Texas A&M football DC Jay Bateman has made his decision about his future
Jay Bateman is a name that Texas A&M football fans have been somewhat down on as of late. The Aggie defense didn't look the part of an Elko-coached unit this past season, and fans were quick to blame it on the Aggie DC.
Though there was some confusion earlier in the year as to whether this was a Jimbo Fisher-Darrell Dickey situation, where the head coach is the play caller and system architect while the coordinator only has input, it became clear down the stretch that it was indeed Bateman running the show on that side of the ball— making him the target of some Aggie fans' ire.
After the Las Vegas bowl against USC, too, Mike Elko had some pretty pointed comments about the unit, such that it seemed eminently possible that he would be moving on from Bateman sooner rather than later.
Though no firing announcement was made, it seemed like changes were definitely incoming. The talk recently is that Elko will be taking over defensive play calling and allowing Bateman to focus on more front-seven work, which is his specialty.
However, such a move could clearly ruffle feathers— though it's not a demotion on paper, it could certainly be perceived that way. That's why it wasn't a surprise to hear last night that Bateman was considering another opportunity as Virginia Tech's defensive coordinator.
This is a move that would make a lot of sense in certain ways, but it now appears that it won't be happening. At whose behest, it is not entirely clear, but VT has moved on to another coach as their main target at DC according to Pete Thamel.
That means— at least for now— that Bateman is remaining in College Station. If nothing else, this is a boon for the Aggies' recruiting, as he is clearly a plus in that department. With Elko set to be the play caller on that side of the ball next year, this could end up being an ideal setup in any case.