"At my opening press conference, I stated that it was time for our program to stop talking about what we are capable of and to roll up our sleeves, go to work and start to fulfill our potential," he said. "In the last seven months, that's exactly what we have done."

After all the drama involved with Jimbo Fisher's last two teams and tumultuous offseasons that went with them, A&M stayed out of the headlines after spring camp. That was a source of satisfaction for Elko.

"I'm proud of how quiet our offseason has been. I'm proud of how quickly our players have adapted to a new culture and a new way of attacking football," he said, "We have introduced 41 new scholarship football players into our program, just under 50% of our roster has been turned over, but it's been awesome to watch them intentionally go out of their way to come together to bond."

Elko said that he knows expectations at A&M are high and that there isn't time for a rebuild.

"In this era of college football, you'd better speed that process up. I don't think this is a very patient era," he said. "You don't come to a school like Texas A&M that has the ability to do what we're capable of doing and want to talk about building for the future, but I think you've got to be careful that you don't skip steps along the way. I think you have to establish a culture, you have to establish an identity, a way that you want to play football, and I think our kids have embraced that."

Upon returning to A&M from Duke, Elko emphasized the need for the Aggies to get bigger and stronger on both sides of the ball. New strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt, he said, has helped move the program in the right direction.

"Sometimes the most important hire is your strength and conditioning coach, because that guy spends so much time with your team. That guy establishes your toughness. That guy establishes your culture, he establishes your discipline level," Elko said.

Even though Moffitt's career has been long and prolific, Elko said what impressed him most was how "modern" Moffitt was.

"When you have a guy who's had as much success as he has and a resume as long as he does -- three national championships with three different coaches -- you anticipate maybe there being a little bit of an old school thought process, and it was the exact opposite," Elko said. "He's extremely well-read, he's modern, he's into sports science at the highest level and he's into training our kids at maximum efficiency."

On a team that appears to be more than solid nearly across the board, the offensive line remains a question mark. Elko said that group has been working hard in the weight room to become a more physical group.

"It's started with the work that we've put in the offseason with coach Moffitt. I think we challenged these guys to get bigger and stronger, to get a little more flexible," he said. "I think we've stayed healthier. If you look back at the past couple of years, we've gone into training camp with parts of that group limited and not able to practice the way they wanted to and that hurts your ability to get the cohesion and being able to get to the level you want."

The wide receivers group experienced some offseason upheaval, with Ainias Smith heading to the NFL and Evan Stewart transferring to Oregon. But Elko seemed comfortable with the new-look receiver corps that will take the field this fall.

"I'm excited about some of the guys we do have returning. Noah Thomas has had a phenomenal offseason. I think Jahdae Walker has had a great offseason. We're really happy with what Mushin Muhammad had done. Add in Cyrus Allen, who is going to be a huge addition. (Jake) Bostick is going to help us," he said. "I think we've got the pieces in place."

A&M's schedule is no cakewalk, as is to be expected: the Aggies start with Notre Dame, then have home games against LSU, Missouri and Texas. Elko said that starting with a top-10 opponent is a mixed bag, but it ensures a team is energized immediately.

"I think our program is very aware that we have to be firing on all cylinders the first time we run out of the tunnel," he said. "I think that's created urgency in our program."

That run out of the tunnel is something Elko is looking forward to. After all, he never got to do it in his four years as A&M's defensive coordinator.

"Being able to actually come out of the tunnel onto the field on game day ... One of the things people don't know is I spent all of my time in the press box, so I've never gotten to experience Kyle Field from field level," he said. "I can't imagine what that atmosphere actually feels like at ground level, so I'm excited lead our team down the tunnel for the first time against Notre Dame and hear Aggieland erupt live and in person."