The Texas A&M Aggies replace departing coordinators and keep their sack-happy edge with a familiar, in-house plan.
College football doesn't pause for playoff runs, rivalry week hangovers, or roster management headaches. It keeps moving. And if you're not building your next staff while your current team is still playing meaningful games, you're already late.
Texas A&M is living that reality in real time, with both coordinator spots headed for turnover after the season, forcing head coach Mike Elko to juggle recruiting, practice, media, and a staff rebuild in the middle of a historic year.
The Aggies' first big move is the cleanest one: stability.
A&M announced it will promote associate head coach for defense Lyle Hemphill to defensive coordinator, keeping Elko's defensive DNA intact rather than starting from scratch with an outsider trying to install a new language.
The second move adds a familiar voice with a fresh title. Former Rutgers co-defensive coordinator Zach Sparber has been hired to the defensive staff, a reunion that turns this into less of a "new partnership" and more of a "run it back—again."
That familiarity matters because A&M's defense isn't just good, it's built on pressure, and pressure is a culture. After a modest 25-sack season in Elko's first year, the Aggies turned into a quarterback-wrecking machine in 2025, tying Oklahoma for the national lead with 41 sacks.
That kind of leap doesn't happen by accident. It happens when coaching, teaching, and player usage are aligned, exactly the sort of alignment Elko is betting Hemphill can keep rolling.
Hemphill's value is simple.
He already knows what Elko wants because he's coached it, taught it, and lived it with him. His background includes time under Elko at Duke, and A&M's official move signals that Elko isn't interested in reinventing the defense right now; he's interested in upgrading it without losing the edge that made it nasty.
Sparber fits the same logic. He and Hemphill have shared staffs multiple times, including stops at Duke and James Madison, meaning communication and scheme translation should be immediate instead of a spring-ball science project.
In a sport where continuity is getting rarer by the week, A&M is trying to buy time by hiring trust.
The bigger picture is blunt. A&M believes the way to survive this version of college football is to recruit well, develop faster, and build a staff that can produce NFL-ready defenders on demand.
With Hemphill promoted and Sparber added, the Aggies are making a very modern statement ... the season isn't over, but the next one is already underway.