Texas A&M’s expensive decision to fire Jimbo Fisher in the middle of a 10-year extension has paid off so far, and new head coach Mike Elko seemingly criticized the program that Fisher constructed following their win Saturday — and used his press conference to advertise what the program has become since he took over.
“I think it’s the way we talk to the young people,” Elko told reporters after Texas A&M defeated LSU and entered Sunday in first place in the SEC standings. “I think the things that we talk about, the messaging, how we bring really good people into the building. We talk about doing things together. We talk about culture. And everyone talks about it, but then we go out and we live it every day. And I think we back up our actions.
“We’re very honest. We’re very open. This is a real program. It’s not fake. It’s not a politician running this program, talking fast and BS-ing everybody. This is a real program. And for all the recruits out there, this is a real place, and if you want to be really good at football, this is a really good place to be.”
Elko served as Fisher’s defensive coordinator from 2018-21 before getting hired by Duke as its head coach, collecting a 16-9 record and a bowl win across two seasons with the Blue Devils.
And during that second campaign, the vacancy with the Aggies opened up amid another underwhelming year with Fisher in charge.
In a competitive, and soon to be expanding, SEC, Texas A&M followed up a 5-7 record in 2022 with a 6-4 start in 2023, and after the Aggies defeated Mississippi State, the university fired Fisher despite the eight years remaining on his deal and the buyout worth nearly $77 million.
That, then, allowed for a reunion with Elko.
His first season has been filled with mostly success, including their 38-23 win over No. 8 LSU on Saturday that could shift the No. 14-ranked Aggies into the top 10 when the Associated Press releases its next rankings.
They lost their opener to Notre Dame back in September, but Elko has since helped orchestrate two wins against top-10 opponents — the Tigers on Saturday, then-No. 9 Missouri two weeks ago — to get the Aggies closer to the peak of college football’s rankings.
Against the Tigers, Texas A&M ran for 242 yards and five touchdowns, with three from Marcel Reed and two from Le’Veon Moss.
The Aggies will face South Carolina, New Mexico State and Auburn the next three weeks before closing the regular season with a showdown against No. 5 Texas, who was undefeated before a loss to Georgia last week and remains a College Football Playoff contender.
And the Aggies, under Elko, have quickly emerged as one with their revamped program, too.
He didn’t hesitate to mention that Saturday.
