Most thought that Texas A&M had the right coach when they paid Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher an obscene amount of money to make the move to College Station prior to the 2018 season. And all of those people were wrong. Instead, it was the hiring of Mike Elko from Duke, which gained minimal national fanfare compared to the hiring of Fisher, that has the program undefeated in the SEC as we head into November.
The hiring of Coach Fisher was never a bad decision by Texas A&M. It was his contract that deserves eternal scrutiny. Signing a 10-year, $75 million guaranteed contract in 2018, and then a 10-year, $95 million guaranteed contract in 2021 after LSU came sniffing, Texas A&M reset coaching contracts forever. And the funny part is that they would’ve been thrilled to pay all of that if Coach Fisher actually led the Aggies to the success many assumed was coming.
But that never happened. Fisher led Texas A&M to a 45-25 record in his six seasons, which is far from embarrassing, but also far from good enough considering his salary. And that disappointment and frustration led to his firing a little more than a year ago.
This eventually led to the hiring of Coach Elko, who had gone 16-9 in two seasons at Duke after previously being the Aggies defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. This was far from the flashy hire that Coach Fisher was, but Coach Elko had quickly established himself as a promising head coach with the Blue Devils.
And Coach Elko came at a relative bargain, signing a six-year, $42 million contract. With expectations somewhat reserved before this season, which were further lessened after a season opening loss to Notre Dame, a funny thing has happened in College Station since that game.
The Aggies have now won seven straight games and are the only remaining undefeated SEC team after last nights 38-23 victory over LSU. Conference games remain at South Carolina, at Auburn and then what is shaping up to be a huge regular season finale at home against Texas. And none of this would have been possible if Coach Fisher was in charge. The flash and bravado is gone, but what has replaced that is hard-nosed, old school coaching that has resulted in success.
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Making it even more impressive is that Coach Elko has accomplished all of this despite seeing some of the Aggies top players depart via the transfer portal last winter. Defensive linemen Walter Nolen (Ole Miss), LT Overton (Alabama) and Fadil Diggs (Syracuse) are gone, wide receiver Ernie Stewart (Oregon) is gone, defensive back Jardin Gilbert (LSU) is gone. But the Aggies are better. And that is because of better coaching.
That better coaching was on full display last night, when Coach Elko decided to bench struggling starting quarterback Connor Weigman in favor of dynamic dual-threat Marcel Reed. The change in itself wasn’t surprising, but that it was made when the Aggies regained possession at the LSU 8-yard line following an interception seemed like interesting timing. Many coaches would’ve kept Weigman in the game to try and regain some confidence with a touchdown, but Coach Elko realized the opportunity and grabbed it.
On his first play Reed ran eight yards for a touchdown. The following four drives resulted in three more touchdowns and one field goal, which led the Aggies to the victory. The quarterback change not only revitalized the offense, but also the defense which suddenly began to suffocate the LSU offense. And again, that was all because of coaching.
Texas A&M has put itself in a position they envisioned they’d be in every year with Coach Fisher. But that never materialized with any consistency. But now they have the right man in charge and they are reaping the benefits. Everyone in College Station hopefully appreciates the development of a real program. Enjoy the ride Aggies’ fans.
