Texas A&M football is on the rise under Mike Elko, which many around the nation are recognizing in increasing measure after the Aggies' 11-2 season in 2025. With the Aggies set to once again be a preseason top 10 team in 2026, even after losing so much experience off the team, Texas A&M is on a trajectory to be a top program for years to come.
This is all due to the vision and acumen of the man at the head of the program, Mike Elko. The Aggies are beginning to wake from their "sleeping giant" status at least, as Elko looks to have found a way to actualize all the potential in College Station.
For this reason, many are pretty high on him as a coach going forward— even higher than they are on Steve Sarkisian down in Austin, for understandable reasons. However, many Longhorn fans are having a heck of a lot of trouble grasping this reality.
Outkick's Trey Wallace declares Mike Elko a better coach than Steve Sarkisian, leading to Longhorns' ire
Trey Wallace of Outkick joined SEC Mike on his podcast recently, and declared Mike Elko to be the better coach between the two. You can hear his reasoning in the clip below:
Who is the better head coach, Steve Sarkisian or Mike Elko?
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) March 15, 2026
"Mike Elko. Elko is a better CEO.
"I look at a head coach now in college athletics as someone who can delegate roles and be the CEO of a program and make the tough decisions."
Full show: https://t.co/6v7pRMZJWd pic.twitter.com/5Y5n1JDbza
That's pretty sound, and lines up well with what we know. The rumors of Sark's much-diminished role compared to the average college coach were rampant this past fall, while Elko is in complete control of his program. No detail escapes his attention, while the same can't be said of Sark.
Longhorns will no doubt point to the record between the two in the two years since their teams have played, but that's an overly simplistic argument. If you want to talk about records, Elko inherited a team in a worse place than Sark did— a completely empty cupboard off a six-loss season for Elko, and a preseason ranked team for Sarkisian coming off a three-loss season— and managed a far better record in year one (8-5 in the SEC versus 5-7 in the Big 12), as well as in year two.
The total context and current direction of each program favor Elko pretty clearly. The odds are that Sarkisian will underachieve again this year, and Elko will once again have the Aggies punching above their weight— and with how this year's team is shaping up, that could mean national title contention for A&M.