Greg McElroy grades Mike Elko for first season at Texas A&M

Mike Elko earned a passing grade from Greg McElroy for what he did in his first season in College Station.

McElroy graded multiple teams and coaches, including Elko, during ‘Always College Football’ on Monday. Elko earned a B from him for his work en route to a record of 8-5 overall for Texas A&M.

“Their year-one grade at Texas A&M? I’m going to give it a rock-solid B,” McElroy said. “You’re probably thinking that’s too generous. No, I think it’s about right because there were a lot of things to like. There was no drop off…There was not major drop off and there was some really positive moments throughout the year.”

That’s about where McElroy expected Elko to be, if not a little better graded, based on what many thought upon his hire by the Aggies.

“I think a lot of people, self included, looked at his hire and thought that’s safe, right. That’s safe. That’s stable. He’s going to be able to provide a structure to a program that felt like it was sometimes in disarray under Jimbo Fisher. Fair or unfair, it just felt like, felt like Mike Elko is just a rock solid hire. Maybe not super splashy, maybe you’re not going to dominate the press conference but, man, you are going to be on a rock solid foundation for the foreseeable future,” said McElroy. “He’s detail-oriented, he’s smart. He’s been there before, he has familiarity with the program, he’s got support within the program. I think there was a lot of things that would work in his favor and it did early on in the season.”

That grade could have been even better had they continued what they did from September and October. At that time, they could’ve been in the SEC Championship or even in the College Football Playoff. However, a 1-4 finish to the season cost them some as they didn’t defeat another power opponent in November or December.

“Through the first half of the season, even almost to the first two-thirds of the season? He’s in the conversation for National Coach of the Year. Alright, so you lose to Notre Dame in week one then you rally, man. Things looked really good for A&M there at the midway point. You get the win against LSU. You’re thinking, man, sky-high – and then things kind of faltered down the stretch,” said McElroy. “They lost their last four games against Power Four opponents. They finished 8-5.”

Looking at the season overall, McElroy also noted their issues on offense. It’s not as much of a criticism, though, considering they had a new offensive coordinator, changed quarterbacks during the season, and played against some of the better defenses in the country amidst that.

“Now, there are still things that they need to figure out,” said McElroy. “You look at kind of where they’re at? There was a lot to like with what they did defensively. I think there was progress made at times on that side of the ball. But, offensively, they’re going to have to find something out. Now, a quarterback change mid-year is not easy. Collin Klein coming down from Kansas State? Little bit unfamiliar, maybe, with the SEC, how much man teams will play in the SEC…I think he’ll figure it out. I’m not worried about where they’re going to be long term. I just think, when you adjust on the fly the way they did, it’s going to be hard to have a great identity created offensively.”

Despite posting another similar record as they have since being in the Southeastern Conference, Texas A&M has to be optimistic with that considering it was the debut for the program under Elko. They’ll now be testing to improve that up a letter with what he does in 2025,

“I did not like the finish but I do think the start warrants a B grade for Mike Elko in his first year.”