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Texas A&M Football

Texas A&M to hire Duke's Mike Elko as head football coach

After just two seasons as leading the Duke Blue Devils, Mike Elko is returning to College Station to become the 30th head football coach in Texas A&M history. After a four-year stint as A&M's defensive coordinator, Elko is 16-9 in Durham.
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Mike Elko, the current Duke head coach and former Texas A&M defensive coordinator, will become the next head football coach at Texas A&M.

TexAgs' co-owner and executive editor Billy Liucci reported the news on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.

Elko, 46, was 16-9 in his two seasons in Durham. Seven of those nine defeats have come by one score or less. Prior to his arrival, Duke's last winning season was an 8-5 campaign in 2018 that culminated in an Independence Bowl victory.

This year, the Blue Devils broke into the AP top 25 following a 4-0 start, but after losing starting quarterback Riley Leonard to injury, Duke slumped to a 7-5 record -- including one-score losses to then-No. 11 Notre Dame and at then-No. 24 North Carolina.

Though a defensive coach by trade, Elko’s offense averaged 32.8 points to rank 32nd in the nation in scoring in 2022. This season the Blue Devils averaged 27.5 points to rank 67th in the nation. Again, Duke was without Leonard most of the season.

Prior to earning his first head coaching job at Duke, Elko spent four seasons guiding A&M's defense after joining Jimbo Fisher's staff in 2018. His defenses finished ranked No. 9 (317.3) and No. 14 (328.6) nationally in yards allowed in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Elko's 2020 unit assisted the Aggies in winning the 2021 Capital One Orange Bowl and a No. 4 finish in the AP poll.

A native of South Brunswick, New Jersey, Elko played safety at the University of Penn and helped the Quakers win the Ivy League crown as a senior in 1998.

After his playing career, Elko became a graduate assistant at Stony Brook in 1999 before returning to his alma mater to coach defensive backs in 2000. Stints at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (2001), Fordham (2002-2003), Richmond (2004-2005) and Hofstra (2006-2008) followed.

Elko got his first Division I FBS coaching experience when he joined Dave Clawson's staff at Bowling Green in 2009. When Clawson departed for Wake Forest after the 2013 campaign, Elko joined his staff in Winston-Salem.

In three seasons at Wake Forest, Elko's defenses ranked inside the top 50 twice, including a no. 24 standing in 2016. Off of that success, Elko had a one-year stop at Notre Dame under Brian Kelly in 2017 before coming to College Station ahead of the 2018 campaign.

Elko will have access to better athletes at A&M. A major reason for that is he’ll be reunited with ace recruiter Elijah Robinson, who has served as A&M’s interim head coach since Fisher’s dismissal. Robinson was the defensive tackles coach on Elko’s defensive staff.

Following a 42-30 loss to LSU on Saturday, Robinson expressed his desire to remain at A&M in some capacity. He figures to be retained by Elko.

Set to become the 30th head coach in A&M history, Elko is expected to be introduced as early as Monday, and the terms of his contract have yet to be released.

64 Comments
Discussion from:
Texas A&M to hire Duke's Mike Elko as head football coach
106,759 Views | 64 Replies
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DTuba
4:20p, 11/26/23
Has he accepted it yet? Duke247 says he hasn't decided yet.
texag0928
4:27p, 11/26/23
Gig 'em, Coach Elko!!
rocky the dog
4:31p, 11/26/23
Elections are when people find out what politicians stand for, and politicians find out what people will fall for.
agcivengineer
4:33p, 11/26/23
I support Elko. Let's Gig em!
Fatboy Thaddeus
4:33p, 11/26/23
TheGreatEscape
4:34p, 11/26/23
Bust out your Texas Aggies caps!
ToddyHill
4:37p, 11/26/23
I honestly didn't think he'd leave Duke. A couple of times he said how much his family loves Duke and living in Durham. Regardless, I'm pleased with the hire!

lilsbrokeski
4:51p, 11/26/23
I can get behind this hire!
Oldfart2
4:51p, 11/26/23
First official duty is fire addazio
ABATTBQ87
5:00p, 11/26/23
Elko 46
RC was 45 when he took over in 1989

The last 3 coaches to win conference championships were: Gene Stallings aged 32; JS was 42, and RC was 47
SoCalTexAg
5:05p, 11/26/23
We completed a legitimate search and ended up coming full circle to a great choice. And dittos to the earlier comment that when he left for Duke, we had let the wrong coach exit. And hopefully this is a heavily incentive based contract.
I've always preferred a more D minded coach, though I think his O will be formidable. Long love Coach Elko.
big red dog
5:16p, 11/26/23
In reply to PyriteAg
PyriteAg said:

Great hire, but fire Bjork.

It's beyond stupid we had to """""""""help"""""""""" him making this obvious choice over Stoops.


Time foe sip idiots like you f off and go gobble on knobs as you do.
big red dog
5:17p, 11/26/23
Solid hire. Very happy to see this. Hoping Erob is DC.
Ag in ATL
5:37p, 11/26/23
Now was that really so difficult?
Deus Vult
5:39p, 11/26/23
In reply to TexasLeaguer
TexasLeaguer said:

Nothings official until TexAgs' posters say it's official. We good boys?

You must have went to bed early last night.
OHAg82
6:20p, 11/26/23
15 mil/year guaranteed for 15 years? ***king rediculous.
DGrimesAg92
6:41p, 11/26/23
NO FAKE PLAQUES!!!!!!
Hubert J. Farnsworth
7:26p, 11/26/23
Are they positive that Elijah Robinson is going to stick around?
aggiepanic95
7:30p, 11/26/23
If so, excellent hire.
Cotton79
8:13p, 11/26/23
In reply to SoCalTexAg
SoCalTexAg said:

We completed a legitimate search and ended up coming full circle to a great choice. And dittos to the earlier comment that when he left for Duke, we had let the wrong coach exit. And hopefully this is a heavily incentive based contract.
I've always preferred a more D minded coach, though I think his O will be formidable. Long love Coach Elko.
I agree completely, SoCalTexAg. Your preference for D-minded coaches parallels exactly with a piece Olin Buchanan wrote in the past few days. Our best successes in recent years have been with D-minded coaches (Sherrill and Slocum), while our last four - Fran, Sherman, Sumlin, & Jimbo - were offensive-minded. (I was at Aggieland when we had "Mad Dog" Melvin Robertson as our D Coordinator for Emory Bellard in the mid-70s. Talk about some nasty defenses!! ... Be still my heart!)

Going back to a coach with DEFENSE in his DNA makes me quite happy with this hire. Plus, look at Elko's Duke team offensive stats; they've improved immensely on that side of the ball, too.

This is an excellent hire.

Gig'em, Mike Elko!
Welcome (back) to Aggieland!!
StinkyPinky
8:51p, 11/26/23
Page too

We kept your seat warm coach. Thrilled to see you on the sideline again. Give 'em hell!
sharpdressedman
10:31p, 11/26/23
Excellent choice!
The Agly Duckling
10:50p, 11/26/23
I'm jacked up. Elko oozes competence and intelligence.
Fanatic15...Drs2B!
8:35a, 11/27/23
Regarding Elko's record at Duke: "7 of those 9 defeats have come by 1 score or less".

Unfortunately, that is reminiscent of Jimbo's record over the final 2 years here.

I hope we didn't just hire someone who will continue to fail at closing out and winning close games.
torrid
9:17a, 11/27/23
With any luck, his buyout in a few years should be half of what they're paying Jimbo.
Ringo88
10:58a, 11/27/23
In reply to Propane & Accessories
Underrated post. I applaud the reference.
AgOutsideAustin
11:00a, 11/27/23
In reply to Fanatic15...Drs2B!
Fanatic15...Drs2B! said:

Regarding Elko's record at Duke: "7 of those 9 defeats have come by 1 score or less".

Unfortunately, that is reminiscent of Jimbo's record over the final 2 years here.

I hope we didn't just hire someone who will continue to fail at closing out and winning close games.



Huh ? Not even the same as Jimbo lost those games with better talent in year six.


Take a poll of Ags asking who do you want coaching the second half Jimbo or Elko and I'll wait………
Matsui
11:18a, 11/27/23
Welcome Back!
torrid
5:23p, 11/27/23
In reply to DGrimesAg92
DGrimesAg92 said:

NO FAKE PLAQUES!!!!!!


Gets a blank check for the inevitable buyout instead.
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