COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Last week after the Texas bowl – I reported that players and coaches alike said the future is bright for Texas A&M football. After Mike Elko rounded out his coaching staff Tuesday night – it’s safe to say that the Elko era is off to a pretty good start.
Let’s take a look at the 2024 Aggie football coaching staff –
Head Coach - Mike Elko
OC/QB - Colin Klein
RB - Trooper Taylor
WR - Holmon Wiggins
OL - Adam Cushing
ST/TE - Patrick Dougherty
DC/LB - Jay Bateman
DL - Sean Spencer
DL - Tony Jerrod-Eddie
DB - Ishmael Aristide
S - Wesley McGriff
S&C - Tommy Moffit
A lot of great names on this list but I think a few of these coaches will be gamechangers for the Maroon and White, so here are my predictions for who will shine in College Station next season.
Let’s start with the offense you’ve got Collin Klein in as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Aggie fans may remember him from the 2012 Heisman race where he was a finalist as the quarterback for K-state – finishing behind aggie and Heisman winner Johnny Manziel. Klein will bring a fresh perspective to this offense coming from K-state where he orchestrated one of the nation’s highest scoring offenses in 2023. Now the reason I think he’ll be a gamechanger aside from his track record – is that he’ll have control of the offense and actually be able to call plays.
Last season he had the Wildcats posting a nation-leading 79-percent touchdown conversion rate in the red zone. We know this was one of A&M’s biggest struggles last season and with the offensive weapons Klein has to work with – we should see an uptick in finishing drives with 6 points instead of 3.
Another big name on this list is wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins, who was highly sought after by multiple top programs in college football. He’ll make the move from Tuscaloosa where he’s coached a series of top tier receivers including – Devonta Smith and Jerry Jeudy. But more than on the field success – he’s known for his recruiting ability. People want to play for him and in the age of the transfer portal and what college recruiting has become I think he’s a perfect fit to continue bringing highly rated recruits to CStat.
Switching gears to the other side of the ball, the Aggies defensive line was phenomenal in 2023 and that’s largely due to Elijah Robinson. Based on how strongly the players felt about ‘Coach ERob’ and the culture he built during his time as interim head coach – whoever filled his shoes would have to bring that same type of energy and I think Elko did a great job hiring Sean Spencer to take over.
Affectionately known as Coach Chaos – he’s high energy. In fact, he’s got ‘wild dogs’ tattooed on his arms because he calls his d-line units the wild dogs. If that’s not enough, he’s got over 20 years of coaching experience, including time in the NFL. Most notably, Spencer turned Penn State’s d-line into one of the best in the nation, ranking in the top 25 in tackles for loss every season he was on the staff, top 15 in sacks in five of his six seasons, and 5 consecutive 40 plus sack seasons. Spencer is a d-line guy through and through so I think as far as maintaining culture and grit for that position group this was a great hire.
I want to stay with the d-line for a minute because i think it was another great move to keep Tony Jerod-Eddie on the staff. Not only is he a former Aggie standout who has been a part of the program as a player and a coach – but with all the coaching shakeups he’ll bring stability and familiarity to the returners. He’s got NFL experience including a Super Bowl appearance and was mentored by Terry Price and Elijah Robinson. I believe culture and team chemistry go hand in hand with on the field success so I think this d-line coaching duo will continue to have this group thriving in 2024.
And last one on my list is special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Patrick Dougherty who’s been a part of Elko’s staff the last two seasons at Duke. If you’ve been at all following Aggie football for the last 7 years you know why this one is important – A&M has not had a special teams coordinator since 2017. Dougherty led the Blue Devils special teams to top 25 rankings in punt return average and kickoff returns defense, so while A&M’s special teams have not been bad – giving them a designated coordinator could only improve this unit.
Those are my predictions. Obviously we have to wait until September to see how everything shakes out but based on the off-season moves so far it’s hard not to like what’s happening to this aggie football program.