SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS

July 22, 2026

Marcus Ratcliffe

Texas A&M Aggies

Press Conference

Q. Obviously your main goal is to be playing football in mid January. What individual goals have you set for yourself to get the team to be playing there.

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I think individually, as a leader, especially this offseason as a captain, I've been focusing on my leadership skills, trying to uplift my teammates as much as I can in every opportunity that I can, holding them to the standard that Texas A&M wants to be at.

I think just by being the best leader I can and then obviously on the field, production, interceptions, tackles, turnovers, all that good stuff, that will lead us to win.

Q. (Audio issues)?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: Every single week you're getting in a fistfight. There's no easy opponents. I take pride in that.

Q. Coach Elko said he thinks this is the best Texas A&M secondary he's seen since he's been here. Do you think the same and why?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I do believe this is the best secondary I've been a part of. I believe so just because of all of our depth at safety. We have me, Dalton Brooks, Tawfiq Byard, a lot of players with a lot of experience. Corner-wise we have three dudes that can play. Nickel, we have dudes that can play.

And just how competitive we are every day. We come into all practices, all workouts with the mindset of attacking things. And I think this is the most competitive group I've been on.

Q. Over your last three years at A&M you've completed 163 tackles. Is there a certain number you're hoping to get to by the time you finish up at A&M?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I think I'll get 200.

Q. To get to those team goals, a big part of that is it seems to come down to that last regulars game sometimes against UT that hasn't gone your guys' way. I know it's a team-goal focused but what is getting over that hump and beating that team one time in your career mean to you?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: It means a lot. I came in with Coach Elko and so for the past two seasons we've started off very hot, and then the end of the season didn't end the way we wanted to for both seasons.

Especially because it means a lot because those were tickets to the SEC Championship. And so as a leader and as an older dude on the team now, I think just going into the later games of the season and that game specifically, we're just looking to finish.

Q. One of those dudes that you referenced that could really play, you may have been referencing is Rickey Gibson. What have you seen from him so far in transferring over from Tennessee?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I've seen a lot of good things from him so far. He's a very hard worker in the weight room. Just early observations from when he first got on campus, he's a very hard worker, very competitive.

Spring ball, he's a great man corner, great zone corner, good size, very fast. I think he's gonna make a bunch of plays this season.

Q. As you know the SEC is very competitive. Is there a certain player or team that you're most excited to line up with this season?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I'm excited for every single game. I think our schedule is going to be really challenging. We have a lot of tough road games. I'm excited for Bama at Bama. LSU at LSU will be good again. But all SEC games are good.

Q. Daymion told me earlier that he was the best dressed at media days. He said you and Marcel didn't have anything on his fit. Is that true?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: No, it's not true. I think it goes me, Marcel and then Dame. Honestly. I think Dame's dead last.

Q. (Audio issues)

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: Yeah, for sure. In Kyle Field, you can't hear the person 10 feet from you. I can't even hear the other safety that's right across from me and we talk every play. So I still get goosebumps. It's still surreal feelings every time.

Q. SEC, we just talked about Kyle Field. How important is the 12th Man to this team? And what does that mean to you personally?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I think the 12th Man is very important to this team and their loyalty to us and our loyalty towards them. Obviously, as you guys saw, South Carolina, down 30 at halftime and no one even budges, no one moves, everyone stays in their seats and everyone wants to support us and watch us.

So as a player, that means the most to me. So I just want to give back to them and give them wins at Kyle Field.

Q. Are there any safeties in the NFL that you like to model your game after?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: Yeah, for sure. I love Kyle Hamilton. I love everything the Ravens do with him, having him play in the boundary, up close to the box, blitzing off the edge. I really love how the Seahawks use Nick Emmanwori in that big nickel position, always over the slot. That's kind of a newer thing that I just saw teams starting to do. And so I really, really admire that.

Q. You were one of the first players to commit to Coach Elko whenever he came to Texas A&M. How rewarding has that decision been to transfer?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: Oh, it's been very rewarding. It's a night-and-day difference playing football in the Mountain West at San Diego State to playing for Texas A&M and SEC. So I'm forever indebted to Coach Elko and his staff and for everything they've done for me.

Q. Out of you and your teammates that are here, you say you're the best dressed. Why did you choose to wear blue the same day that Ole Miss was going to be here?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: Honestly, I really didn't know Ole Miss was going to be here. I just thought it looked nice.

Q. Cover guy or in the box, what do you like the most?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: Honestly, I love not to have a preference. I think, honestly, both are very fun. It's very fun hitting someone in the A gap. It's really fun playing the deep post, playing off the quarterback.

That's what I love about Texas A&M's scheme so much is that both safeties do everything. We play every single zone. We fit every single gap. We guard every single person on the field. And so it's like the ultimate challenge to me, and I love it.

Q. What's one part of your game that you've been working on this offseason and hope to continue to improve on throughout this season?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: There's things this offseason that I've been working on that are always things you want to work on, like speed, size, strength, stuff like that. More specifically, I think the consistency part for me, always being in the right place at the right time, bursts and quickness, down in the box or if that's guarding someone, better discipline with my eyes or in coverage. Just all those things together, I think, will make me a better player.

Q. When you win a key game on the road in the SEC and you really affect the size of the home crowd and the noise that it makes, how does that feel?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: It feels amazing. It's the best feeling making a stadium go empty.

Q. The way the college game has morphed into just spread all over the field, it's really not a free safety anymore. You're basically playing somebody. How important is it to have convenient (indiscernible) back there and forget the last play and go to the next one, no matter what happens?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: It's very important, especially, like you were saying, at a position like DB, because if something bad happens, like, it happened; it's over. You've got to get over it, and there's going to be a next play. So just having that short-term memory at the DB is very important and just getting over it, never happened, focus on the next play.

Q. If it were coming down to a recruit who may or may not go to Texas A&M and it came down to the head coach and you had to sell it, what would be your selling point for Coach Elko?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I would say he's going to be very direct, very honest with you, and he's going to tell you exactly who you are. That's something I really appreciate about Coach Elko. There's no ifs, ands or buts or trying to sweet talk you. He's just gonna tell you exactly what he thinks about you, exactly how you can improve.

And I think as a recruit, as someone who's young that's either out of high school or in the portal, that's everything you want is you want honesty. You want authenticity, and you just want your coach to be straight up with you.

Q. A big part of Texas A&M, I feel, is running out to "Power" by Kanye West. Is that something y'all play in practice, or you just keep it at games, or how much do you all really play that song?

MARCUS RATCLIFFE: I don't think they play it during practice much. But I do remember the first time they brought it back, it was very, very crazy.