Texas A&M Aggies coach Mike Elko talks fall camp and using technology on the sideline

Mike Elko started his second fall press conference the way you would expect. He basically said he didn’t have much to say since camp had just started. He opened the discussion with questions that got Elko into his comfort zone. It also gave him time to discuss the issues that were presented to him.

“We’re very early, very early at this point,” Elko said. “We’ve only had a few practices. We’ve had five good practices. We have a lot of areas to clean up. Who wouldn’t want to at this time of year, I’m excited about where we are and the progress we’re making.”

Elko was asked about what’s going on off the field, and he said there are things outside of football they need to focus on, but they’re excited to be on the grass.

The coach lit up when talking about defensive end Shemar Stewart. He said Stewart wants to go from great player to elite player. He said the gap isn’t that big, but he still has a long way to go,

“He’s really learned how to push himself at the next level. He’s tried to focus on how to take that next step to become a really productive player,” Elko said. “It takes a ton of work to close that gap from good to great. I saw that in spring ball and he really attacked it. We’ve got two really good defensive wingers.”

Elko was also asked about quarterback Connor Weigman, who attended the Manning Passing Academy this summer.

“When you get a chance to spend a couple of days with the Mannings, who all played at the highest level, whether it’s Peyton, whether it’s Eli, whether it’s Archie,” Elko said, “you also surround yourself with an unbelievable crop of quarterbacks, the best in the country. You really expose yourself to the best.

Elko admitted there were some issues with the new sideline communication devices. In the spring, there wasn’t enough equipment, so only the quarterbacks could use it. Now they have a full set of devices and are working to adapt to the new technology.

“It’s obviously a very big challenge, the technology on the sideline,” Elko said. “We work on the comfort level with the players using them. We work on that in every part of every practice.”