Mike Elko Rounds Out Texas A&M Football Staff with Another Top Recruiter

As first reported by Billy Liucci of Texags, Mike Elko has made his final hire for his initial Texas A&M football staff. Jordan Peterson (no, not that one), a former defensive back for Texas A&M football and most recently the DBs coach/co-Defensive Coordinator for the Kansas Jayhawks, is coming back home to College Station to coach in the defensive backfield for the Aggies.

Kansas fans are not happy to see Peterson go, which is always a good metric for how good a coach is. He was beloved by the fanbase and was one of the top recruiters in the whole Big 12; given that he coached at a place like Kansas, that's a pretty big deal. How poorly did Jayhawk fans react? Take a look:

Many thanks to stringsays on Twitter for compiling all those. There are more great reactions on his feed, if you wish to see some more of this kind of thing.

The Aggies originally thought they had their staff complete with Wesley McGriff; however, due to some tumult down on the Plains of Auburn, an opportunity arose for him at a location with which he was very familiar. If you believe the rumors on message boards, the departure of Ron Roberts from the Tigers' staff played a big part in McGriff's willingness to return as well.

In any case, McGriff, a longtime SEC veteran, pulled an about-face and returned back to the Tigers, prompting this search. While Peterson is not the same kind of coach as McGriff—an up-and-comer as opposed to a wily veteran—his recruiting chops are up there with the best of them, and he coached DB Cobee Bryant to a first-team All-Big 12 selection last year, as well as leading DB Kenny Logan to the All-Big 12 second team.

It's also nice that Elko now has two former Aggie players on staff: Peterson and DL coach Tony Jerod-Eddie. Bringing home a guy familiar with the program, the culture, and the in-state recruiting landscape is a huge plus in my book. Welcome, coach Peterson!