Under Mike Elko’s watch, Texas A&M is charging into spring with a fresh vibe and a whole new look. As of now, with roster shake-ups on both sides of the ball, the Aggies are entering year two of a major reset. Despite the nationwide trend of ditching traditional spring games—like Texas, USC, and Nebraska did—Elko’s sticking to the classics. Well, the Aggies will roll out a full spring game, staying old school while everything else changes. But behind the scenes, Elko isn’t sugarcoating it—he’s brutally honest about the challenges that come with rebuilding from the ground up.

On April 10th, Mike Elko didn’t hold back when asked about the challenges of spring practice. And he got real about the behind-the-scenes issues that often go unnoticed. “In college football, I think it’s extremely challenging to do things like that,” said Elko. However, one of the biggest hurdles? Classes. The idea of joint practices might sound great on paper, but as Elko pointed out, convincing players to travel during school or spring break isn’t exactly easy—especially to places like Lubbock or Waco. “That’s no disrespect to those cities,” he added, “but that part of it is a challenge.”

Here, Mike Elko laid it out plain and simple—spring practice isn’t one-size-fits-all. “I think in college, so many programs have different philosophies of what practice looks like,” said the head coach of Texas A&M. From player safety to daily routines, everyone’s approach is different. And that’s why finding a team with a matching mindset is key. But there’s more. “If you end it all with a game, then to me, that pulls away a little bit from a development standpoint,” stated Elko. So, for Elko, spring is about growth—not game-planning.

And here’s where Elko really drove it home, joking, “Because the second we have to play a game, then obviously we have to win or you guys are all mad at me.” So, that pressure flips the whole script. “You gotta game plan, and you gotta, like—you know what I mean?” said the HC. As of now, instead of focusing on fundamentals, coaches are suddenly stuck prepping to win. Here, Elko called it what it is—a media-driven idea that sounds better than it plays out. “I just think the reality of it is maybe not quite as simple as it’s being led to believe,” according to Elko.

Now, while his honest take on spring ball already turned heads, he took it a step further—calling out coaches who’ve scrapped spring games altogether. Safe to say, in an era where programs are softening schedules, Elko’s standing firm. For him, spring isn’t about skipping reps—it’s about getting real, gritty, developmental work done.

Mike Elko rips spring game cancelations

Elko didn’t mince words when it came to programs ditching spring games. Well, he questioned the logic behind it—especially the idea that coaches like Nebraska’s Matt Rhule were worried about tampering. “This thought of people recruiting off your roster or some of those things, I’m not buying some of that stuff,” said Elko. However, he made it clear the Aggies aren’t backing down, stating, “So we’ll continue to have a spring game until we make it to the semifinals and then we’ll rediscover kind of what our offseason looks like.”

Naturally, not everyone sees eye-to-eye on this. Take Texas, for example—A&M’s biggest rival. Yes, the Longhorns scrapped their spring game and shuffled their camp schedule, pointing to a grueling season and deep postseason push. But Elko isn’t buying the softer excuses. On top of that, he’s all for adjusting to legit wear-and-tear from long playoff runs—but not for canceling tradition. Because to him, it’s about adapting smartly, not avoiding the grind.

Then, Elko didn’t hold back when addressing the spring game chatter, saying “I think that I would always challenge people to read into what people are saying and try to figure out whether it actually makes sense.” Honestly, for him, there’s a clear line. Teams grinding through long playoff runs? That’s a real reason to reassess the offseason. “There are some teams who play really long seasons… That’s real,” stated the head coach.

You can say, although Elko gets it—but he’s not buying every excuse floating around the CFB world.