Texas A&M hires Mike Elko as new head football coach
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - OCTOBER 28: Head coach Mike Elko of the Duke Blue Devils talks to an official in the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Cardinal Stadium on October 28, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Image
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M has found its new head football coach two weeks after firing Jimbo Fisher. Texas A&M is paying Fisher $76 million to move on.
The Aggies have brought Duke's Mike Elko back to College Station. Elko was A&M's defensive coordinator and safety coach for four years.
Spending the last two years as Duke's head coach, he turned things around in a hurry. He took a 3-9 Blue Devils team he inherited to 9-4 in his first season. And this year, he led them to a top 20 ranking team.
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"My vision for this program is very simple. We are going to build the premier football program in the country. We're not gonna talk about it anymore. We are going to be about it. We're going to roll up our sleeves. We're going to go to work every day. And we will accomplish amazing and great things here. Very, very quickly," said Elko.
"He's one of the best IQ's in the coaching world. He possesses a great vision for Aggie football. A specific plan for innovation and greatness. Which is exactly what we need right now to compete in the SEC and to compete for championships," said Ross Bjork, Texas A&M Director of Athletics.
But now, with a fan base craving for championships, and to get their team among college football's elite, the expectations will definitely go up several notches for Coach Elko as he takes over an A&M program that has only had two double-digit win seasons over the past 25 years.
"This program and this job come with a lot of expectations. And I'm ready for them. I'm ready for everything that this program should be about. I'm ready to take this program everywhere it wants to go. I cannot wait to roll up my sleeves and go to work," Elko added.
Coach Elko will not be coaching the Aggies in their upcoming Bowl game. It will be Elijah Robinson, who took over as interim head coach for their last two games.