What Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said about Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard at SEC Media Days
Mike Elko made his rounds at SEC Media Days in Dallas for the first time on Thursday. Though he’s a newbie to the biggest conference-centric offseason spectacle in college football, he knew what to expect. Namely, questions about everything. Jimbo Fisher, the season-opener against Notre Dame, the culture of the 12th Man, the Texas Longhorns.
Everything.
Elko was ready for it all. So ready, in fact, he was surprised it took him getting all the way to the podium in the main ballroom at the Omni Hotel after a stint on radio row, a press conference with television reporters and one-on-ones with heavy hitters in college sports media for a question to be asked about Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard.
Elko coached Leonard for two years at Duke. The two will face off as adversaries in College Station, Texas, when the Fighting Irish make a rare trip there on Aug. 31.
“I am amazed I have gotten this far and this is the first time this question has been asked of me,” Elko said. “Him and I have joked about trying to come up with some type of scripted answer.”
Elko and Leonard are clearly still close if they’re still conversing in that manner. Why wouldn’t they be? They teamed up to have one of the most successful seasons in Blue Devils history in 2022. Duke won nine games that year, a feat only accomplished at the basketball-crazed institutions six previous times.
Leonard did everything for the Duke offense in the 9-4 campaign. He completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 2,967 yards with 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions and ran 124 times for 699 yards and 13 more scores. Notre Dame would take those numbers in a heartbeat. Elko knows he’s capable of beginning his journey toward them from the very start against his Aggies on the final day of August.
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“Listen, Riley’s a phenomenal quarterback,” Elko said. “He’s a phenomenal competitor. He obviously played a huge role in our success at Duke. And in a lot of ways me getting this job here at Texas A&M. And so the irony of playing against him in the opener certainly isn’t lost on me.”
Elko is a defensive-minded head coach. Notre Dame fans are well aware. He was the Irish’s defensive coordinator in 2017 and Texas A&M’s DC from 2018-21 before his two-year stay in Durham. He’s going to have the Aggie defense dialed up against a quarterback he knows well, from decision-making tendencies to physical feats he’s capable of.
When it comes down to it, though, Elko isn’t on the field. And he’s got a lot more on his plate than just calling a defense. Leonard has the ability to beat his old skipper while wearing a Notre Dame uniform, and Elko is adamant that he’s going to be as hungry as ever to do so.
“He’s going to do everything he possibly can to make sure he has the upper hand on me for the first of his life,” Elko said. “It’ll be a healthy competition. I have so much respect for him, his family, who he is as a young man, and so kind of wish there would be any other quarterback on the other side for the opener.”
