A&M's offensive line rebuild faces uncertainty. Key departures loom, making offensive line coach Cushing's unexpected retention a critical win for 2026.
After Texas A&M's 10-3 loss to Miami ended the Aggies' first College Football Playoff trip, the offseason churn is already ripping through College Station.
Head coach Mike Elko is now tasked with rebuilding momentum while replacing two coordinators. Offensive coordinator Collin Klein is headed to Kansas State as its new head coach, and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman is departing for a lateral role at Kentucky.
Those exits forced early movement on Elko's 2026 staff, and the biggest stabilizer so far might be the one that didn’t happen.
Earlier this month, Texas A&M offensive line coach Adam Cushing, entering his third season with the program, was linked to Michigan State's new staff under Pat Fitzgerald.
The connection made sense. Fitzgerald and Cushing crossed paths for nearly a decade at Northwestern from 2009-2018, and Michigan State is expected to rebuild its offensive identity from the trenches out.
But on Wednesday, those rumors cooled in a hurry.
Fitzgerald is reportedly hiring Wake Forest offensive line coach Nick Tabacca for the same position, a move that likely removes Cushing from consideration.
If Cushing had left College Station, it wouldn’t have been a small promotion ... it likely would have come with co-offensive coordinator duties, run game coordinator responsibilities, and the offensive line job bundled together.
For Texas A&M, avoiding that scenario matters.
The Aggies' offensive line is headed for a reset in 2026, and losing the coach responsible for that rebuild would've been a gut punch at the worst possible time. A&M is set to lose three starters up front, including cornerstone tackles Trey Zuhn and Dametreous Crownover, two players who were central to the Aggies' pass protection consistency during the 2025 run.
Replacing that kind of experience is never easy, and the timing is brutal with the transfer portal becoming the lifeline for plugging holes quickly.
That's why keeping Cushing in place is more than just continuity.
While Elko reshapes the staff around returning defensive line ace Elijah Robinson as co-defensive coordinator and co-defensive line coach, the offense needs fewer moving pieces, not more.
Texas A&M's 2026 offseason is already loud. At least for now, the offensive line room isn't getting any louder.