The Southeastern Conference has lived by the slogan "It Just Means More" for many years, and for good reason as well. A consistent presence in the College Football Playoff, producing some of the NFL's top players and changing the college landscape with NIL deals, the SEC has had its hand in plenty in the last century.
Therefore, it's easy to attract talent from within and around the other Power 4 conferences in hopes that they can develop into the same beasts that play on Sundays. So it's simple to see that Texas A&M football offers many folks that opportunity.
There's no better example than Tulsa transfer linebacker Ray Coney , who arrives at a linebacker corps that was searching for veteran leadership in the portal. Now settled into the program and with a game as an Aggie under his belt, Coney spoke about the transition he has made to the next level of college football while previewing the matchup with Arizona State .
Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko walks onto the field during a time-out in the first quarter against the Missouri State Bears at Kyle Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After an impressive 128-tackle campaign in 2025 with the Golden Hurricanes, Coney became one of the first players to join head coach Mike Elko from the transfer portal this past offseason. The Aggies, who just lost three-year starter Taurean York to the NFL Draft, were looking to add some veteran fuel to their fire, and it appears they have found it.
"In some places, you can be the new guy, and it's kind of hard to get your voice out there," Coney said. "But with [my teammates], they really embrace me as a veteran guy. And everything I say is coming from a good place, so...it's like, ' Speak up and we're right behind you.'"
But making the transition is not always so easy to do, even with a complete offseason to digest the schematics of an SEC defense, especially with Elko as head coach and defensive play-caller. Even so, Coney has been up to the challenge of getting to where the Aggies need him.
"[Picking up the playbook] was a lot; I didn't do this a lot back then [at Tulsa]," Coney said. "But I learned things fast, so it was about trusting in what I already knew. And once I did that and stopped overthinking, everything just flowed, and I really started to feel comfortable with it."
The trust in himself, the process and the program itself have already begun to pay off as Coney had six tackles in his debut with the Aggies. However, with the competition only increasing in difficulty, the veteran defender will need to continue this climb to meet the moment.
A freak injury to team captain linebacker Daymion Sanford looked as if it would sideline him for perhaps the whole year, but it seems that the veteran will make his debut quite soon. Even so, Coney has the capability to hold the fort down for the Aggies as their leader gets healthy.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tamu as Texas A&M Linebacker is Finding His Footing After SEC Jump .
