Mike Elko explains hiring of Tommy Moffitt as Texas A&M strength coach

The strength and conditioning coach is one of the most underrated positions on a college football staff, representing the staff member that spends the most amount of time with the players who’s also pivotal in establishing culture.

Texas A&M knocked their most recent hire at the position out of the park, with new head coach Mike Elko hiring Tommy Moffitt as the Aggies’ Director of Football Strength & Conditioning. Who is regarded as one of the nation’s premier strength and conditioning coaches with an impressive resume.

At the Aggies’ National Signing Day press conference Elko was asked what attracted him to hiring Moffitt, but what didn’t attract him may have been a better question according to the Aggies’ new head man.

“Everything,” Elko said. “I think when you talk about Tommy Moffitt you’re talking about a true legend in the strength industry and what he did over three different head football coaches at LSU and winning three national champions, and the amount of first-round draft picks that he developed, and the culture he was able to build over in Louisiana at LSU for a really long time.”

Moffitt brings over 30 years of experience in the field with him to College Station, famously spending 21 seasons on staff at LSU. During his tenure with the Tigers he spent 2000-2015 as the Strength & Conditioning Coordinator and had Assistant Athletic Director added to his title from 2016 till his final season with in 2021, seeing the program win three national championships under his oversight.

His experience is obviously a major draw, but Elko believes that his vision and desire to adapt to the current times is what really separates him from the rest.

“And then when I talked to him, just an unbelievable energy and hunger to get back an do it again,” Elko said. “And I think that was the thing that really struck me different was here’s a guy that’s done it really well for a really long time but he’s new age in his thinking.”

“He’s talking about sports science and how to integrate that into his program and he sounds like a 25-year-old trying to get his first job and when I heard that on the phone I was kind of like woah, this is the route I want to go with this,” Elko explained.

Elko inherits a Texas A&M program with just two years of collegiate head coaching experience under his belt following his previous tenure at Duke. But there’s no question that the addition of Tommy Moffitt to his staff will certainly serve as a big help as he looks to establish a new championship culture in College Station.