ELON, NC – North Carolina A&T football will now look toward the future after the 2025 season ended with a 55-17 loss to Elon at Rhodes Stadium Saturday evening. The loss ends A&T's season at 2-10 overall and 2-6 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).
The Aggies will begin with reflections and overall evaluations of the season on Monday. The Thanksgiving Holiday starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday. Then the hard work of rebuilding, retooling and reimagining the A&T football program begins on Monday as the final month of 2025 begins.
"We will get as much in as we can before the (Christmas) holiday, and then after the new year we'll be really hitting it from a recruiting standpoint and from a development standpoint," said A&T head coach Shawn Gibbs.
The Aggies endured their fourth losing season in five years and their third straight overall. The 2025 season was summarized by A&T's improvement and concern over moments of regression.
They did win their first two CAA games since joining the league in 2023, defeating Hampton in overtime at home and Campbell at home, with Elijah Kennedy scoring on punt and kickoff returns. A&T also had some close calls, starting with having a field goal blocked as time expired in a 24-21 loss at Tennessee State.
A comeback attempt at Maine fell short, along with the Aggies losing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead in a loss at William & Mary. Two late fumbles allowed eventual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champion South Carolina State to come from behind to defeat the Aggies. But there were the 60-pointers.
One of the games in which the Aggies surrendered 60 points came at a Power Four school, UCF. However, the Aggies also gave up 62 points to archrival North Carolina Central University (NCCU), 62 points to a 6-6 Towson team, and 63 points to a nationally ranked Monmouth team.
All three games were at home, leading Gibbs to call those losses embarrassing. On Saturday, Elon was on the verge of exceeding 60 points but decided to go into victory formation.
"It's not one thing; everything needs to be addressed," said Gibbs, following A&T's loss on Saturday. "It's not just the culture. It's every position. It's every player. Every coach. And that starts with me. Everyone has to improve. Everyone has to improve everything they do. It's not just one thing."
While the quarterback position is not immune to improvement, another positive for A&T going into the 2026 season could be at QB. There is so much talent in A&T's quarterback room, it will be intriguing to see how things sort themselves out.
Right now, the Aggies could have two junior quarterbacks in the fold in Kevin White and Champ Long. Braxton Thomas could return as a redshirt sophomore after showing promise against Tennessee State, and true freshmen Jy Walls and Nelson Layne also saw action this season. Plus, the Aggies could get graduate Alston Hooker back from injury.
Layne got the start on Saturday at Elon for his second career start. Layne went 11-for-20 for 160 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Both touchdown passes went to redshirt freshman Michael Carlock-Williams. Layne also gained 114 yards rushing, but nine sacks left him with only 33 net yards on 21 carries.
Unfortunately, for the fourth straight week, the Aggies faced a significant deficit early and never recovered. Elon returned the game's opening kickoff 66 yards to the A&T 29-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Elon quarterback Landen Clark found Landyn Backey open across the middle of the field for a touchdown.
On A&T's opening drive, a sack fumble gave the Phoenix the ball at the A&T 16, leading to a two-yard touchdown run from Clark. After a three-and-out by A&T, Elon put together a 12-play, 43-yard drive that took five minutes and three seconds. The drive ended in a Luke Barnes 27-yard field goal, giving the Phoenix a 17-0 lead with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
"We gave up a long kickoff to start the game, and then we gave up a touchdown on the first play of the game," said Gibbs. "It was 7-0 before somebody was back from getting a drink, so we put ourselves in a hole like we've done time and time again."
The Aggies played the Phoenix even over the next 18 minutes of game action, getting a 34-yard field goal from Andrew Brown and a 29-yard touchdown pass from Layne to Carlock-Williams. The Aggies were due to get the ball back with 1:07 remaining in the first half, but the Aggies allowed Elon's kickoff to linger on the field until Elon's Owen Moreland recovered the live football at the A&T 28.
It led to a 19-yard rushing touchdown by Dan Frederick, giving the Phoenix a comfortable 34-10 halftime lead. After the game, Gibbs did not want to see the Elon statistics or much else from the 2025 season. It truly is about the future.
"We're going to go and hit the recruiting trail first and foremost," said Gibbs. "We will immediately do evaluations of the coaches and the players to see how we are going to move forward. Then we have to hit the weight room for a lot of off-season training. It's all about the process."
