Texas A&M hiring Duke’s Mike Elko as subsequent head coach: Sources

By Bruce Feldman, Nicole Auerbach and Sam Khan Jr.

Texas A&M is anticipated to rent Duke’s Mike Elko as its subsequent head coach, sources briefed on the hiring course of advised The Athletic. Right here’s what that you must know:

• Elko is 16-9 in two seasons as Duke’s head coach and spent 2018-21 as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator.
• The Aggies fired head coach Jimbo Fisher amid a 7-5 marketing campaign that included seven consecutive losses in video games determined by one rating and a nine-game street dropping streak.
• Elko had additionally been linked to the Michigan State emptiness till final weekend, when he knowledgeable Duke that he meant to remain, two sources briefed on the choice advised The Athletic. But when the A&M brass was severe about Elko, sources anticipated him to be receptive.

Why Elko suits at Texas A&M

From the start of this search, Elko stood out as one of the crucial smart candidates on the board. He spent 4 years because the Aggies’ defensive coordinator and fielded constantly good defenses there. He constructed a status as a no-nonsense coach on the sphere and a personable one off of it who associated properly to gamers and recruits.

Elko is a pointy thoughts with a different background, with assistant coach stints within the FCS, the MAC and the ACC in addition to a season at Notre Dame earlier than becoming a member of A&M. He has succeeded in all places he has been. Since taking his first head teaching job at Duke, he has instantly turned the Blue Devils round, taking them to back-to-back bowls, solely the second coach in class historical past to take action. That head teaching expertise was paramount for the Aggies, who’ve championship aspirations and needed somebody who might elevate the immense expertise they’ve.

His data of Texas A&M and the roster, mixed together with his disciplined and arranged strategy, might assist the Aggies flip issues round rapidly after a messy end to the Jimbo Fisher period. — Sam Khan Jr., school soccer senior author

Required studying

• Duke, a soccer college? The person behind the resurgent, gridiron Blue Devils
• Jimbo Fisher’s failures left Texas A&M properly wanting nationwide championship desires
• Why Mike Elko and Duke soccer discovered a match for the Blue Devils’ uphill climb
• How Texas A&M pays Jimbo Fisher’s $77.6 million buyout, the biggest in school soccer historical past

(Picture: Justin Casterline / Getty Photos)