘win on special teams,’ and we have a formula that we give to the guys about how to win on special teams and the impact you can have on the game in special teams.” “As the head coach, the only meeting I sit in on every single day is the special teams meeting.”
“We’ve started every practice this spring, the first period every practice has been special teams. We do it inside for organizational purposes, so the media hasn’t seen it yet.”
“I will say this, just for a public statement: I don’t think it’s going to impact things the way everybody thinks it will.” Elko says that he does not think helmet communication is going to eliminate the need for signaling plays or sign stealing due to the limitation of only one player wearing a helmet communication device in today’s no-huddle climate.
“We’ve always tried to educate young men on decisions and choices, and gambling has always been a piece of it. … Trying to educate them on the pitfalls of it and how it can take you down some dark roads in life.”
“Recently, that has been enhanced a little bit.”