Examining why Mike Elko is primed for quick success with Texas A&M in 2024

Mike Elko may technically be a first-time SEC head coach after returning to Texas A&M after leading Duke the last couple of seasons, but he knows the Aggies well, and that could work to his advantage.

Elko spent the bulk of his career in football as a defensive coordinator, a position he held at Texas A&M from 2018 through 2021. In his first time leading a program with the Blue Devils, he was more than capable, and that’s led to him going back to College Station, this time as the unquestioned leader of the team.

During SEC Media Days, somebody close to Texas A&M in Billy Liucci of TexAgs joined Andy Staples for the latest episode of Andy Staples On3, where the duo chopped it up regarding Elko’s preparedness for taking over the Aggies.

“I feel like of the first year head coaches, around the country this year, nobody’s better prepared for the situation he’s walked into than Mike Elko, because he was the DC before he took his last job,” Staples prefaced.

While it won’t mean everything to Elko, Liucci believes that experience, and knowing how things are done with the Aggies, will help him in his first season leading the charge.

“Well, he was the DC, so he knows some of the players. He certainly knows an even higher percentage of the talent, and then also just understanding the place, understanding A&M. The uniqueness of it,” Liucci responded. “… He was here, and he knew where this place could and needed to get better. What the program shortcomings were. Where they could do better in terms of like, say, the NIL space, or the facility.

“So, he comes in with a really unique knowledge base, and I promise you, it wasn’t like that went away while he coached at Duke.”

Another area where Staples believes Elko’s experience will help is knowing where Texas A&M went wrong during his previous tenure, and how the Aggies can rectify any shortcoming they’ve had in the past.

“I had him on the show a few months ago, and it was very clear he was trying to be as diplomatic as possible, but he knew where the warts were, and had gone to work on them pretty quickly,” Staples stated, “because I asked him a question, that was something to the tune of, ‘Well, you’re inheriting all this talent,’ and kind of look on his face was like, ‘It’s not what you think, man.’

Alas, Mike Elko seems like a pretty popular hire for the Aggies. Still, it remains to be seen how he adjusts as the leader of Texas A&M, and where his team can ascend in his first season this fall.