Mike Elko on finding success with NIL: 'Nobody wants to give away the formula'

It’s the question floating over pretty much every FBS college football coach these days, especially those at Power 4 programs: How do you get your arms around NIL and the transfer portal?

And while a more formalized and professional process could be emerging with the House v. NCAA lawsuit and proposed settlement, coaches like Texas A&M’s Mike Elko are still left to sort out what works best for them, and what’s institutionally tolerable. Various programs have varying success, but Elko noted none are lining up to share their secrets.

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“Ooh, gosh, I don’t know that anyone knows how to handle NIL and the transfer portal right now,” Elko said in response to a question about asking mentors for advice on the matter during his weekly radio show. “I think everybody’s just trying to wing it, a little bit. But no, I think NIL is interesting, because nobody wants to give away the formula. So I think everybody is working in their own, individual silos, trying to come up with the plan to give their university an advantage. And we’re certainly no different.”

Elko did say that there are a handful of people he can occasionally have some back channel conversations with, but the general vibe is teams are left to their own devices when it comes to handling NIL, in particular.

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“I think there’s some people that you trust that you have conversations with behind the scenes about what you can do, what’s possible, what are they doing, what are they hearing, and so you certainly do that,” Elko said.

The transfer portal, he said, is a bit more manageable, and can be treated much like high school recruiting does.

And Elko gave a shoutout to two key staffers who help the Aggies out in identifying and pursuing the right transfers.

“And then from the transfer portal standpoint, I think we just try to stay true to our process,” Elko said. “I think when you think about the transfer portal, we have a plan of attack in how we go about recruiting. We try to apply that same thing to the transfer portal. Derek Miller’s here, Allen Gaudet’s here, they play a huge role with that in our scouting department so they sort of run that show.”