Texas A&M Football: Ripples of Mike Elko’s departure already happening

The Texas A&M football team lost its most valuable asset outside of Jimbo Fisher this month when defensive coordinator Mike Elko left the program to become the head coach for the Duke football team.

Much like the news of players like Isaiah Spiller, Jalen Wydermyer, Kenyon Green, and DeMarvin Leal, Elko’s departure was upsetting but not surprising. The former Aggie DC consistently had one of the best defenses in the nation in College Station, finishing with the 3rd-ranked unit in the country in 2021.

There are obvious on-field and recruiting implications with this move. That said, few probably considered the fact that Elko may bring certain members of Jimbo Fisher’s staff with him to coach at Duke. Well, that just happened.

Former Texas A&M football DC Mike Elko has already poached one of Jimbo Fisher’s assistant coaches

The silver lining here is that when it comes to coaching staff losses, this one isn’t too bad for Jimbo Fisher. With his move to Durham, Elko will be bringing along a young assistant in Harland Bower, a now-former defensive analyst for the Aggies.

For Elko, this is a pretty big acquisition for a Duke football team that… well, completely stinks.

Even though they would have liked to see both of these coaches remain at their respective posts in College Station, they’ll be happy to see Duke find success.

While Bower’s departure won’t have the most profound impact on this team, it’s a sign of things to come for the Aggies. This may not be the last assistant to be taken from the Texas A&M football team — this will be a storyline to keep an eye on for the remainder of the 2022 offseason.

As things stand, Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M will still be looking for a candidate to replace Mike Elko at the defensive coordinator spot. The program hasn’t released a shortlist, but a few names seem like obvious options that Jimbo Fisher could potentially reach out to for the position.

Either way, A&M looks like they might be headed for a small rebuild in 2022 before exploding onto the college football scene with help from their nation-leading 2022 recruiting class.