Texas A&M sits at 4-5 and 1-5 in SEC play before hosting No. 8 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, hoping to finally rebound after consecutive road losses to Alabama and South Carolina. Third-year coach Mike Elko certainly has a lot on his plate with three games remaining, especially after announcing that struggling first-year OC Holmon Wiggins will remain the team's play-caller until further notice.
While Wiggins is expected to last only the regular season unless the offense suddenly turns around, first-year defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill may not be on the chopping block amid the Aggies' quiet improvement on defense, especially in the last two losses.
After taking over as the defensive play-caller, Hemphill has improved the total defense ranking
to 28th nationally, 37th in passing defense, 51st in rushing defense, and No. 1 in red zone defense, allowing just 61% of conversion attempts.
With Mike Elko's help, Texas A&M's 3rd-down defense ranks 17th nationally, but the pass rush, which ranks 133rd with just nine sacks all year, is likely a personnel issue more than poor play-calling. After landing transfer Edge Anto Saka this offseason, injury issues have kept sack totals below expectations, and while former blue-chip prospect and sophomore Edge Marco Jones leads the Aggies with 3.5 sacks, he is clearly still developing.
Hemphill has plenty of young talent to work with over the final three games and heading into the offseason, especially freshman Edge rushers Bryce Perry-Wright and Tristian Givens, whose five-star-level talent helped improve the pass rush against South Carolina and should translate against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
Outside of running backs coach Trooper Taylor and offensive line coach Adam Cushing, Mike Elko should overhaul the offensive coaching staff, but keep the defensive staff intact.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M's defense has quietly improved under first-year DC
