Aggies Coach Mike Elko Speaks on Texas A&M Spring Practice QB Battle

Timm Hamm | Mar 25, 2024

UL Monroe v Texas A&M / Carmen Mandato/GettyImages

New Texas A&M Aggies football coach has his hands full this spring in his first as the head coach of his new team. Position battles and talent evaluation comes first in building his program to his personality and installing a new offense and defense in College Station.

But at least there's one important position that seems to be locked down. Elko spoke on the Paul Finebaum show on Monday and discussed the quarterback position and the battle that could ensue between Conner Weigman, Jaylen Henderson and Marcel Reed.

UL Monroe v Texas A&M / Carmen Mandato/GettyImages

"Conner comes into spring as our No. 1 and everyone's aware of that, but like everything, we want competition and we want competition within the program," Elko said. "Conner is out there now, he's back and taking the majority of the reps. He's not 100 percent back off that injury but he's enough to go out there and do the things he's gotta do to start learning this offense and progress how he wants to progress.

"You've got two quarterbacks last year who filled in who had some very successful moments. Jaylen Henderson on the back end of the year had a great game against Mississippi State leading us to a victory, and then Jaylen ends up getting hurt on the first series of the bowl game then Marcel Reed as a true freshman steps in and throws for over 370 yards.

"You do have these two talented kids that are competing every day and I think our job as coaches is to make competition, it's the backbone of what we are as a program. So, we're giving those two young men an opportunity to showcase themselves. But at the end of the day I think everyone knows who the best player is coming out of spring and that'll be the guy we line up with against Notre Dame.

Elko is tasked with making the Aggies relevant again in the SEC and the national scene after a disappointing 2023 that saw former coach Jimbo Fisher dismissed mid-season.

After two successful seasons as the Duke Blue Devils' coach, Elko returns to A&M where he served under Fisher from 2018 through 2021 as defensive coordinator before leaving for the job at Duke. Working alongside new defensive coordinator Jay Bateman and offensive coordinator Collin Klein, Elko hopes to bring respectability back to Aggieland this season with a quick turnaround.