Texas A&M Football: 3 candidates to replace Mike Elko as DC

The Texas A&M football team may choose to fill Mike Elko’s role with an outside candidate

I’m doing this slide obligatorily, as I believe that Jimbo Fisher will hire from within for the defensive coordinator spot. Texas A&M has one of the best defensive coaching staffs in the entire country, so there’s really no reason to venture elsewhere here.

There’s also the factor that most of the best outside hires have already been taken by other schools. Fisher has a good system in place — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

An outside hire will likely come in to fill the role of whoever takes on the Aggies’ defensive coordinator job. That said, the possibility of hiring an outsider to take over the defensive coordinator spot cannot be ruled out. I’ll reference Penn State again, who hired Manny Diaz, former Miami head coach, as its defensive coordinator.

Derek Mason, Auburn DC: There are a few candidates who could replace Elko, but I think Mason seems like a natural choice here. For starters, he’s already a strong recruiter in an important area for the Southeastern Conference. Even though the Aggies may already finish with the top overall class, it couldn’t hurt to bolster recruiting a bit.

Mason was head coach at Vanderbilt for a while and it didn’t work out — he’d get the boot after a 27-55 overall record including an 0-2 bowl record. That said, he’s an undeniably great assistant coach.

This was on display at Stanford for a few years and he showed it at Auburn. Specifically, his Iron Bowl performance, where his team held Alabama to just ten points in regulation, put his name back on the map.

That said, Mason is a good fit — is he really the best the Aggies can do though? Once again, I’d expect the Texas A&M football team to hire from the inside here, but keep an eye on Mason as a potential outside suitor.