Mike Elko Hands Texas A&M Defense to Lyle Hemphill

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko is making a tangible change to how the Aggies operate on Saturdays.

Elko confirmed this week that defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill is now calling the defense, a move designed to free Elko from having to manage the entire game while simultaneously handling one side of the ball. Hemphill, who previously coached at James Madison, Duke and Wake Forest, had already held the defensive coordinator title, but the shift gives him considerably more control during games.

“Lyle is calling the games,” Elko said. “I think that was an important step just so that I could have the freedom to be involved in everything. I just think that was probably to the detriment of us for a couple weeks with LSU and Kentucky, trying to do too many things and probably not doing any of them well, to be honest.”

The change matters because Elko has long been heavily involved with defense. His background on that side of the ball has always been one of his greatest strengths, but it also meant Texas A&M’s head coach was carrying responsibilities that could pull his attention away from other parts of the game.

Now, Hemphill will handle the defensive calls while Elko can devote more of his attention to the broader operation.

Texas A&M Needed to Actually Change Something

Texas A&M fans have heard plenty about accountability during a season that has fallen well short of expectations. At some point, though, accountability has to become visible.

Handing defensive play-calling duties to Hemphill is at least evidence that Elko understands the Aggies cannot keep operating exactly as they have and expect a different result. Whether the move fixes anything is a separate question, but there is value in the fact that Texas A&M is actually altering how it functions instead of merely explaining why things have gone poorly.

There is also some logic behind the move beyond simply wanting change for change’s sake.

Calling a defense requires constant attention. Elko has to think about personnel packages and situational tendencies while also processing everything else happening during a game. That workload can make it harder for a head coach to stay ahead of the details that have nothing to do with the next defensive snap.

Those details matter even more when a team is struggling. Texas A&M has played enough close and uncomfortable football this season that the margins have become increasingly important. Elko should now have more freedom to think ahead instead of splitting his attention between calling the defense and managing the game around it.

It’s not certain to work, though. Texas A&M could still run into the same problems and discover that the play-caller was never the primary issue.

But with the way this season has gone, standing still was becoming harder to justify. Elko has now made a real structural change to his staff responsibilities, and for a program desperate to find something that works, this is at least a start.