Texas A&M Football: Elko Steals Top Assistant from Division Rival

Elko Snags New DB Coach for Texas A&M Football From Auburn

Mike Elko has reinforced the coaching position in the defensive backfield for Texas A&M football, adding CB coach Wesley McGriff to accompany Ish Aristide. Billy Liucci was first to report the news.

McGriff has been all over the SEC; Kentucky, Vandy, Ole Miss, Auburn, Florida, you name it. He spent two years with the New Orleans Saints as their defensive backs coach from 2013-2015, and has twice been a defensive coordinator (both with Ole Miss).

McGriff's bona fides lie in the realm of recruiting, where he is an absolute stud. He has a #1 overall recruit on his resume in Robert Nkemdiche , and pulled in several other highly-rated DBs in his time both in Oxford and with the Miami Hurricanes.

The defensive backs were the strength of Auburn's team this year, which is a pattern wherever McGriff goes. He's not only a top recruiter, but a developer of talent as well.

The interesting question with this is what will be done with Bryant Gross-Armiento. Coach "BGA" had begun as an analyst for the Aggies in the secondary before being promoted to coach the secondary alongside TJ Rushing in an on-field role. There had been word circulating that the Aggies would keep him around, given his rising star in the recruiting world and the fact that Elko had some familiarity with him as well.

With this hire, though, unless Gross-Armiento returns to an off-field role or rotates to a different position, there's not much room for him on the staff, it would appear. It might make sense, given the way the secondary performed this year, that Elko decided it was best for the team to start over from scratch with the coaching in the back end of the defense.

Welcome to Aggieland, Coach McGriff!