How Steve Sarkisian's formula at Texas could aid turnaround effort for Mike Elko, Texas A&M
It’s not often that you want anything to do with your rival, let alone take notes from them. However, in order to start off right at Texas A&M, TexAgs’ Billy Liucci and On3’s Andy Staples think Mike Elko should pay some attention to the recent work of Texas’ Steve Sarkisian.
Liucci and Staples had a conversation about how the Aggies should move into this next era on Friday. Liucci started by looking back at what the last tenure didn’t do under Jimbo Fisher. That’s highlighted by a lack of development for top recruits in comparison to their competition who were getting their talents to the pros.
“That was a lot of raw talent, a lot of hoped for talent that was out the door. But there was also a lot of undeveloped talent still on the roster,” said Liucci. “Look, I’m not going to sit there and just – like you said, it’s really easy to pick at the carcass of a coach that left. One thing that’s just a fair criticism and assessment is, when you look back, there’s been a lack of development.”
“We’ve sat here, you and I, and I think fairly – and this is fair. They recruited multiple top-six classes, including that one class as the highest-rated class of all time. That wasn’t me ranking the class,” Liucci said. “I didn’t rank those classes. The national ranking systems did. They were bringing in talent that everyone in college football, from Nick Saban to Kirby Smart to Sark or Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly? Everybody thought they were bringing in a lot of talent because all of those guys had offers to those places. The rankings, everybody that does them, whether it’s at On3 or wherever? Everybody thought that. They didn’t develop.”
Liucci only needed to note the Aggies’ draft picks since the turn of the decade to make his point. In total, Texas A&M had produced just 17 total selections since the 2020 NFL Draft. Of those 17, only one, OL Kenyon Green to the Houston Texas at No. 15 in 2022, was a first-round pick. The only other one in the top-two rounds over the span was this year when LB Edgerrin Cooper went to the Green Bay Packers as the No. 45 pick in round two.
It doesn’t take too much math to calculate that that output was well behind some of the other top-notch programs in the nation that the Aggies were recruiting and playing against, including several that are or are now in the Southeastern Conference.
With all that said, that’s why Sarkisian’s efforts in Austin may be a model that Elko could follow in College Station. The Longhorns have had 16 picks in the last two drafts after having just 22 total from 2015 through 2021.
That kind of developmental effort is what Staples thinks Elko needs to focus on to put out the kind of team and results that they’re wanting at Kyle Field.
“This sounds very similar to another university in the state of Texas. I mean this was Texas three years ago,” Staples said. “It’s true. This was Texas in the Charlie Strong and the Tom Herman eras. They would bring in highly-rated talent and they were not putting out draft picks. Now, you see what happens when those guys start developing. They make the College Football Playoff. They had 11 guys drafted this year, they had multiple first-round draft picks.”
“Like, it’s almost like what Steve Sarkisian has done is kind of Mike Elko’s mandate there,” said Staples.
Texas A&M often wants nothing to do with Texas, especially now that they’re conference foes again. Even so, noting what the Longhorns have done over the last three years might be what they need to do in order to have the kind of team that the Aggies want.
“That’s the thing with this group at A&M,” Staples said. “There is talent on the roster. It’s not like it’s bare. It’s just a matter of getting more out of it, it feels like.”