Texas A&M football: Elko not a fan of proposed rule to eliminate walk-ons from roster

Texas A&M football head coach Mike Elko speaks out against proposed rule to eliminate walk-on programs: "Strongly against it"

One of the biggest traditions associated with Texas A&M football is the legend of the 12th Man. If you've been to a game in College Station, you've likely seen the statue of E. King Gill outside Kyle Field—even if you've only ever watched on TV, you're liable to have heard this referenced or outright explained at one time or another.

The fact is that this is one of the most recognizable and famous traditions associated with the sport, as well as one of the foremost of A&M's laundry list thereof. Though it has its roots all the way back in the day with Gill, Jackie Sherrill's all-walk-on kickoff coverage team was a huge piece of what kept it in the public consciousness.

Given this fact, it makes sense that walk-ons are a big part of A&M's football culture more generally. During Jimbo Fisher's time, the #12 jersey was always given to a player who was a current or former walk-on. In the game against Prairie View last year, interim Elijah Robinson sent out an all-walk-on kickoff team in what became a great moment at Kyle.

There is a proposed rule change in the works in College Football that could throw a wrench into the works here. While the rule would end scholarship limits, it would place a hard cap on a team depending on the sport—meaning that you can dispense 85 scholarships however you want throughout the team, but you are not allowed to go over that number.

This would mean the end of walk-on programs. Given the importance of such programs to schools like A&M and others, you can imagine that this is an unpopular rule with certain coaches, and Elko was not afraid to make his opinion heard on the matter.

I personally think this is a misguided rule change. I get the angle of wanting to free up some of the arbitrary restrictions around scholarships, but I don't think this is the way to do it. Hopefully, something else can be figured out soon.