Simply unbelievable! The No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies were dead to rights down 30-3 at halftime, struggling mightily to the South Carolina Gamecocks. This was a game that Texas A&M teams of yesteryear would have packed up their bags and went home with their tails between their legs. Not this team, not the one being led by Mike Elko. They scored 28 unanswered to win this one, 31-30.
The was the largest comeback in program history. Texas A&M buckled down and played some good, old-fashioned great defense to stifle LaNorris Sellers in the end. South Carolina was holding on for dear life to make a bowl game. Now saddled at 3-7, there is a very good chance Shane Beamer has coached his final game in Columbia. What a collapse for the Gamecocks. What a win for the Aggies!
While Beamer is the ultimate frontrunner as a college football head coach, Elko is proving to everyone once and for all that he is undeniably a foxhole guy. Texas A&M always loses these games. When he left to take over at Duke a few years ago, the program imploded around Jimbo Fisher. It is not the least bit shocking the Aggies are effectively in the College Football Playoff field after their 10-0 start.
Extending Elko was the smartest thing the Aggies could have done, as this is only just the beginning.
Mike Elko is the difference-maker on the sidelines Texas A&M has coveted
There is nothing sexy about Elko as a head coach. He just wins games, man. He does not need a swag-copter or any of that other nonsense to entice the most impressionable of impressionables. His coaching prowess speaks for itself. In a game where everybody else would have lost their cool, Elko had his guys taking it one play at a time. You could see his counterpart in Beamer coach tight.
In the end, Elko is the perfect head coach for Texas A&M. He has coached here previously and has a strong connection to the school because of that. While Texas A&M has long been a leader in the NIL space, it is also in the state of Texas. High school football matters a ton in-state. Elko is a coach's coach, meaning if somebody has a blue-chipper, he is going to get the call other great coaches will.
What was so impressive about this win, other than it being historic of course, is this was the perfect kind of adversity a largely unproven Texas A&M team needed heading into any real serious playoff conversations. Texas A&M has recruited on a level to win a national championship. They have the players, more importantly they have the depth. Best of all, they have a head coach who could do it.
We are seeing a defensive wizard in Elko become the perfect CEO-type of coach this program needs.