2026 is Lyle Hemphill’s first year as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator. He hasn’t given himself much time to consider his accomplishment.

“I’m neck deep in it, and I’m head down going to work trying to get these guys as good as we can, not really looking at the big picture or myself,” he said. “I’m just, ‘How do we get these guys better? How do we improve these guys every day? How do we take a step towards our goal every day?’ Trying to meet our standard. I’m just you know, all eyes on the mission.”

Hemphill takes over from Jay Bateman, who left for Kentucky, a season after the A&M defense was 18th nationally in total defense and second in both sacks and tackles for loss. But that defense has also lost some major pieces: defensive end and All-American Cashius Howell; defensive tackles Albert Regis and Tyler Onyedim; linebacker Taurean York and cornerback Will Lee. Still, the Aggies return plenty of talent and were productive in the transfer portal, so Hemphill believes he can achieve a simple goal: attack offenses.

“I think we’ve got havoc makers up front on the on the front four, and sometimes it’s less is more,” he said. “I guess with just let these guys go, take take things off their plate, take thinking off their plate, and let them just go create havoc. And again, you’ve got to adapt to your personnel, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

One of Hemphill’s new personnel is defensive end Anto Saka, who transferred in from Northwestern in the offseason. Regarded as one of the most athletic linemen in the country, Saka appears to be taking on an expanded role with the Aggies.

“I think just the system he played at at Northwestern, the system we’re playing here, it’s completely different for him. It took him a couple practices in the spring to get it going, but once you know, once we got to fall camp, you know he’s playing both sides, the end and the Jack. He can do it all. He’s just really smart kid. (I’m) Really pleased with his progress,” Hemphill said. “He’s a physical kid. He can run fast. He’s he uses his hands. He’s violent.”

The interior of the defensive line will have several new faces, including CJ Mims, Angelo McCullom and Brandon Davis-Swain. Hemphill said they have already shown they were smart additions.

“You watch these transfers play in college football games, so you have a pretty good idea that you know we took them,” he said. “They’re they’re pretty good players. So you know we’ve got some some good competition and we’ve got some good depth there.”

The constant at defensive tackle is senior DJ Hicks, who has impressed Hemphill quickly.

“I think last year he had a really good season. He’s had a really good fall camp so far. I mean, he’s he’s one of he’s got to be one of the better D tackles I’ve ever seen. You know, he’s just twitchy, fast, strong, all that kind of stuff,” Hemphill said of Hicks.

When asked about the linebacker corps, Hemphill said the group has made rapid improvement during camp.

“I didn’t know how physical Noah (Mikhail) was going to be. That was the one thing. He was always a smart and heady kid in the right position made some plays. I didn’t know how physical he you know he was going to be, and he’s had a really physical camp, which is really good to see,” he said. “And then the same thing, J-Lock (Jordan Lockhart) is a very physical kid, not always in the right position. Now he’s getting himself in the right position, so I think everybody in that group is really has made some good strides.”

One of the biggest additions A&M picked up in the transfer portal was linebacker Ray Coney, who tallied 147 tackles at Tulsa last year. Coney is expected to take over for Taurean York as the middle linebacker and defensive playcaller this fall.

“Yeah, he’s (6-foot-1). He’s two, you know, 240-plus. He’s loose and athletic, and he’s a thumper. You can see why he had the tackles he had,” Hemphill said. “You know, when you guys first asked me about him before spring practice, I really had no idea. All I knew was what I watched on tape, so you didn’t really see it. But now that he’s been here for a minute. He’s starting to figure it out. He’s going to be a hell of player.”

Hemphill has a strong competition to evaluate as the Aggies look to replace Lee, now with the Carolina Panthers. Former Tennessee cornerback Rickey Gibson and senior Julio Humphrey have both had strong camps, making things tough in a good way for the coaching staff.

“We have a good problem right now. Julio has elevated his game. He’s gotten more confident, better playing the better playing the ball in the air. You know, Dezz (Ricks) is Dezz. We missed him all spring with you know, and he’s back and he’s and he’s and he’s doing well,” Hemphill said. “And then you’ve got you know you throw Rick into the mix and you throw some young guys in the mix too that that are pretty pretty good as well. So we’ve got a good problem at corner right now.”

Hemphill also praised the nickels, specifically Jordan Shaw, who largely shut down Miami’s Malachi Toney during the CFP matchup. But one thing he said is an absolute necessity for all defensive backs is to force more turnovers — specifically, interceptions. The Aggies had only three in all of 2025, and none by their corners.

“I can’t even imagine how many more balls we’ve caught this off season than we did a year. I mean, that was obviously a problem we had,” Hemphill said. “We dropped balls, so we have worked tirelessly trying to get better at that. We worked on ball disruption. We we’ve just amped that up so much. It is showing up. We’re seeing it. We’re seeing the results.”