Mike Elko smacks down wild NIL rumor about star transfer wide receiver

An eye-popping number about one of Texas A&M's key players for next season was circulating recently, but Mike Elko made no bones about how he saw it.
Nov 30, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts during the second half against the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns defeated the Aggies 17-7. at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
Nov 30, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts during the second half against the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns defeated the Aggies 17-7. at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

KC Concepcion is set to be one of the most important players for Texas A&M football next season. The star wide receiver, a transfer from NC State, comes to the Aggies after two highly productive years up in Raleigh, and was one of the most highly-coveted players in the transfer portal.

In this modern era of college football, then, this means that most fans conclude that he will command a high amount of leverage when it comes to NIL compensation. So no one was surprised when a number began circulating recently of 2.5MM total compensation for Concepcion in this upcoming year.

As a matter of fact, I took that reporting to mean that the Aggies were taking the next step to be competitive in the NIL space. There's a lot that's still opaque about amounts that certain players are earning, and the lack of transparency makes things difficult, but it didn't seem out of the question that Concepcion could be earning that much from the collective and other deals.

Mike Elko dismisses rumored, eye-popping NIL amount for KC Concepcion: "He does not have that much money"

However, Mike Elko at a coach's night last night had some definitive words about such rumors.

This does not necessarily mean that the Aggies are not competitive on the NIL front: I don't think that they would have a guy like Concepcion on the team if they weren't competitive. It clearly is not their entire pitch to any recruit, unlike certain schools.

But it's good for Elko to address these things in one way, because it can lead to other recruits being of the belief that, if they are offered less, they are being lowballed. If that's not the case, then it doesn't help anyone.

This was a smart move by Elko to dismiss this rumor. It's hard to be upfront as a modern college football program, but the strategic way that Elko is doing so is paying off.