That’s college football for y’all! Just like the players are always leveling up, the coaches got to keep evolving too. One miss, and BOOM! They are in the hot seat. After all, we have seen how Ohio State Buckeyes HC Ryan Day had to walk on thin ice after losing to their archrivals, the Michigan Wolverines. Now there is another head coach who is also facing a similar heat.

That’s none other than the Texas A&M HC Mike Elko. Looks like it’s high time that the HC buckles up. Otherwise, Elko will have to undergo what his predecessor, Jimbo Fisher, had to go through.  

Mike Elko’s grace period won’t last long

Now all A&M fans must remember the Las Vegas Bowl mishap, as it went horribly wrong. Elko’s boys took a 24-7 lead in the third quarter. Sadly, this could keep the Texas boat floating as the USC Trojans scored four touchdowns over the final 10 minutes of the game. Not just this. It included a touchdown with only eight seconds left on the clock. With this, Elko and Co. gave away the 35-31 victory. So, in that way, it was obvious that Texas A&M struggled with playing zone coverage and even had 15-yard penalties along with struggling defense. While 2024 is over, coming off his first season, Elko can be excused. However, not for long, as hinted by the analysts on the Yahoo! Sports podcast.

Analysts Dan Wetzel, Pat Forde, and Ross Dellenger discussed the pressure cooker situation for the SEC coaches. They went in alphabetical order of the college football programs. That’s when Elko’s turn came. The pressure index for the HC is 4. “ I got a four. I think  the first year was good. You saw all the potential of what he’s going to be able to do, and I put it at four because Texas is so good,” Wetzel said. However, the ceiling is pretty high for Elko.

Now, the program is not shy about spending money. That Jimbo Fisher buyout? $76 million. This shows you how fast they pull the trigger when things don’t go right. After six seasons, he was out. So, yeah, Elko’s in a serious no-win situation. Plus, their in-state rivals Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns making it to the playoffs further raises the heat on Mike Elko’s seat. Wetzel tried to take things easy with the HC. He stated, “You don’t have to match Texas this year. You might want to beat him. But next year, I think you know the real judgment comes in year three…this guy’s in his second season let’s deal with it.” Another analyst came up with a brutal reality check.

“Dan, this is the SEC. There’s no reason,” stated Dellenger. Followed by Forde’s reminder, “They paid a $78 million buyout to a Coach.” So, no matter how good the first season looked like under Elko, he failed to win the national championship title, not ending the 75-year drought. Thus Dan Wetzel stated, “There’s a lot of good things happening, but you’re just not probably gonna win the national title this year. Oh, well like when did you win the National Title?” Here comes some more wake-up calls for Elko.  

Is history repeating itself under Elko? 

The Texas A&M HC is on his way to making it big in the recruiting race. Already things look good in the A&M players roster. They are now running strong with two 5-star additions—WR Jerome Myles and OT Lamont Rogers. Plus, as far as the recruiting class is concerned, Elko’s class ranks at No.7 with 25 commits on board. Not bad, isn’t it folks? Hold on! Now all that shines is not gold.

Texas A&M has been compared in the light of big shots like Alabama and LSU on the Cover 3 Podcast. The question lay—“Why can Texas A&M not match resources to results?” That’s where the cracks got exposed. Analyst Buff Elliot replied, “I don’t think their under-the-table booster structure was quite as organized as some places that Nick Saban has gone or was coaching at. LSU and Alabama seemed to really kind of get their act together after he started coaching there.” So, the problem with Elko’s program lies in channeling the money in the right place.

Turns out, the Aggies’ adjusted NIL value during the transfer process sits at $132K. Now this surely looks pale as compared to their SEC counterparts. In 2024, the Crimson Tide football team brought in $13 million for NIL. Even in this case, Mike Elko failed to ward off the Jimbo Fisher tradition. Even in Fisher’s time, the NIL looked good on pen and paper. But gradually the wheels fell off. Only six out of the initial 30 signees are still at College Station until 2024, with 23 leaving after minimal playing time. No time for slow burns—Elko needs to fire up results by his second year.