10 Things for Tuesday, sponsored by Ekdahl Nelson Real Estate

Elijah Robinson is sticking around to coach A&M in the Texas Bowl before heading to Syracuse as their new defensive coordinator. It would have been easy for him to just move on, but he said he made a promise to AD Ross Bjork that he'd be here through the bowl and he was going to keep his word. "I told you I would do everything possible to support this team, do right by this team and do right by this program," he said.

In this mercenary world of college sports, how impressive is it just to see a man that's true to his word?

It would have been really easy for Robinson to feel a bitterness after being passed up for the head coach job and not getting to be the defensive coordinator under Mike Elko. Instead, he spent time during his Texas Bowl press conference today lavishing praise on the man who was once his boss and wanted to be again.

"This is a premier university in an extremely challenging conference in the SEC. I thought they did a great job hiring Mike Elko and a great job picking the right man to lead these young men at the right time," he said. Robinson also told the players he's recruiting and their parents that Elko is a "great man".

Given how beloved he is, Robinson could have started trying to convince players to follow him to Syracuse. He shot that idea down completely. "I will not at any point say, 'Come with me.' I have too much respect for the program and the university."

It was supposed to be a foregone conclusion that DT Walter Nolen was going in the transfer portal, but he hasn't. When Robinson was asked about Nolen's status today, he said, "I told Walt to give coach (Sean) Spencer an opportunity to build a relationship with you." If Nolen listens and Spencer's sales pitch works (along with whatever NIL deal is agreed to), E-Rob will have done A&M one last big favor before he heads out.

I saw a tweet that someone posted earlier today that read, "In a world of Lincoln Rileys, be Elijah Robinson." Boy, that's the truth.

There were a few things that DJ Durkin did that I will never understand. One was the 3-man front on the second possession of every game, without fail, no matter what happened on the first one. Another was splitting out a defensive end to cover a slot receiver. The last one was the use of LT Overton.

Overton, who came in at about 290 pounds, could have been another Shemar Turner. Instead, they had him slim down to be a pass rusher --- and then refused to use him in that role. It was absolutely baffling and, I'm sure, frustrating for Overton. While you hate to see a talent like that leave, I can't really blame him for doing it. He was misused.

Four Texas A&M players were named to the coaches' All-SEC team today, with Ainias Smith making the first team. Twice.

Smith was named the first-team All-Purpose player and return specialist, meaning he technically was on the team two times. Smith has come back from the broken ankle suffered last year in a big way, with 795 receiving yards at 15 yards a pop. He's also averaged 14.25 yards per punt return, including an 82-yard touchdown.

The other Aggie first-teamer was a given in linebacker Edgerrin Cooper. Cooper led the conference in tackles for loss and was third in sacks. Offensive guard Layden Robinson and defensive lineman Shemar Turner were elected as second-teamers.

There's this idea out there that potential new offensive coordinator Collin Klein -- and note, he hasn't accepted anything as of when I'm writing this Tuesday night -- has this run-heavy scheme. That's not exactly true. It's actually very balanced, though some games became a little more run-heavy due to starter Will Howard getting banged up.

K-State ran for almost exactly 700 more yards than A&M did this year, 2,396 to 1,697. They did that on just 62 more attempts, averaging a full yard an attempt more than A&M did (4.9 to 3.9). But A&M only threw for 191 more yards than K-State did this season, 3,148 to 2,957. And Howard dealt with a leg injury for much of the year.

Even though Howard had his struggles, Aggie fans would have been delighted with his overall body of work: 61.3% completion percentage, 2,643 yards passing, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Between A&M's four quarterbacks, they completed 64.7% of their passes for...24 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

And K-State has far inferior talent to A&M. Howard is most assuredly not Conner Weigman. He's good, but Weigman has already shown he can be way better than good.

That's a long way of saying that Klein is no fool and is likely to be balanced or even slightly more of a pass caller if he were to take the A&M job. He can read a depth chart and knows where A&M's strengths lie. And a group that could (should?) include Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad, Noah Thomas and Jahdae Walker is a whole lot better than anything he had in Manhattan.

A&M's addition of former Duke offensive line coach Adam Cushing is an outstanding one. Cushing has done a remarkable job at two different stops where winning is not an expectation -- Northwestern and Duke -- but has put together nasty offensive lines in both places. Putting eight Northwestern linemen in the NFL is no mean feat, and Duke's offensive line got exponentially better once he showed up.

A&M's line should not be a reclamation project, but let's face it: Steve Addazio did a whole lot more harm than good in his two years in College Station. The Aggies may be the most talented group Cushing's had to deal with, but he may have to strip things down to the bare bolts and start over again. Thankfully, he has experience doing just that.

Bringing back Ish Aristide to coach the defensive backs (likely the corners in particular) proved to be a big hit with Aggies who were on the team when Aristide was on Jimbo Fisher's staff in 2019 and 2020. Leon O'Neal and Kellen Mond in particular were fired up on social media about the move. Former player excitement aside, I think this is a good move. Aristide proved he can coach while at Duke and he can definitely recruit.

It appears that A&M is getting close to adding Duke RB coach Trooper Taylor to the offensive staff. Taylor is a legendary recruiter and would be an asset to the staff. I get the sense James Coley is going to stay on as the tight ends coach, so A&M would still need a wideouts coach and a quarterbacks coach to fill out the offensive side of the ball.

But a few days ago, I posted something on the board about how I thought the offensive staff would shape up and I had Cooper, Coley and Taylor on the list (along with Sean Spencer, Aristide and Bryant Gross-Armiento on the other side of the ball).

Now, if the Force would just allow me to divine a linebackers coach and some coordinators...

In more simple English, this is where I get to laud my friend and Aggie great Mike Evans as he checks off another box cementing his path to Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Over the weekend, Evans passed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the 10th time -- every year he's been in the league. Only one player has done it more than that to start a career, and that man's name was Jerry Rice.

Not bad for a kid from Galveston Ball. Not bad at all.