Kyle Field hosted both an international soccer friendly and a George Strait concert this summer while witnessing renovations to the Bright Football Complex and basking in the roar of crowds from Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park across the street.

Yet, there’s a new feeling in the air that has hung over the Texas A&M football program this offseason. One that hasn’t been experienced in Aggieland in several years.

It’s more quiet.

Less talk of a coach on a hot seat and more workouts in the summer heat. Less accusatory statements against a rival program’s coach and more film study of this season’s opponents. This offseason, the Aggies made their noise as first-year coach Mike Elko and three players spoke at the SEC Media Days, hosted at the Omni Hotel in Dallas on Thursday.

“I’m proud of how quiet our offseason has been,” Elko said. “At my opening press conference, I stated it was time for our program to stop talking about what we are capable of, to roll up our sleeves, go to work and start to fulfill our potential. In the last seven months, that is exactly what we have done.”

Make no mistake, there’s plenty of hubbub around a program with renewed expectations under a new coaching staff and 41 newcomers to the team on scholarship. The difference this year, though, lies in the work the Aggies have done in silence.

For the first time in several offseasons, A&M hasn’t been one of the main topics of discussion in the SEC, something it can thank newcomers Texas and Oklahoma for. Many football programs crave publicity, but in the Aggies’ case, they won’t complain about the spotlight being cast elsewhere in the conference.

“The offseason is about being in places where nobody’s watching, where no one’s following you on Instagram, where nobody’s posting about what you’re doing and getting up every day and going to work to become better so that you have a chance to have the success that you want to have in the fall,” Elko said.

Throughout the afternoon’s interview sessions, players reinforced the sense of accountability and responsibility instilled in the program under Elko. Discipline is about enforcing the details, and the Aggies have seen growth through players’ buying-in to what the coaching staff is preaching, according to senior DL Shemar Turner.

“We’ve been on each other heavy about everything,” Turner said. “It could be the smallest, ‘Hey, nobody is missing breakfast, nobody is missing dinner, nobody is missing none of that.’ No matter how minuscule you think it is, get there. I feel like we’ve been doing a pretty good job of keeping that mentality, staying consistent with the accountability.”

Turner said that discipline has bred a tighter locker room compared to years past under coach Jimbo Fisher, who went 45-25 in five years at A&M and never amassed more than nine wins in a season, despite a 9-1 showing in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. This summer, Turner said working toward success has become a group effort.

“It’s not just a handful of people on both sides of the ball that really, really want to win and really, really want to be great at the sport of football,” Turner said. “I feel like everybody’s mentality is switching over now because Elko harps [on] being hardworking and he harps [on] relationships and stuff like that with your teammates so much. I feel like it’s made everybody work harder for each other and not only for themselves. You’re not there for yourself no more.”

Fisher was fired 10 games into the 2023 season, although the writing appeared to be on the wall when the Aggies stumbled to a 5-7 record in 2022. That year was marked by more suspensions and rule infractions than wins on the field. This season, A&M will seek to make noise on the gridiron through being silent off of it.

“It’s a lot of unnecessary talking when you can be working,” Turner said of past offseasons. “Just that right there pretty much is just putting your head down and working, grinding and going 100% every day, getting better.”

Junior OL Trey Zuhn III said Elko has emphasized the importance of taking care of the small things, many of which happen away from the game. By ensuring accountability for one’s actions, Zuhn believes players will be better prepared for what’s to come in the thick of the season. 

“If you can’t trust somebody to be in class or on time to meetings, you can’t trust them on the field,” Zuhn said. “That’s really something [Elko] has cracked down on and made a point of. … We’re going to be the most disciplined program and the toughest program. We’re going to get to work every single day. We bust our butts and it’s going to show on the field.”

High expectations ahead of football season have become an A&M tradition about as established as Reveille and the Yell Leaders. However, following up on such goals is a different story, with just two 10-plus-win seasons and one conference title since 1998. According to sophomore LB Taurean York, instead of projected records and game predictions, the talk of this offseason has been of practice and preparation.

“We’re more about the work now,” York said. “There’s no reason to talk about it if you’re not going to be about it, you know? That’s our mantra, that’s our mentality going into this season, that we just want to put in the work, and the result will show for itself.”

The Aggies may be lurking in the shadows this summer, but they’ll have the eyes of the nation upon them when they open the season with Notre Dame at Kyle Field on Aug. 31 in primetime. The matchup will be watched across the country on ABC and ESPN’s College GameDay will be live in Aggie Park.

All the greater a stage for A&M to bring its work in the dark to the light. Taking down a top-15 Fighting Irish team could be the first step to the Aggies’ turnaround season, one that would make those long days and nights in the offseason worth it.

“We love silence,” Zuhn said. “We’re just doing our work. We’re grinding every single day, doing our best so we can show our best foot forward during [the] Notre Dame game. We don’t really need to talk about it, we’re going to show everybody against Notre Dame.”