Press Conference: Mike Elko discusses 2025 class on Signing Day

The early signing period is officially open, and as of 12 p.m. CT, Texas A&M has welcomed 24 signatures, with possibly a few more on the way. Mike Elko spoke to the media on Wednesday afternoon about the current group of signees.

The following are live, paraphrased notes from Mike Elko’s Wednesday afternoon media availability:

• An extremely exciting day for student-athletes across the country. A lot of happy families out there. Congrats to all of them. There is a lot to putting together a recruiting class. I want to start with “Thank yous”: To our general manager Derek Miller. He is one of the best in the business. To our on-campus recruiting team... Everyone who comes through this campus feels special. To our scouting team... It starts there. It starts with identifying the right players and the right talent. We want to identify guys that will be draft picks. To our player development team... Those guys do such a good job of building relationships and maintaining them. To our creative team... They have probably taken 100,000 pictures of recruits in the cycle. Cade Key leads our video team.
   
• Our staff did a phenomenal job of hustling to put this class together. We had to work from ground zero to build an image of Texas A&M and what it is and should be.
   
• This is a well-balanced class. We wanted to bring in a football team. 11 on offense and 13 on defense. It is centered in the state of Texas. We supplemnetd from other states to show A&M can. We wanted to bring in winners. Seven of our players are still competing to win a championship. 95 percent is a multi-sport of a two-way player.
   
• At QB Brady Hart‍, I am really excited about it. We always rated him extremely high. He won a state championship as a sophomore and is competing for one now.
   
• Deondrae Riden‍ has been extremely productive. He is a finalist for Dave Campbell’s Mr. Texas Player of the Year.
   
• Jamarion Morrow‍ is coached by his father and uncle. He is extremely skilled. We are excited to add him.
   
• Kelshaun Johnson‍ is a track kid. You bring in elite speed and twitch. Tristan Norman‍ has the ability to separate.
   
• We got the letter in for Jerome Myles‍. He is the only one who won't be the mid-year. He has his senior season cut short by injury.
   
• Kiotti Armstrong‍ is our TE. He is a multi-sport athlete. He is enormous and will be a true tight end.
   
• We will add six offensive linemen. We thought it was a strong class in the state this year. We think Marcus Garcia‍ will be projected to play OT. He is an elite athlete and discus thrower. Nelson McGuire‍ is a road grater inside. He will help us move people.
   
• Josh Moses‍ was the first kid I recruited, and I appreciated him. He was committed when I got here and never waivered.
   
• Jonte Newman‍ plays at Bridgeland. He projects to play OT, but he has versatility. Lamont Rogers‍ was a sought-after kid, so we were able to get him in the boat.
   
• Tyler Thomas‍ is from Dickinson, a high school that has been good to us. He is a people mover. We have a really strong OL class coming in.
   
• The things that stand out about the defense players in their production. Marco Jones‍ is an elite football player and will take his talents to Blue Bell Park as well. Landon Rink‍ committed early and handled the process well. 
   
• DJ Sanders‍ is an extremely productive athlete. He was sought after and stayed true to his commitment. Chace Sims‍ rounds out our defensive line class. He committed in the spring. We were excited when we got him, and his evaluations jumped.
   
• At linebacker, Noah Mikhail‍ was a two-way standout in California. He is a finalist for the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker.
   
• Kelvion Riggins‍ was the first kid who committed to me. He has already become a great Aggie. He had great twitch and speed to the LB room.
   
• In the secondary, we found speed. Jamar Beal-Goines‍ played both ways. He ran track. He can fly. He will be an elite cover kid. Adonyss Currie‍ is another two-way DB. He has length and speed.
   
• Rashad Johnson‍is a true safety. He is a long jumper and is explosive. 
   
• Deyjhon Pettaway‍ has a lot of Aggie ties at Katy Paetow. His brother is Daymion Sanford, and he is coached by David Hicks, DJ Hicks' dad. Cobey Sellers‍  is a multi-position kid. 
   
• I think it's becoming popular to enroll early. The benefit is they are here academically, and the transition happens in the spring when we don't play football. They go through the schemes. 
   
• All these coaches that talk about NIL publicly... We’re good.
   
• We had a lot of kids that committed early on. Sanders is one of them that a lot of schools never stopped. You see schools throw more and more at them. We want kids who want more than that. I think it validates that we got the right kids whenever they sign with us. 
   
• NIL didn't play a role in our inability to land anyone. Our NIL plan didn't prevent us from matching a number. That was more of an internal plan than a lack of resources. You see some of these insane freshman deals. I would like to know how the starters feel.
   
• I have so much respect for Conner Weigman. He supported his brothers all the way to the end, and I think it was the right thing for his career. He was a tremendous kid through the process.
   
• Jaylen Henderson played a big role last year for the team. Another great character kid and brought energy to the room. I hope those guys land somewhere and have a tremendous career. Our quarterback plan is still to be decided.
   
• The challenge is making sure you stick with the evaluation and recruiting process all the way through here.
   
• With roster management, you have to balance veterans and youth. We feel our youth is in a good spot. Rylan Kennedy is in a good spot to step out of that. 
   
• Myles will be this year’s Terry Bussey. He is a freshman, like all of those kids. The injury will create more of a challenge, but he has a unique skill set we don't have.
   
• What A&M has to offer is that we don't talk about NIL in terms of what we say we have to offer. We have tremendous support in a lot of ways... Being an Aggie for life. That’s what this university is. That sells. We have been able to get kids on campus.
   
• Recruiting Texas is really important to us. It starts inside out. We want to do as good of a job as we possibly can with the local schools. 63 percent of the class is from Texas.
   
• If you study the NFL Draft, there is a large percentage of multi-sport high school athletes. We have to build more NFL talent as Texas A&M. We try to do a good job of what happens. Not what people tweet or put on social media.
   
• Morrow comes in as an RB. He has the versatility on offense. He can be in the backfield or in the slot. We had a little bit of an internal staff battle of where he would play, but he will stick on offense.
   
• Getting Will Lee III back is really big. That is something I think we have done a poor job at here. We are trying to push the message of, “Don’t sell yourself short.” We will develop you. Let’s not rush out of here like sometimes we have in the past.
   
• Scooby Williams will return next season.
   
• The first time going through the calendar was a little bit weird. Now that it is over, it's nice to look at the roster retention. Guys are trying to make decisions about what their future looks like, so it’s good to be here for that. Us being around our own players is a really good change for college football.