After the firing of Brian Kelly, thanks to Texas A&M's complete beatdown of the Tigers in Death Valley, this is shaping up to be one of the wildest coaching carousels in recent memory. LSU, Penn State, and Florida are all open, and there are several other jobs that could come open soon, including Auburn and Florida State.
That's not even to mention a job like Arkansas, which would be a pretty intriguing one in its own right. In that same class are jobs like Baylor (where the fans are growing increasingly disillusioned with Dave Aranda), Virginia Tech, or Ole Miss (if Lane Kiffin does indeed depart).
With so many openings emerging around the country and more no doubt set to show up over the next few weeks, the brass for Texas A&M needs to move quickly. They may have gotten Mike Elko for a bargain after the Fisher fiasco, but they need to make sure that he's well-compensated for what he's accomplished so far.
Texas A&M must act quickly over bye week to extend Mike Elko
Elko came here on an incentive-laden contract where the base pay was not quite as high as some other coaches in the conference, but he's quickly outstripped any and all expectations for this early part of his tenure. There's still yet more season to go, obviously, and November was unkind to the Aggies last year, but with Texas A&M well-positioned to be a top playoff contender, his name is drawing a lot of eyes given his contract's current status.
This is why the Aggies must move quickly to lock him in. The idea of an incentive-laden contract is a positive, but I don't think the Ags are here because Elko is grinding for the monetary bonus he would get from a playoff appearance— they're here because he's an excellent coach who has instilled an excellent culture.
The bye week is the perfect time for Texas A&M to do this. The Aggies don't play again until November 8, and so the decision-makers at the university should take advantage of this down period to get a deal done quickly— the longer they wait, the more hopeful and aggressive other schools will become in their pursuit of Elko. As unlikely as it seems that he may leave College Station, I think a lot more fans would rest easy at night if an extension were announced here presently.