Texas A&M’s 2025 recruiting class is nearly wrapped up after signing 24 prospects, led by a pair of late five-star additions in offensive tackle Lamont Rogers and wide receiver Jerome Myles. Finishing with a top 10-ranked class (9th), Elko and his staff are now focused on adding veteran talent from the transfer portal.
On Wednesday afternoon, after adding every prospect in the Aggies’ 2025 class put pen to paper, Texas A&M coach Mike Elko spoke to the local media for the second time since the Aggies’ season-finale loss to rival Texas, noting the versatility of the athletes that fit was the program is building.
However, regarding the current Texas-based NIL law that doesn’t allow Texas college programs to pay athletes directly, Elko was asked if that law impacted the Aggies’ 2025 recruiting class, especially if the law led to losing out on potential flips.
“NIL didn’t play a role in our inability to land anyone.”
“That was more of an internal plan than it was a lack or resources. You have to be really careful with how you manage that thing and how you manage the culture of your program.”
While rival fanbases will throw dirt on this quote, especially the Texas Longhorns, who deserve credit for landing the No. 1-ranked 2025 class (247Sports), Elko is right to prioritize the athletes who fit what he is attempting to build from a culture perspective, and not go after a recruit based on his recruiting ranking.
Elko’s most revealing quote was a message to every other program concerning potential locker room issues regarding astronomical NIL deals for true freshmen, including 2025 five-star QB Bryce Underwood’s rumors of a $10 million deal with Michigan after flipping from LSU.
“You see some insane freshmen deals.
“I would like to know how the upperclassmen in their program feel when these freshmen come in making five times more than the returning starter.”
Mike Elko is not opposed to NIL, as we saw in the Aggies’ 2024 recruiting class and several transfer portal additions, including defensive end Nic Scourton.
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