Elijah Robinson: Texas A&M not worried about media expectations in 2023

Texas A&M isn’t letting preseason expectations dictate the way it approaches the 2023 season. Coming off of a disappointing 5-7 finish, the Aggies are not exactly on many people’s radar to start the year.

Still, based on what he saw in spring practice, defensive line coach Elijah Robinson believes they have what it takes to get back on track. Speaking at the Texas High School Coaches Association conference this weekend, he opened up on how A&M has handled the negative opinions since last season.

“We cannot allow expectations to predict the way we perform,” he said. “As a staff and as players, we understand that we did not finish the way we needed to finish last year and this year has to change. I think our players are ready for that and our staff is ready for that. Again, we know we have to get better. We had a really good spring. The morale around our team was really good and we’re looking forward to getting back on the field soon.”

The expectations for Texas A&M are a lot different entering 2023 than they were a year ago. Last season, the Aggies started out the year No. 6 in the AP poll after bringing in the top-ranked recruiting class according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

By the second week, they had suffered an upset loss to Appalachian State. That would be only the beginning of their struggles as they later lost six straight games to put them out of contention to make a bowl. They finished the year strong with a pair of wins, including one against LSU, but it was ultimately too late.

As a result of the disappointing 2022 season, A&M saw 31 players enter the transfer portal, including seven from its highly touted recruiting class. That gives the Aggies an opportunity to start fresh this season, which could end up being a blessing in disguise given how last year went.

A&M still returns plenty of talented players from last year’s class, including five-star quarterback Conner Weigman, who started four games last season and set the program freshman record with 338 yards passing against Ole Miss. He gets back receiver Evan Stewart, another five-star recruit who led the team with 53 catches for 649 yards and two touchdowns.

Former five-stars Shemar Stewart, Walter Nolen and LT Overton return on the defensive line. They’ll hope for better results after A&M gave up an SEC-worst 208.8 rushing yards per game this past season.

The Aggies also added another highly touted freshman in this year’s class in Reuben Owens, the No. 3 running back according to the On3 Industry Rating, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

All that in mind, the talent is still there to improve upon last year if those players can live up to their potential coming out of high school. Texas A&M will get the first opportunity to show what’s different this year when it kicks off 2023 on Sept. 2 against New Mexico.