COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — The Texas A&M football team reported to camp on Tuesday and will officially start fall practices on Wednesday as they prepare for the upcoming 2025 season under second-year head coach Mike Elko.
"Everybody says this right and so I don't want to be cliche, but we're a bigger, faster, stronger team," Elko said. "Now we gotta go play football and we gotta play football well."
The Aggies head into 2025 retaining about 72% of their total returning production from last year, providing valuable continuity within the program that will help shape their approach during the next 30 days of practice.
"I just think you're working with so much more knowledge, and we've talked about that a lot this offseason, but I just think you have such a better feel for what this group is capable of, what this group needs, where it needs to get better, and so you're able to kind of really go in with a tailored plan, to attack it," Elko said.
With the running back room at full strength and a new receiving corps, sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed expressed confidence in all of his offensive weapons.
"Really comfortable in it, you know, I've kind of built some continuity with these receivers and the running backs just based off of routes we have and it's good that we had a whole spring this year, to do it after a little kind of a foundation year last year, but yeah, we're really excited going into year two with this offense, it's gonna be very explosive like we've said before, and there's gonna be a lot of points scored," Reed said.
Up front, the A&M offensive line returns all five starters, transforming what was once considered a weakness for the Aggies into one of their biggest strengths.
"Just getting those reps together and just building that bond that you know the guy next to you is going to do his job and you know how he's gonna do it so you can plan how you're gonna do your job. So it's just all those reps are so valuable. We have experienced guys, but the reps taken together actually as a unit is the most valuable thing," senior offensive lineman Trey Zuhn said.
"I just think, you know, we wanted the offensive line to be the heartbeat of our offense and to some degree of our team, and I think we're just getting closer and closer to doing that," Elko said.
The Aggies will continue preparation throughout camp as they get ready for their home opener against UTSA on Aug. 30.
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