Texas A&M learned from past mistake with unsexy Mike Elko hire that looks like home run
It wasn’t flashy. It didn’t draw overflowing praise. It wasn’t the kind of move, like Texas A&M’s previous coaching hire of Jimbo Fisher, that was going to inspire immediate adulation.
But sometimes those are the best choices. So far, Mike Elko is looking like a home run, the former Duke head coach who got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Stony Brook and had stints at Fordham, Hofstra, Richmond and Bowling Green leading the Aggies to their first 5-0 start in the SE
Texas A&M didn’t have high expectations. It was picked ninth in the conference coming off a 7-6 season that included the firing of Fisher. Then, it dropped the opener of the Elko era to Notre Dame. At that point, a bowl appearance would’ve been deemed successful in College Station.
But Texas A&M hasn’t lost since, reeling off seven consecutive wins. It knocked off LSU, ranked eighth in the country at the time, on Saturday night, rallying from a 10-point deficit. It now sits alone atop the SEC, ahead of the likes of preseason championship favorites Texas and Georgia.