Texas A&M reaches agreement with Duke's Mike Elko as next head football coach: reports

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Texas A&M has found its next head football coach as Duke’s Mike Elko has reportedly reached an agreement to become the Aggies’ next lead man, per multiple reports.

The move is expected to be made official in the next 24 hours, per ESPN. Elko also talked to his team about the potential move on Sunday.

It’s a reunion for Elko, who left the Aggies’ program to become the head football coach for the Blue Devils two years ago. Duke is 16-9 with Elko at the helm with a Military Bowl win in 2022.

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Duke head coach Mike Elko runs onto the field before the game against Clemson in Durham, North Carolina, on Sept. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

The Blue Devils finished their 2023 regular season with a 30-19 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday. 

Elko joined Texas A&M as their defensive coordinator in 2018 after holding the same post at Notre Dame in 2017 and Wake Forest from 2014 to 2016. He was in place for the Aggies during a good period of football that included a 9-1 season in 2020 and an Orange Bowl win.

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However, once he left in 2021, the Aggies have faltered on the gridiron, leading to Jimbo Fisher’s eventual departure this season. Texas A&M finished the year 7-5 after losing to LSU, 42-30, on Saturday.

While Fisher was having trouble at A&M, Elko was turning the tides at Duke. They went 9-4 in his first season, which earned them that bowl game.

Duke head coach Mike Elko leads the team onto the field during the game against UConn, September 23, 2023, at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. (Williams Paul/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

While the results weren’t the same this season, Elko saw his team take down Clemson early in the season to prove the Blue Devils were not a team to mess around with. They went 4-0 to start the year before falling to Notre Dame. 

The Blue Devils would love to have Elko in place to continue pushing the program in a positive direction. But when an SEC head coaching opportunity comes calling, especially from a school you’re familiar with, it’s hard to say no. 

Elko has an obvious defensive background, so we’ll see how his coaching staff pans out for an Aggies team that is desperate to become relevant again in the hardest conference of college football in the country. 

Duke head coach Mike Elko (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack/File)

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Texas A&M has not made it to a bowl game since that 2020 Orange Bowl victory. The team has gone 20-16 in the last three seasons combined.