Mike Elko opens up on how difficult leaving Duke was

Texas A&M hired Duke head coach Mike Elko to the same role in College Station, bringing home the man that was the program’s defensive coordinator from 2018-21.

But it wasn’t necessarily a clear-cut decision to leave for Elko. He was asked about how easy a move it was and gave a thoughtful answer.

“How easy? I think every decision is really easy and really hard,” Elko said. “I think if you’re true to yourself professionally, chasing this opportunity, coming to this great program, great institution, that’s easy. When you think about leaving relationships, leaving people, the strain and stress it puts on your family, it’s really hard.”

Elko spent only two years at Duke, but he had remarkable success in winning 16 games during that span. Duke finished tied for second in the ACC Coastal division in 2022.

The new Texas A&M coach will walk into a place now with enormous expectations. Championship expectations, as Texas A&M’s leadership puts it.

For Elko, the expectations are perfectly suitable. He wants to chase greatness.

“As a coach you’re always caught in this back-and-forth pull, and I’m very thankful that I’ve got a very supportive family that backs me and backs my career and the things we want to do to chase my dreams to some degree, and that’s ultimately what gets us here,” Elko said.

Mike Elko’s contract incentive-based

One thing that makes Texas A&M’s desire to compete for championships readily apparent is the contract structure it has adopted for Elko.

Elko will make $7 million a year in base salary. Then he can make between $1 million and $3.5 million in additional bonuses based on how far into the College Football Playoff the Aggies advance.

Athletics director Ross Bjork explained the reasoning behind that contract structure.

“With the CFP expanding to 12 teams and given where we are, given our resources, given the commitment to football — that if we have the right coach and the right plan that we should be in the hunt every year for those playoff spots,” Bjork said. “That’s how we looked at it. We know there’s got to be a base salary. But then the rest of it is based off making and earning your way through the CFP.”