Elko led the Aggies to an 11-2 record and a berth in the College Football Playoff in 2025
Last season was one for the ages in College Station as the Texas A&M Aggies turned in their best effort in over 30 years under the leadership of head coach Mike Elko.
As a result, the Aggies' head coach has been named a finalist for the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year Award. The winner will be announced later this month.
Elko led a talented Aggies team that entered the top ten in mid-September and remained there all season.
They finished with an 11-2 record (7-1 in conference play) and a berth in the College Football Playoff. Texas A&M reeled off 11 consecutive victories for the first time since 1992.
Not too shabby when you consider that the Aggies were picked to finish eighth in the league by the media at SEC Media Days in July.
The performance of Elko's Aggies set an average home attendance record of 106,159 fans in the seats.
Under Elko's defensive mindset, Texas A&M fielded a defense ranked in the top-3 nationally in sacks and tackles for loss. The Aggies led the nation in opponents' third-down conversions as opposing offenses kept their drives alive only 22.89 percent of the time.
Elko began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Stony Brook. He had many stickers on his luggage after several coaching stops that included a stint as the defensive backs coach at his alma mater, Penn, in 2000.
Other notable coaching stops in his career include Notre Dame in 2017 as the defensive coordinator.
From the Fighting Irish, Elko was hired as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M under Jimbo Fisher from 2018 to 2021. In 2021, Elko's defense ranked in the top ten in the FBS in scoring defense and opponents' red zone conversions. That led to him being hired as the head coach for the Duke Blue Devils.
At Duke, Elko posted a 16-9 record and was 2-0 in bowl games. When Fisher was fired and handed a multi-million-dollar buyout not to do his job, Elko got the call and was hired as Fisher's replacement.
In two seasons since, Elko has posted a 19-7 record.
The 2026 season looks promising as starters Marcel Reed, Rueben Owens and Mario Craver have announced they will return to play for Elko. With that kind of offensive skill returning, Elko could be a finalist for the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year Award again next season.