Photo by: Evan Pilat/Texas A&M Athletics
Mike Elko Press Conference Quotes: Mississippi State
Sep 29, 2025 | Football
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION--Texas A&M football coach Mike Elko met with the media on Monday in his latest weekly press conference.
The sixth-ranked Aggies (4-0, 1-0) continue their homestand when they host Mississippi State (4-1, 0-1) under the lights for Operation Blackout. Kickoff on the SEC Network is set for 6:30 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game along the Texas A&M Sports Network (1620 AM/94.5 FM locally) or worldwide inside the 12th Man Mobile App or at 12thman.com.
Opening Statement:
"I just want to start by acknowledging former First Lady of Texas A&M Football, Reveille IX, who passed away recently. She served as the active mascot from 2015 to 2021 and I'm obviously very aware of how much that means, not only to the football program, but to the University. I would be remiss to not start with that.
"Excited for this week. Blackout is back at Kyle Field. Love for the fans to come out, donning the all black, like we did last year. I thought we created an unbelievable atmosphere at Kyle Field last year when we did that. So we wanted to repeat that. Looking forward to that. I kind of wore the all black today to try to set that off the right way.
"Just looking back on Auburn, starting with players of the week. Scout team offense was Luke Braden. On defense it was Tommy Colligan. And special teams player of the week was Jesse Chukwu. Lineman of the week offensively went with Demetrious Crownover. I thought that was his most complete game since we've been here. I thought he played really physical in the run game. Did a really good job in the protection. He was one of the few kids who I didn't agree with the penalty, and so there weren't a lot of options if you eliminated penalty guys on the offensive line. But I thought he played a really, really good game. Defensively, DJ Hicks continues to make really big plays. I thought that sack he had in the first quarter on the short field was one of the biggest plays in the game, so it was great to see him do that.
"Our players of the week…offensively, obviously Le'Veon Moss. I thought he carried the load for us on offense, had a really, really good day running the football against a really strong rushing defense. Defensively was Taurean York. Just made a ton of key big plays throughout the course of that game, and felt like every time we needed one he was the one making it. And then our special teams player of the week, and this one deserves a little bit of a shout out, was Jarred Kerr. I just think anytime we can acknowledge kids in this program who are giving everything they have for Texas A&M football, maybe not exactly in the role that they hoped for. Jared is a 4th-year player, would love to be the starting safety and in a lot of programs probably could be the starting safety. He has decided to stick it out with us, to be an Aggie and to contribute. And he does a really phenomenal job playing for us on all four units.
"When we looked at the film, I think it played out exactly like we talked about. Defensively we played really, really well. I don't think there were a lot of things when you went back and watched the tape, where you said, 'uh oh'. Last year, there were times where you would watch the tape, and there'd be four, five, six plays where you were like, oh, thank God they didn't find him or they didn't see him. The tape was clean. I thought we did a really, really good job leveraging and defending them. I think that showed in the stats and the results. Was really proud of how we played the fourth quarter. When they got the score and got it down to 13-10, they never got another first down. I thought that was just a tribute to the character of the team and the group. So that was exciting.
"Offensively, we moved the ball well. We were efficient. We made 15 explosive plays. We threw the ball well. We were 15-of-22. We just had too many penalties, and penalties kill drives. We had too many penalties kill explosive plays, kill drives, kill our rhythm and just ultimately kill our ability to score. It's a problem. It's something that we have to get fixed and addressed. It was a very, very strong point of our meetings this morning, and we won't continue to win games if we don't solve that problem. That's Auburn.
"Moving on to Mississippi State, excited to be back at home in Kyle Field, excited to play another really talented SEC football team, and I'm sure Kyle Field will be rocking Saturday night. Just excited to get back at it."
Since the first play of the second half against UTSA you guys have given up like 2.5 yards a carry. Can you reveal the reason why y'all have gotten so much better in run defense?
"So this is what I think happens. The standard reaction to poor rush defense is always the D-line isn't good enough. And sometimes that's the case, but for us that hasn't been. We are firm. We are strong against the run. We hold the point well. What we've had troubles with really since I've been here has been leveraging the football. And that has presented itself in a lot of different ways, whether that's perimeter run game, cracks on the perimeter, getting the ball outside, sometimes it's our defensive line edges not holding the edge properly. We have gotten beat to the perimeter more than probably at any point in my career as a defensive coordinator over these 15 months. It has been a constant conversation, emphasis, drill work, everything we can to fix it. I think over the last however many games we've done a little better job at that. It still reared up a little bit in the Notre Dame game, although I don't think it was quite as bad as it was a year ago against Notre Dame in allowing the breakout runs down the sideline. But if we can keep the ball inside of us, we have a shot. And I think when we do that, the run averages are what they should be. When we don't, we tend to give up the 16s, the 18s, the 40s, the 50s, and then all of a sudden you're giving up 6.5 a carry, and it looks like you have a poor run defense. That's really been the story since I got back. Again, there's a lot of things we're doing to try to fix it, but at the end of the day it's got to show up on the field. It did Saturday and hopefully it continues to do so."
It seemed like Taurean York might have had the best game of his career at A&M the other day. What does he do? What makes him different?
"Yeah, I think he's--and I've said this before--I think he's a throwback in terms of his knowledge of the game, how much he studies the game, his instincts for the game. And so his play speed is so fast and his ability to read and diagnose things is so fast. The perfect comparison, because I was here with both of them…you had Edgerrin Cooper, who probably had a little bit more natural athleticism. Um, you would watch him see plays and maybe not see him quite the fastest, but when he triggered and went, like it was like, whoa. Taurean's the other way. Taurean triggers almost sometimes before the play even unfolds. You saw that on the tight end screen. Before the tight end even knew he was running the screen, Taurean did. And he tracks him down and he gets put through the linemen, and all of a sudden, before the play can ever get going, Taurean's there. That's what he has done really, really well since I've been here. I wouldn't even say it's his best game because I think he did that a lot towards the back half of last year too, when he started to get real comfortable with the system. I think that's what he brings. That's how come he plays the way he does."
Just what have you seen from Mississippi State this year? And how do you think that Jeff Lebby's turned the team around from last year?
"Yeah, obviously it's another SEC game. They're an extremely talented team. I think Jeff is a phenomenal offensive coach. I think they do a really, really good job testing you. They'll stretch you sideline to sideline. They stretch you horizontally, they stretch you vertically. They run a spread offense, but they're really physical in how they run the football. I think that's the thing that not a lot of people talk about with that offense, is how committed they are and how much they want to run the football well. And they do that really well. One of the things as a head coach that you watch is sideline energy, sideline engagement, sideline interaction on the film, and they're an extremely energetic group. Which means they've got a lot of confidence in the program and what they're doing. I'm sure they're going to come in here and play their absolute best football Saturday night."
And has Mario Craver opened up to you about facing his former team and what it means to him?
"No, trying not to make a big deal about that. It's just another game for him."
I know third down's always been a hallmark of your defenses. Why have y'all been able to be so good this year?
"I don't know. It doesn't feel like we've been great all year, to be honest with you. Obviously we were Saturday. I think there's been times where we've been good, times where the execution maybe hasn't been what we wanted it to be. I just think it's always a down that we've put a real premium on. Everybody says that, but we emphasize it a lot. We spend a lot of time on it. I enjoy it probably more than I do any other part of the game. So maybe just personally I get a little bit more excited when it's time to come up with a third down game plan. I just think you have a little bit more flexibility and options in terms of what you can do and how you can do things. It's such a big part of the game. We talk about it from this regard…third down is literally two-thirds of the game, because you can be awful on first down, awful on second down, win on third down and you're off the field. And you could be great on first down, great on second down, and lose third down and be on the field all day. It's a huge part of the game and we try to treat it that way."
With the amount of second-year guys in your system, does it feel like you can have some more versatility in what you want to do this year as opposed to last year maybe?
"Yeah, I think so. As the guys continue to get more and more comfortable with what we're asking, what they're doing, I think we also have a better feel for who's good at what. That helps too. So it's kind of a two-way street. I think we know what everyone's skill set is, and I think they understand what we're asking of them and what the responsibility is. So we've been able to probably take things to another level."
Scooby Williams' status?
"He'll be day to day."
Going a little bit deeper into Taurean…you've had a relationship with him for a while, having had the opportunity to recruit him as well. When did you see those qualities pop up where you watch him get the defense basically set? Did you see that while you were recruiting him as well? That he's able to really keep everybody on the same page?
"I don't know that you see the football IQ to the level that you do when you have him here. I think what always stood out to me was how he played the game. We watched game film on him. We watched him play the game. And he always played the game really, really well. So sometimes production carries from level to level. And I think sometimes people get caught up in the height/weight/speed components of recruiting and what all of that looks like. For Taurean, the production has carried. The same production that he was able to create in high school is the same production he's been able to create in the SEC. And I think that's just testimony to who he is. Then when you get to get in the college environment with him, and you sit down and you spend time with him, I think that's when you start to really figure out how much of a student of the game he is, how the game kind of slows down for him and what he's able to do."
On Dezz Ricks, after this past weekend's game how have you seen his confidence continue to grow as he's progressed?
"Yeah, it's been awesome to see him mature. I think that's really what's happened. I said this at the beginning of the year, I've said this a few times throughout the offseason, we asked a lot of him last year. We were thin in the secondary. We didn't have the depth that we wanted. When we lost Jayvon Thomas for a really long time from an injury standpoint, it made it really hard. And so he carried not only a high level of stress playing corner in this league as a redshirt freshman but also the volume of snaps that we asked him to play. I think his body really wore down. We thought he was really good for the first half of the year and struggled down the stretch, and it just was really good to see him this offseason just commit to growing and developing and getting better. And then when the kid goes out and gets rewarded for it that only helps his situation."
Mississippi State's running backs last weekend combined for like 40 carries and almost 200 yards. When you see that does it kind of remind you of Notre Dame, facing a couple of running backs that are really talented but then a quarterback that can move around and throw it as well?
"Yeah, I just think systematically it's a lot different. So, yes, from a standpoint of talent, yeah, for sure. They're an extremely talented backfield. We saw that firsthand with Booth last year. He had a really good day against us last year. We didn't see the quarterback. I thought they were a more efficient offense when he was playing quarterback last year. They're certainly a more efficient offense with him at quarterback this year. It's just a different style of offense. So the plays come at you a little bit differently. I don't know that you draw that comparison to Notre Dame, you're just featuring a really talented group."
Has anything surprised you through four games this year, maybe somewhere where you're better along than you expected before the season started?
"Um, probably the defensive line. I think that was one…you never know until you know. And I think we were we were quietly hopeful. I think you knew that from some of the conversations we had. We felt like we were going against a really good SEC offensive line. We felt like we were holding our own. We felt like we would be able to rush the passer. We felt like we were going to be able to do some of those things. To see that play out, especially in the Notre Dame game and the Auburn game, I think that's probably…I don't know that I would say a complete surprise, but probably the biggest positive to take away from what we were. And then the explosive plays on offense. That was such a huge emphasis in the offseason. So for us to be able to go out and do that I think that's been really good."
You mentioned after the game about sort of the pressures that they were doing on third down that gave you guys some trouble. Was that a protection call mess up or what led do you think to some of those breakdowns?
"Some of it was just they had more than we did. They did a really good job. It was a credit to them. I don't know that we went into the game anticipating some of the looks that we got, in terms of sheer numbers. They did a good job of kind of changing some of the rhythm of how they brought some of the pressures. I thought we adjusted as the game went on and had a better feel for it as the game went on. But I think early on they sprung some things on us that maybe we weren't ready for the way we should have been. And that's on me and that's on us as a staff."
Mario Craver, his recruitment, what do you kind of remember about it and what it took to land him?
"A lot of work. Obviously, there was a little bit of a relationship with Coach (Holmon) Wiggins. Coach Wiggins obviously was at Alabama at the time that Mario was coming out of high school, so there was that level of familiarity. There was obviously a huge need on our part to get an explosive playmaker. I think that was attractive to him. We were able to get him here and get him in the boat."
You mentioned leading up to the season how much getting Tyreek Chappell back would be a boost to your secondary. Now that you're four games in, what's stood out to you the most about what he's been able to actually provide this secondary?
"Yeah, it's been good to see him get healthy. A lot of people asked about Le'Veon. Le'Veon probably got back a little bit quicker even than Tyreek did. Sometimes it plays itself out that way. I think Tyreek has still been trying to get healthy. Coming out of the bye week, that was the healthiest he's been. He had a really, really good two weeks of practice where he felt good, his knee felt good. He felt like he was able to cut and start to kind of grow and develop. And I think that showed Saturday. Saturday was probably his most complete game of the year, just from a coverage standpoint against some pretty talented receivers. What he does is he just adds an ability to play slots a lot of different ways. And I think when you have the ability to play different ways on the slot it gives you a lot of flexibility in what you can do on defense."
And then you mentioned multiple times the need to clean up the penalties. How does that practically play out during the week? Is that just classic sprints and up-downs or is there another method to that madness?
"Alright, so I'll let you guys in. I've tried all kinds of things. So today what we started was the 'Texas A&M Football Coaches Cabo Fund'. (laughter) And so what's going to happen now is every time one of our players gets a penalty, they're going to contribute to the Coaches Cabo Fund. So we'll see if that works. (laughter)"
How much of a luxury is it to have a healthy Tyreek Chappell, have Will Lee, and have Dezz Ricks playing at this level? How much more does it open up what you can do defensively?
"I think it does a lot. I think it allows us to get into some structures where there's less stress on the defensive line. One of the balancing acts that maybe not everybody recognizes in this conference is, when you play some of the really talented receivers and you don't match up, it forces a lot of what you do on a first- and second-down basis for your D-line to maybe 2-gap or try to take away different gaps so you can play short to the run and you can commit more to coverage. I think the stronger you feel about your secondary cover guys, and the more they can get into isolation situations and you can feel comfortable with that, the more that allows the defensive line to be more single-gap minded, get on edges. That whole picture plays together hand-in-hand. Those kids are playing at a pretty good level right now. If they can continue to do that, I think we have a shot to be pretty decent on defense."
We saw Amari Niblack kind of pop for the first time. What's the schematic advantage of having the diversity of skill sets that are in that tight end room?
"I think it presents a lot of problems for defenses in terms of how they match up with us. And the way that you would match up with Amari is different than maybe the way you would match up with Nate (Boerkircher) is maybe different than the way you would match up with Theo (Melin Öhrström). It puts some stress on a defense to figure out who's in the game and how they want to handle that position. And then there's times where we've got two of them on the field, and I think that creates even more layers to it. Those three guys have very diverse skill sets. You also saw Micah Riley get in on Saturday a good amount, and I think he's continuing to grow. He was a little bit banged up in camp, so he's now healthy and had quite a few good weeks of practice now. It's good to get him in and even adding another dimension to that room."
You talked a lot about fans having to get rid of the whole battered Aggie syndrome and fear of losing. How have you seen that transformation with the players, especially while closing out a one-score game?
"Yeah. For the record, I never brought any of that up. That was always brought up to me. I did not get in front of any cameras and talk about any syndromes. Those questions continue to get asked of me and I provide answers to them. I don't know that I would say that that way for our players. But I would say about our players is, and you guys who follow this program know this, it's been a rough go for the kids who have been in this program for four years, three years. They went through some losing. They went through losing some close games. They went through some heartbreaking losses down the stretch. We certainly experienced our fair share of them last year as well. And so they're learning that they have the ability to control the outcomes of the games, and that's a powerful mindset, right? To know that you can go out there and make the plays that you need to make down the stretch to win football games. And I think every time that happens, it adds a little bit of confidence to what we're capable of doing. It doesn't guarantee you results moving forward, for sure, but I think when you get in those situations, you feel a little bit more comfortable and a little bit more confident that you can get the job done."
Of course, my question is about penalties. There are good ones, and you're going to probably have a few per game. Is there an over/under line in your mind?
"No, listen, I think the pre-snap post-snap ones drive you crazy as a coach. You should have zero of those. We should never have false starts. We should never have procedure penalties. We certainly shouldn't have things happening after the whistle. Those are all discipline things. Those all fall, and I take those all very personally, those are on me. Those are the result of a really poorly-coached football team. That's how I feel about those. I think when you talk about—we used this word last year—in-action penalties, I think there's times where those are going to come up. There's so many 50/50 situations that kids get into where one play, they get away with something, one play they don't get away with something. Inevitably those things will happen, whether that's a holding penalty, whether that's a defensive holding penalty, something along those lines. I don't know that I have a number, but you kind of evaluate each penalty as you look at it. Of the 13 that we had on Saturday, I would probably say I was okay with two of them. That's not good. That's not where we need to be and that's not something that I'm comfortable with. Again, I can sit up here and talk about it, but at the end of the day I've got to get it fixed on the field and that's my job. So we'll try to get that done."
One more real quick going back on third downs. You mentioned they're just fun for you. When did that start? And kind of what makes scheming that up so much fun for you?
"Mmm…probably all the way back to Bowling Green, to be honest with you. And it kind of became a little bit of a game we used to play. How many people did we have to bring to get a free runner at the quarterback? We used to try to find creative ways…you would look and you'd see a lot of teams run six- or seven-man pressures, and I would always be like, oh, well, that's easy. If we have seven and they have six, that's no fun. Let's try to figure out creative ways where we can bring a third guy and see if we can get him free. Or a fourth guy and get him free. I think we started studying protections, started to try and find the nuances of how offenses worked. It helped me as a coach being around offensive head coaches. I've spoken a lot about that. There's just a different way…obviously offenses look at offensive football, and so I never really grew up in that defensive culture, defensive mindset, had a defensive mentor. I kind of had to figure a lot of stuff out and I did a lot of it through an offensive lens. And maybe that's where some of it comes from."
The sixth-ranked Aggies (4-0, 1-0) continue their homestand when they host Mississippi State (4-1, 0-1) under the lights for Operation Blackout. Kickoff on the SEC Network is set for 6:30 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game along the Texas A&M Sports Network (1620 AM/94.5 FM locally) or worldwide inside the 12th Man Mobile App or at 12thman.com.
Opening Statement:
"I just want to start by acknowledging former First Lady of Texas A&M Football, Reveille IX, who passed away recently. She served as the active mascot from 2015 to 2021 and I'm obviously very aware of how much that means, not only to the football program, but to the University. I would be remiss to not start with that.
"Excited for this week. Blackout is back at Kyle Field. Love for the fans to come out, donning the all black, like we did last year. I thought we created an unbelievable atmosphere at Kyle Field last year when we did that. So we wanted to repeat that. Looking forward to that. I kind of wore the all black today to try to set that off the right way.
"Just looking back on Auburn, starting with players of the week. Scout team offense was Luke Braden. On defense it was Tommy Colligan. And special teams player of the week was Jesse Chukwu. Lineman of the week offensively went with Demetrious Crownover. I thought that was his most complete game since we've been here. I thought he played really physical in the run game. Did a really good job in the protection. He was one of the few kids who I didn't agree with the penalty, and so there weren't a lot of options if you eliminated penalty guys on the offensive line. But I thought he played a really, really good game. Defensively, DJ Hicks continues to make really big plays. I thought that sack he had in the first quarter on the short field was one of the biggest plays in the game, so it was great to see him do that.
"Our players of the week…offensively, obviously Le'Veon Moss. I thought he carried the load for us on offense, had a really, really good day running the football against a really strong rushing defense. Defensively was Taurean York. Just made a ton of key big plays throughout the course of that game, and felt like every time we needed one he was the one making it. And then our special teams player of the week, and this one deserves a little bit of a shout out, was Jarred Kerr. I just think anytime we can acknowledge kids in this program who are giving everything they have for Texas A&M football, maybe not exactly in the role that they hoped for. Jared is a 4th-year player, would love to be the starting safety and in a lot of programs probably could be the starting safety. He has decided to stick it out with us, to be an Aggie and to contribute. And he does a really phenomenal job playing for us on all four units.
"When we looked at the film, I think it played out exactly like we talked about. Defensively we played really, really well. I don't think there were a lot of things when you went back and watched the tape, where you said, 'uh oh'. Last year, there were times where you would watch the tape, and there'd be four, five, six plays where you were like, oh, thank God they didn't find him or they didn't see him. The tape was clean. I thought we did a really, really good job leveraging and defending them. I think that showed in the stats and the results. Was really proud of how we played the fourth quarter. When they got the score and got it down to 13-10, they never got another first down. I thought that was just a tribute to the character of the team and the group. So that was exciting.
"Offensively, we moved the ball well. We were efficient. We made 15 explosive plays. We threw the ball well. We were 15-of-22. We just had too many penalties, and penalties kill drives. We had too many penalties kill explosive plays, kill drives, kill our rhythm and just ultimately kill our ability to score. It's a problem. It's something that we have to get fixed and addressed. It was a very, very strong point of our meetings this morning, and we won't continue to win games if we don't solve that problem. That's Auburn.
"Moving on to Mississippi State, excited to be back at home in Kyle Field, excited to play another really talented SEC football team, and I'm sure Kyle Field will be rocking Saturday night. Just excited to get back at it."
Since the first play of the second half against UTSA you guys have given up like 2.5 yards a carry. Can you reveal the reason why y'all have gotten so much better in run defense?
"So this is what I think happens. The standard reaction to poor rush defense is always the D-line isn't good enough. And sometimes that's the case, but for us that hasn't been. We are firm. We are strong against the run. We hold the point well. What we've had troubles with really since I've been here has been leveraging the football. And that has presented itself in a lot of different ways, whether that's perimeter run game, cracks on the perimeter, getting the ball outside, sometimes it's our defensive line edges not holding the edge properly. We have gotten beat to the perimeter more than probably at any point in my career as a defensive coordinator over these 15 months. It has been a constant conversation, emphasis, drill work, everything we can to fix it. I think over the last however many games we've done a little better job at that. It still reared up a little bit in the Notre Dame game, although I don't think it was quite as bad as it was a year ago against Notre Dame in allowing the breakout runs down the sideline. But if we can keep the ball inside of us, we have a shot. And I think when we do that, the run averages are what they should be. When we don't, we tend to give up the 16s, the 18s, the 40s, the 50s, and then all of a sudden you're giving up 6.5 a carry, and it looks like you have a poor run defense. That's really been the story since I got back. Again, there's a lot of things we're doing to try to fix it, but at the end of the day it's got to show up on the field. It did Saturday and hopefully it continues to do so."
It seemed like Taurean York might have had the best game of his career at A&M the other day. What does he do? What makes him different?
"Yeah, I think he's--and I've said this before--I think he's a throwback in terms of his knowledge of the game, how much he studies the game, his instincts for the game. And so his play speed is so fast and his ability to read and diagnose things is so fast. The perfect comparison, because I was here with both of them…you had Edgerrin Cooper, who probably had a little bit more natural athleticism. Um, you would watch him see plays and maybe not see him quite the fastest, but when he triggered and went, like it was like, whoa. Taurean's the other way. Taurean triggers almost sometimes before the play even unfolds. You saw that on the tight end screen. Before the tight end even knew he was running the screen, Taurean did. And he tracks him down and he gets put through the linemen, and all of a sudden, before the play can ever get going, Taurean's there. That's what he has done really, really well since I've been here. I wouldn't even say it's his best game because I think he did that a lot towards the back half of last year too, when he started to get real comfortable with the system. I think that's what he brings. That's how come he plays the way he does."
Just what have you seen from Mississippi State this year? And how do you think that Jeff Lebby's turned the team around from last year?
"Yeah, obviously it's another SEC game. They're an extremely talented team. I think Jeff is a phenomenal offensive coach. I think they do a really, really good job testing you. They'll stretch you sideline to sideline. They stretch you horizontally, they stretch you vertically. They run a spread offense, but they're really physical in how they run the football. I think that's the thing that not a lot of people talk about with that offense, is how committed they are and how much they want to run the football well. And they do that really well. One of the things as a head coach that you watch is sideline energy, sideline engagement, sideline interaction on the film, and they're an extremely energetic group. Which means they've got a lot of confidence in the program and what they're doing. I'm sure they're going to come in here and play their absolute best football Saturday night."
And has Mario Craver opened up to you about facing his former team and what it means to him?
"No, trying not to make a big deal about that. It's just another game for him."
I know third down's always been a hallmark of your defenses. Why have y'all been able to be so good this year?
"I don't know. It doesn't feel like we've been great all year, to be honest with you. Obviously we were Saturday. I think there's been times where we've been good, times where the execution maybe hasn't been what we wanted it to be. I just think it's always a down that we've put a real premium on. Everybody says that, but we emphasize it a lot. We spend a lot of time on it. I enjoy it probably more than I do any other part of the game. So maybe just personally I get a little bit more excited when it's time to come up with a third down game plan. I just think you have a little bit more flexibility and options in terms of what you can do and how you can do things. It's such a big part of the game. We talk about it from this regard…third down is literally two-thirds of the game, because you can be awful on first down, awful on second down, win on third down and you're off the field. And you could be great on first down, great on second down, and lose third down and be on the field all day. It's a huge part of the game and we try to treat it that way."
With the amount of second-year guys in your system, does it feel like you can have some more versatility in what you want to do this year as opposed to last year maybe?
"Yeah, I think so. As the guys continue to get more and more comfortable with what we're asking, what they're doing, I think we also have a better feel for who's good at what. That helps too. So it's kind of a two-way street. I think we know what everyone's skill set is, and I think they understand what we're asking of them and what the responsibility is. So we've been able to probably take things to another level."
Scooby Williams' status?
"He'll be day to day."
Going a little bit deeper into Taurean…you've had a relationship with him for a while, having had the opportunity to recruit him as well. When did you see those qualities pop up where you watch him get the defense basically set? Did you see that while you were recruiting him as well? That he's able to really keep everybody on the same page?
"I don't know that you see the football IQ to the level that you do when you have him here. I think what always stood out to me was how he played the game. We watched game film on him. We watched him play the game. And he always played the game really, really well. So sometimes production carries from level to level. And I think sometimes people get caught up in the height/weight/speed components of recruiting and what all of that looks like. For Taurean, the production has carried. The same production that he was able to create in high school is the same production he's been able to create in the SEC. And I think that's just testimony to who he is. Then when you get to get in the college environment with him, and you sit down and you spend time with him, I think that's when you start to really figure out how much of a student of the game he is, how the game kind of slows down for him and what he's able to do."
On Dezz Ricks, after this past weekend's game how have you seen his confidence continue to grow as he's progressed?
"Yeah, it's been awesome to see him mature. I think that's really what's happened. I said this at the beginning of the year, I've said this a few times throughout the offseason, we asked a lot of him last year. We were thin in the secondary. We didn't have the depth that we wanted. When we lost Jayvon Thomas for a really long time from an injury standpoint, it made it really hard. And so he carried not only a high level of stress playing corner in this league as a redshirt freshman but also the volume of snaps that we asked him to play. I think his body really wore down. We thought he was really good for the first half of the year and struggled down the stretch, and it just was really good to see him this offseason just commit to growing and developing and getting better. And then when the kid goes out and gets rewarded for it that only helps his situation."
Mississippi State's running backs last weekend combined for like 40 carries and almost 200 yards. When you see that does it kind of remind you of Notre Dame, facing a couple of running backs that are really talented but then a quarterback that can move around and throw it as well?
"Yeah, I just think systematically it's a lot different. So, yes, from a standpoint of talent, yeah, for sure. They're an extremely talented backfield. We saw that firsthand with Booth last year. He had a really good day against us last year. We didn't see the quarterback. I thought they were a more efficient offense when he was playing quarterback last year. They're certainly a more efficient offense with him at quarterback this year. It's just a different style of offense. So the plays come at you a little bit differently. I don't know that you draw that comparison to Notre Dame, you're just featuring a really talented group."
Has anything surprised you through four games this year, maybe somewhere where you're better along than you expected before the season started?
"Um, probably the defensive line. I think that was one…you never know until you know. And I think we were we were quietly hopeful. I think you knew that from some of the conversations we had. We felt like we were going against a really good SEC offensive line. We felt like we were holding our own. We felt like we would be able to rush the passer. We felt like we were going to be able to do some of those things. To see that play out, especially in the Notre Dame game and the Auburn game, I think that's probably…I don't know that I would say a complete surprise, but probably the biggest positive to take away from what we were. And then the explosive plays on offense. That was such a huge emphasis in the offseason. So for us to be able to go out and do that I think that's been really good."
You mentioned after the game about sort of the pressures that they were doing on third down that gave you guys some trouble. Was that a protection call mess up or what led do you think to some of those breakdowns?
"Some of it was just they had more than we did. They did a really good job. It was a credit to them. I don't know that we went into the game anticipating some of the looks that we got, in terms of sheer numbers. They did a good job of kind of changing some of the rhythm of how they brought some of the pressures. I thought we adjusted as the game went on and had a better feel for it as the game went on. But I think early on they sprung some things on us that maybe we weren't ready for the way we should have been. And that's on me and that's on us as a staff."
Mario Craver, his recruitment, what do you kind of remember about it and what it took to land him?
"A lot of work. Obviously, there was a little bit of a relationship with Coach (Holmon) Wiggins. Coach Wiggins obviously was at Alabama at the time that Mario was coming out of high school, so there was that level of familiarity. There was obviously a huge need on our part to get an explosive playmaker. I think that was attractive to him. We were able to get him here and get him in the boat."
You mentioned leading up to the season how much getting Tyreek Chappell back would be a boost to your secondary. Now that you're four games in, what's stood out to you the most about what he's been able to actually provide this secondary?
"Yeah, it's been good to see him get healthy. A lot of people asked about Le'Veon. Le'Veon probably got back a little bit quicker even than Tyreek did. Sometimes it plays itself out that way. I think Tyreek has still been trying to get healthy. Coming out of the bye week, that was the healthiest he's been. He had a really, really good two weeks of practice where he felt good, his knee felt good. He felt like he was able to cut and start to kind of grow and develop. And I think that showed Saturday. Saturday was probably his most complete game of the year, just from a coverage standpoint against some pretty talented receivers. What he does is he just adds an ability to play slots a lot of different ways. And I think when you have the ability to play different ways on the slot it gives you a lot of flexibility in what you can do on defense."
And then you mentioned multiple times the need to clean up the penalties. How does that practically play out during the week? Is that just classic sprints and up-downs or is there another method to that madness?
"Alright, so I'll let you guys in. I've tried all kinds of things. So today what we started was the 'Texas A&M Football Coaches Cabo Fund'. (laughter) And so what's going to happen now is every time one of our players gets a penalty, they're going to contribute to the Coaches Cabo Fund. So we'll see if that works. (laughter)"
How much of a luxury is it to have a healthy Tyreek Chappell, have Will Lee, and have Dezz Ricks playing at this level? How much more does it open up what you can do defensively?
"I think it does a lot. I think it allows us to get into some structures where there's less stress on the defensive line. One of the balancing acts that maybe not everybody recognizes in this conference is, when you play some of the really talented receivers and you don't match up, it forces a lot of what you do on a first- and second-down basis for your D-line to maybe 2-gap or try to take away different gaps so you can play short to the run and you can commit more to coverage. I think the stronger you feel about your secondary cover guys, and the more they can get into isolation situations and you can feel comfortable with that, the more that allows the defensive line to be more single-gap minded, get on edges. That whole picture plays together hand-in-hand. Those kids are playing at a pretty good level right now. If they can continue to do that, I think we have a shot to be pretty decent on defense."
We saw Amari Niblack kind of pop for the first time. What's the schematic advantage of having the diversity of skill sets that are in that tight end room?
"I think it presents a lot of problems for defenses in terms of how they match up with us. And the way that you would match up with Amari is different than maybe the way you would match up with Nate (Boerkircher) is maybe different than the way you would match up with Theo (Melin Öhrström). It puts some stress on a defense to figure out who's in the game and how they want to handle that position. And then there's times where we've got two of them on the field, and I think that creates even more layers to it. Those three guys have very diverse skill sets. You also saw Micah Riley get in on Saturday a good amount, and I think he's continuing to grow. He was a little bit banged up in camp, so he's now healthy and had quite a few good weeks of practice now. It's good to get him in and even adding another dimension to that room."
You talked a lot about fans having to get rid of the whole battered Aggie syndrome and fear of losing. How have you seen that transformation with the players, especially while closing out a one-score game?
"Yeah. For the record, I never brought any of that up. That was always brought up to me. I did not get in front of any cameras and talk about any syndromes. Those questions continue to get asked of me and I provide answers to them. I don't know that I would say that that way for our players. But I would say about our players is, and you guys who follow this program know this, it's been a rough go for the kids who have been in this program for four years, three years. They went through some losing. They went through losing some close games. They went through some heartbreaking losses down the stretch. We certainly experienced our fair share of them last year as well. And so they're learning that they have the ability to control the outcomes of the games, and that's a powerful mindset, right? To know that you can go out there and make the plays that you need to make down the stretch to win football games. And I think every time that happens, it adds a little bit of confidence to what we're capable of doing. It doesn't guarantee you results moving forward, for sure, but I think when you get in those situations, you feel a little bit more comfortable and a little bit more confident that you can get the job done."
Of course, my question is about penalties. There are good ones, and you're going to probably have a few per game. Is there an over/under line in your mind?
"No, listen, I think the pre-snap post-snap ones drive you crazy as a coach. You should have zero of those. We should never have false starts. We should never have procedure penalties. We certainly shouldn't have things happening after the whistle. Those are all discipline things. Those all fall, and I take those all very personally, those are on me. Those are the result of a really poorly-coached football team. That's how I feel about those. I think when you talk about—we used this word last year—in-action penalties, I think there's times where those are going to come up. There's so many 50/50 situations that kids get into where one play, they get away with something, one play they don't get away with something. Inevitably those things will happen, whether that's a holding penalty, whether that's a defensive holding penalty, something along those lines. I don't know that I have a number, but you kind of evaluate each penalty as you look at it. Of the 13 that we had on Saturday, I would probably say I was okay with two of them. That's not good. That's not where we need to be and that's not something that I'm comfortable with. Again, I can sit up here and talk about it, but at the end of the day I've got to get it fixed on the field and that's my job. So we'll try to get that done."
One more real quick going back on third downs. You mentioned they're just fun for you. When did that start? And kind of what makes scheming that up so much fun for you?
"Mmm…probably all the way back to Bowling Green, to be honest with you. And it kind of became a little bit of a game we used to play. How many people did we have to bring to get a free runner at the quarterback? We used to try to find creative ways…you would look and you'd see a lot of teams run six- or seven-man pressures, and I would always be like, oh, well, that's easy. If we have seven and they have six, that's no fun. Let's try to figure out creative ways where we can bring a third guy and see if we can get him free. Or a fourth guy and get him free. I think we started studying protections, started to try and find the nuances of how offenses worked. It helped me as a coach being around offensive head coaches. I've spoken a lot about that. There's just a different way…obviously offenses look at offensive football, and so I never really grew up in that defensive culture, defensive mindset, had a defensive mentor. I kind of had to figure a lot of stuff out and I did a lot of it through an offensive lens. And maybe that's where some of it comes from."
Players Mentioned
TE
/ Football
CB
/ Football
DE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
CB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
CB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ FootballOne-on-One: Ishmael Aristide
Thursday, October 02
The Aggie Football Hour (Ep 5)
Wednesday, October 01
The Pulse #12.4 | You Gotta Want It
Wednesday, October 01
One-on-One: Mario Craver
Wednesday, October 01
