Rece Davis: Texas A&M hit a home run with Mike Elko hire

Mike Elko is barely getting his feet wet as head coach at Texas A&M — but high expectations are already surrounding his hire.

According to ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis, those expectations are well warranted, as he expects big things from the former Aggie defensive coordinator during his tenure in College Station.

“From Ross Bjork’s standpoint, and from A&M’s standpoint, they hit a home-run here,” Davis said on the College GameDay podcast. “Honesty compels me to say, I thought the same thing when they hired Jimbo [Fisher], but even though he worked for Jimbo, he’s a completely different guy as we’ve outlined here.

“I think it is an absolute home run hire, and probably one that is a more creative approach to hire than what appeared to be his initial attempt to hire him.”

Elko was the eventual hire over the likes of Kentucky‘s Mark Stoops, Kansas‘ Lance Leipold, and UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, among others, were all heavily considered alongside Elko. Stoops was even reportedly set to accept to Aggies’ job before a seemingly last-minute collapse in negotiations. That set Elko up perfectly to swoop in for a triumphant return to College Station.

“I think Mark Stoops is a terrific football coach,” Davis continued. “But because of the challenges that I’ve outlined earlier, maybe an Elko, who might look at things in different ways because of the varied experiences and also because he has actually been at A&M — which is a not for long — but he was there and that is a different place … He would have he would have made A&M much, much better.

“But this higher is both both really smart and a home run and from a background fit, perspective and a little outside the box. It’s just enough outside the box to have a chance to be really successful.”

The new Texas A&M head coach’s contract details have been revealed as well, which will see Elko given a base salary of $7 million — but athletic director Ross Bjork made sure to make the contract incentive-based as he expects his new headman to lead his team to SEC Championships, College Football Playoff and beyond. Those incentives range from a $1 million payout for making the CFP to a $3.5 million bonus for winning the whole thing with several other stipulations in between.

Whether Elko can lead the Aggies to the CFP as it expands to 12 teams in 2024, or if Texas A&M has a ways to go remains to be seen. If one thing is for sure, expect an overhaul in College Station as Elko looks to shape the Aggies in his vision.