Why Texas A&M football will be a perennial contender under Mike Elko; Josh Pate lays out the facts
Excitement has slowly been building around Texas A&M football and Mike Elko ever since the former Aggie defensive coordinator returned to town. Thus far, the new head man for the Ags has knocked every test out of the park, namely in hiring staffers and recruiting returns.
Obviously, though, the on-field results are currently a huge TBD. We can extrapolate some from his previous tenure in Aggieland—we know he will have a tough-nosed, fundamentally sound defense, for example—but how will the program look overall under his watch?
Josh Pate of Late Kick, for one, is bullish. Take a look at his argument for why Texas A&M football will be a top-10 program going forward over the next few years.
I have Texas A&M being a top 10 program over the next 3 seasons
— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) July 8, 2024
The haters will scoff pic.twitter.com/HgsdoLYHxn
Pate doesn’t pull any punches in his evaluation of what the program has been—he calls the Aggies the biggest underachiever in the nation of late. But this isn’t about what has been, this is about what will be. And the man steering this program into the future is far different, in Pate’s eyes, than the one who was doing it formerly.
“I have maximum belief in Mike Elko… He’s a top-level tactician on the field, no question... He showed the ability to evaluate talent at a high level… He won’t lose that ability. That staff won’t lose that ability. All they’ll do is put rocket boosters on it.”
That’s quite an optimistic evaluation of the Aggies, but not an unwarranted one. We saw how Elko and his staff got so much out of his team at Duke, despite competing against much more talented programs weekly in the ACC. If he can maximize talent in the same way in College Station, the Aggies are in great shape.
On that note, this quote sums things up well:
“Jimbo didn’t leave the cupboard bare, he just didn’t know what to do with the ingredients… Mike Elko does.”
If Elko truly can harness what Texas A&M football offers, this will no doubt be one of the best programs in the country going forward.