NOthing personal, strictly business. How many times have Texas A&M fans heard that as a sought-after player goes somewhere else?

Things are different in the Mike Elko era. Top recruits and highly sought-after transfers are now making the business decision to attend A&M and not go somewhere else.

Ask former LSU offensive tackle and Louisiana native Tyree Adams, who is now A&M’s starting left tackle.

“The hardest part is my family, kind of leaving my family (after) being so close, kind of just having that immediate access, but I knew I was ready for it,” he said as the No. 10 Aggies (1-0) prepared to take on Arizona State Saturday (11 a.m., ABC) “Because at the end of the day, you never know where you’re gonna go in the NFL. So it kind of had that mindset and framework. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s kind of like a business decision, and this is family also.”

With Brian Kelly’s firing and the hiring of Lane Kiffin, Adams joined a flood of former LSU players in entering the transfer portal. As soon as he did, he found out the team across the Sabine that had bashed LSU each of the last two seasons wanted to bring him in.

“On Tyree, it wasn’t a ton of tape, but the tape that we saw, we thought was really impressive,” Elko said. “And to us, it’s another one of those kids where he was probably a lot higher on our board, maybe than than your crew had him on our board, and … amidst a lot of talented tackles that had come through here, he was kind of the one that we really wanted.”

Adams was immediately interested after seeing the improvement of Texas A&M’s offensive line under coach Adam Cushing, capped by all four starters in the 2026 NFL Draft being selected. Cushing’s coaching methods, he said, appealed to him.

“The process that Coach Cushing has, just with his guys, the teaching that he does — he’s not too much of a yell, ‘Do this, do that,’” Adams explained. ” He’s more so a teacher, and that’s-and that’s honestly what I like. And also, just seeing the guys and how they bought in, just to his process and to A&M’s process … it was great.”

Adams, who didn’t give up a sack in the nine games he played in last year at LSU and threw another shutout last weekend against Missouri State, said working with strength & conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt has helped as well. Strength training in Moffitt’s gym, Adams said, has made a clear difference.

“Honestly, Coach Moffitt, he’s insane,” he quipped. ” And nah, this is great with Coach Moffitt. He pushes each and every one of us, no matter who you are. And I’ve honestly made tremendous gains. Like even, even in just simple workouts, just the gains that I made that I never thought I could make.”

Even with only one game as an Aggie under his belt, Adams remains one of the veteran members of the rebuilt offensive line. He said that he and the other experienced linemen were displeased with their sloppy performance in the first half against Missouri State. The second half, though, was different as the Maroon Goons overwhelmed the Bears defense and the Aggies scored 31 points.

“We kind of just came out soft and just lackadaisical, expecting to beat them, so we didn’t really put our best foot forward,” Adams said. “And honestly, that kind of hurt us in the first half. But then, kind of when we put that aside and really know who Texas A&M is, we came out in the second half and actually dominated.”

Adams said that the offense got an earful from Elko at halftime that helped spark their resurgence.

“We kind of picked it up after hearing what Coach Elko had to say, and honestly, we just put in our mind and our mindset that nobody can really beat us and nobody really can mess with this offense,” he said.

Adams said there won’t be any slow starts against the Sun Devils, who held Morgan State to a touchdown last weekend in a 70- 7 rout.

“Arizona State, they’re a great team, great team. Very, very well coached. Defensive line, great linebackers, safeties, corners, everybody,” he said. “They’re good. We have to come out swinging, honestly. And I feel this offense, this team, defense, special teams, everybody. We really lock in and hone in on our process.”

Adams said that there can’t be any shortfalls moving forward if the Aggies are going to reach the goals that have been set for this season.

“‘I’m very locked in, very focused on this year, and it’s just urgent. Like we need that national championship, and that’s the biggest thing, honestly,” he said.
“Everybody understands the goal.”