Mike Elko addresses how to build culture in transfer portal era: 'People have to look at it differently'

As college football has changed over the last few years thanks to the advent of NIL and the ubiquitousness of the NCAA transfer portal, coaches have had to adjust in a hurry.

Few have done so better than new Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko, who was wildly successful at Duke.

Elko broke down the nature of his success, which is tied into creating a competitive culture for his team. That culture has to help sustain the program, even as new additions may come from unlikely places these days.

“I just think people have to look at it differently, because those things have been going on forever,” Elko said. “Right? The Houston Chronicle has had employees coming in and out forever but there’s still a culture behind the organization. I think that’s where leadership has to set the standard through me, our players, our coaches, so that when new people come in they know that they’re getting into.”

Many coaches have bemoaned the transfer portal and how it has created a constant revolving door of players looking to leave the program. It certainly has increased the frequency with which players transfer.

But transfers have always been a thing. So has roster turnover.

Really it’s just about managing it in the new era, with all the new wrinkles that entails.

“I just think it’s not as hard as you think about it as long as you just kind of redirect your vision of what college football is,” Elko said. “It’s just not the same. So now, OK, let’s move forward and let’s figure out how do we create a culture that sustains a little bit more volatility, a little bit more in and out? And you do that by creating very clear standards, very clear expectations, enforcing that throughout your program.”

Elko will get a chance to prove he can build a stable culture at Texas A&M. The Aggies could certainly use it coming off the Jimbo Fisher era.

There’s been a lot of turnover via the transfer portal in the transition, but ultimately Elko thinks it will all be for the best.

“If kids buy into what you’re doing it will limit the amount of transition for sure,” he said.

“I think just adaptability is critical to leadership. The best leaders adapt to their circumstances and adapt to changing environments and that’s what allows them to have success. You can look across the country and see new coaches having success, but you also see some guys who have been through this in a lot of different areas who are adaptable and adjustable and have kind of figured out ways to shape their programs and their organizations around what is a changing landscape in college athletics. I think that’s not something we shy away from or complain about, it’s something we embrace and we’ve got to move forward with.”