ABATTBQ11 said:

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SunrayAg said:

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Nothing against Elko at all. Hoping for the best.

But we just pouted and whined and shrieked and paid a 77 million dollar buyout and wrecked the finances of our entire athletic department because our starting quarterback got injured… and then hired a coach from a basketball school.

And then the AD responsible for it bolted to a program without that red number hanging over it.

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We didn't fire Jimbo because our starting quarterback got hurt. We fired Jimbo because after 6 years he had a horrible track record against teams with a pulse and had no hope of ever sniffing even a division title.

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Exactly. Jimbo had a horrible road record. He ended his tenure with 9 consecutive road losses, including 8 consecutive SEC road losses. Jimbo Fisher was 7-14 (0.333) in SEC road games. Even worse, he went a putrid 3-11 (0.214) in road games against SEC West teams, including a 6-game losing streak to end his tenure.

Ugly said:

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I'm not much of a pot banger myself, but I think the potential downsides are very easy to see.

1. He has a 17-9 record as a head coach. Most are willing to excuse that given where he made that record, but it is no guarantee that he will end up with a better record in the SEC just because Texas A&M is better than Duke. The is definitely a world where the increased competition of the SEC cancels out the advantages Texas A&M had relative to Duke, and he just maintains a 8-4 type of record like Sumlin did (there is a world where he does a lot worse than this too).

2. He needs to prove he can land a top 5 recruiting class without Jimbo, or we are going to start losing our talent advantage quick. Talk all you want about bringing in guys that "want to play for him", and I will probably agree with you, but if we can't keep up with Bama, Georgia, tu, and LSU in recruiting, we are not going to be able to take that next step.

3. I am in a wait-and-see mode with a lot of his coaching hires. S&C and OC look solid, but it is a bit disconcerting to see how many Florida guys we brought on considering how much of a train wreck they were last season. Also, I say S&C looks good, but there is definitely a possibility that old-school techniques there don't work in the modern portal/NIL world. Personally, I don't care and want him even if that is the case, but it could be a potential issue.

4. He doesn't have the lengthy experience at top tier programs that several coaches do. This is a minor point, as he still has a decade in P5 and half of that time spent at Tier II programs Notre Dame and Texas A&M, but in a league littered with head coaches that were part of national championship teams, it is a slight knock.

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'are not going to be able to take that next step"

With the A&M "almost" culture don't expect miracles!

Slicer97 said:

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He'll lead us to perpetual 7-5/8-4 with a 10 win season twice per decade. Not his fault, it's just an A&M football thing.

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You got it. I've watched A&M football for 70 years, it ain't gonna happen. As this poster stated, It's just an A&M football thing!

SunrayAg said:

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Nothing against Elko at all. Hoping for the best.

But we just pouted and whined and shrieked and paid a 77 million dollar buyout and wrecked the finances of our entire athletic department because our starting quarterback got injured… and then hired a coach from a basketball school.

And then the AD responsible for it bolted to a program without that red number hanging over it.

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8 people agree to this? People really think we were an injured QB away after 6 years? The money is there, the athletic department will be fine.

I think it was a lazy hire like Sherman and Sumlin. I hope he does great but seems like same **** different smell.

VP at Pierce and Pierce said:

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SunrayAg said:

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Nothing against Elko at all. Hoping for the best.

But we just pouted and whined and shrieked and paid a 77 million dollar buyout and wrecked the finances of our entire athletic department because our starting quarterback got injured… and then hired a coach from a basketball school.

And then the AD responsible for it bolted to a program without that red number hanging over it.

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8 people agree to this? People really think we were an injured QB away after 6 years? The money is there, the athletic department will be fine.


No kidding. Our record wouldn't have been any different had the starter not gotten hurt. We were fresh off of getting tarred and feathered in Miami, and not doing anything against Auburn in the 1st half, when he went out. Anyone thinking that derailed the season isn't paying attention.

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He's spent meaningful years here. During that time, considerable success.

The reason he's the right hire is because he has seen first-hand that our problems are deeper than facilities and money. Elko is the medicine. He isn't some new guy who is excited to walk into a valley of plenty and expect normal circumstances. Elko knows we are haunted. He's seen millions of dollars accomplish nothing.

Hire someone else, it takes him 3 years to realize what's going on. Elko is coming in ready; he already knows the drill.

Give The Elk 3 years. If we don't get into the playoffs then well.. bye!

I don't have an opinion yet. I'm neutral. Basically i don't go for hype and just another person saying "it's going to be different around here".

prove it.

However there is an improvement over how i felt about the Jimbo hire. Which i thought was the stupidest hire and contract ever. Could see what happened at FSU and we hired him anyway. Then topped it off with Sharp giving him that plaque.

Big chain of stupid decisions.

I will say I'm cautiously optimistic. (barely).

NyAggie said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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Ugly said:

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2. He needs to prove he can land a top 5 recruiting class without Jimbo, or we are going to start losing our talent advantage quick. Talk all you want about bringing in guys that "want to play for him", and I will probably agree with you, but if we can't keep up with Bama, Georgia, tu, and LSU in recruiting, we are not going to be able to take that next step.

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I don't think this is true anymore. Guys can move around practically at will now, so HS recruiting is no longer as important as portal recruiting and retention. Top 5 HS classes don't mean anything if half are gone and replaced within 2 years.

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there's definitely truth here now.

HS recruiting is still the main talent infusion, however it's no longer the be-all end-all.

talent retention and development are going to be key.

if you bring in a core of 20 or so talented HS kids and supplemnt deficient areas on your roster with experienced, productive portal guys, there's a world where you can win big.

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Elko spoke to this on a recent Texags interview. I don't remember exactly what he said but the gist of it was that he would recruit the best players he could but they had to be the right for for our program. In other words, he would not pursue some of the problem children that Jimbo did in the 2022 class just because they were highly rated. And he basically said that he wouldn't fill a recruiting class with guys he didn't think were talented enough to get us to our goals just to fill a class because he thought better talent would be available in the portal.

So, he is saying all the right things. We will have to wait and see how it all shakes out in the end.

I like the Elko hire. I think he will have success here. I like that he is a defensive coach and will allow a young mind like Klein to totally control the offense. I liked his defense and his ability to adjust while he was here. I don't care who his DC is, because that role will not be tasked with building a defense but rather teaching and implementing Elko's defense. For that, Elko needs somebody he can trust and depend upon, which obviously ended up being Bateman.

For the sake of argument and OP's question, I'll play the other side. All of these are decent arguments, and most have been touched on by other posters already, but I'll offer my takes.

He's not a sexy name. He's not Deboer, Lanning, etc. We don't really know if contact was ever made with those guys, and we likely never will. As stated above, it's pretty clear Elko was not the first choice as evidenced by the Stoops drama. It can be perceived as settling for a secondary option.

He is unproven as a head coach. He had some success by relative standards at Duke, but he is massively unproven on a bigger stage. I personally don't think this is automatically a bad thing, especially since we have years and years of track record of a guy like Mark Stoops as a HC. If it was between those two guys, I'll take the unproven commodity with what seems to be a lot of potential. Still, we have no clue how his coaching style will translate to this role.

We had a cluster of a coaching hire while Bama seamlessly transitioned from Saban to Deboer. That's a product of our AD and brass not being on the same page which is never a good sign. A lot of people wanted Deboer, and we ended up with Elko. People will inevitably hold that against Elko.

People question his ability to recruit. However, most of his staff hires have come with a stamp of approval on how well they recruit, so it seems like he's trying to compensate for what may be his own personal limitations in that area. The number of hires from Florida is interesting, but if we were to only judge a person's career based on one stop then there wouldn't be much good in anybody.

Our portal ranking is inflated by quantity. Granted, it was needed. Hopefully a lot of those guys become impact guys.

I don't think his belly has anything to do with his ability to coach football. People just need something to ***** about.

We are a baseball school.

If Elko were a beer ... he'd be Mangino Light

I think Elko brings culture, work ethic and discipline to a program that has most everything else,
and that will pay dividends in year one and beyond!

Would you rather have a clueless coach with six-pack abs or someone who is going to take us to the next level? I feel like Elko will take us to the next level.

rgleml said:

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Would you rather have a clueless coach with six-pack abs or someone who is going to take us to the next level? I feel like Elko will take us to the next level.

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He might. His leadership at Duke was exciting but wasn't going to win an NC in three years and was in a pretty solid conference and recruiting area.

elko is the guy

source: i always hated jimbo

BoxingAg84 said:

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He's got to get in shape. He's got the most important job on campus and needs to look the part.

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no worries...ozempic will fix everything

TX_Aggie37 said:

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I like the Elko hire. I think he will have success here. I like that he is a defensive coach and will allow a young mind like Klein to totally control the offense. I liked his defense and his ability to adjust while he was here. I don't care who his DC is, because that role will not be tasked with building a defense but rather teaching and implementing Elko's defense. For that, Elko needs somebody he can trust and depend upon, which obviously ended up being Bateman.

For the sake of argument and OP's question, I'll play the other side. All of these are decent arguments, and most have been touched on by other posters already, but I'll offer my takes.

He's not a sexy name. He's not Deboer, Lanning, etc. We don't really know if contact was ever made with those guys, and we likely never will. As stated above, it's pretty clear Elko was not the first choice as evidenced by the Stoops drama. It can be perceived as settling for a secondary option.

He is unproven as a head coach. He had some success by relative standards at Duke, but he is massively unproven on a bigger stage. I personally don't think this is automatically a bad thing, especially since we have years and years of track record of a guy like Mark Stoops as a HC. If it was between those two guys, I'll take the unproven commodity with what seems to be a lot of potential. Still, we have no clue how his coaching style will translate to this role.

We had a cluster of a coaching hire while Bama seamlessly transitioned from Saban to Deboer. That's a product of our AD and brass not being on the same page which is never a good sign. A lot of people wanted Deboer, and we ended up with Elko. People will inevitably hold that against Elko.

People question his ability to recruit. However, most of his staff hires have come with a stamp of approval on how well they recruit, so it seems like he's trying to compensate for what may be his own personal limitations in that area. The number of hires from Florida is interesting, but if we were to only judge a person's career based on one stop then there wouldn't be much good in anybody.

Our portal ranking is inflated by quantity. Granted, it was needed. Hopefully a lot of those guys become impact guys.

I don't think his belly has anything to do with his ability to coach football. People just need something to ***** about.

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I'd like to comment on this, but need more information.

Ugly said:

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3. I am in a wait-and-see mode with a lot of his coaching hires. S&C and OC look solid, but it is a bit disconcerting to see how many Florida guys we brought on considering how much of a train wreck they were last season. Also, I say S&C looks good, but there is definitely a possibility that old-school techniques there don't work in the modern portal/NIL world. Personally, I don't care and want him even if that is the case, but it could be a potential issue.

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If you listen to the S&C coach talk, he definitely is the furthest from an old school coach or mentality there is, in fact he apparently revels in seeking out and implementing the newest research and techniques wherever possible. People just assume he's old school due to his age, which is frankly very ageist.

Meximan said:

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Ugly said:

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3. I am in a wait-and-see mode with a lot of his coaching hires. S&C and OC look solid, but it is a bit disconcerting to see how many Florida guys we brought on considering how much of a train wreck they were last season. Also, I say S&C looks good, but there is definitely a possibility that old-school techniques there don't work in the modern portal/NIL world. Personally, I don't care and want him even if that is the case, but it could be a potential issue.

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If you listen to the S&C coach talk, he definitely is the furthest from an old school coach or mentality there is, in fact he apparently revels in seeking out and implementing the newest research and techniques wherever possible. People just assume he's old school due to his age, which is frankly very ageist.

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Moffit is the best addition I have seen.

It doesn't matter what your scheme is if you're inferior to your opponents unless this is david vs Goliath

uujm said:

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I think it was a lazy hire like Sherman and Sumlin. I hope he does great but seems like same **** different smell.

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Sumlin was a splash hire. Just didn't work out in the end.

His name and appearance don't lend themselves to funny or entertaining memes.

I mean get a grill or learn to dance. I got a tik tok to run here.

I don't know. It just kinda feels like more of the same.

Maybe we will all be pleasantly surprised. But, yeah. I expect the same ol'Aggie problems to persist.

Don't think Doboer was ever an option since how early we fired Jimbo. With signing day and TU in the playoffs we had to make a move before we lost more recruits.

I think the BOR went after the safe option that had success here already. Former players loved him and provides a much more disciplined staff.

Fran, Sumlin, and Jimbo were all splash hires that did not work so we had to try something else. We will see if it makes any difference

Ag Tag said:

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The New York Times referred to Coach Leonard Skinner as "arguably the most influential high school gym teacher in American popular culture."

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Only a few olds will get this.

Just Tired said:

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I have been optimistic about past hires… especially jimbo… so it's probably best if i start out pessimistic. like him as a person… doubtful he can bring in talent at the level necessary to compete at the top of the sec. the defensive equivalent of sherman would be my likely comp.

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Sherman was a horrible 2nd half gameday coach. But to think he couldn't evaluate, recruit & develop talent is a really bad take. A list of his recruits that were drafted, and doesn't include some good college players - Cyrus Gray, TJE, C-Mike, Pat Lewis, Sean Porter, Swope, Jake Matthews, Luke Joeckel, Damontre Moore, Ogbuehi, Mike Evans, Deshazor, & Johnny.

Hopefully Elko can be as bad at evaluating, recruiting & developing.

If we look at how Aggie football has done starting with Bryant, it's interesting to see the breakdown of HCs who were at A&M before vs HCs who had never been part of the program.

Previous assistants turned HC starting with the Bryant era:

• Foldberg
• Stallings
• Wilson
• Slocum
• Sherman (includes DeRuyter's bowl win) *
• Sumlin (includes Banks' bowl loss) *

Total winning percentage: 57.66%
Conference winning percentage: 54.69%

No A&M experience when taking the A&M HC job starting with the Bryant era:

• Bryant
• Myers
• Bellard
• Sherrill
• Franchione (includes Darnell's bowl loss) *
• Fisher (includes Robinson's bowl loss) *

Total winning percentage: 61.06%
Conference winning percentage: 58.51%

* - Asterisk means bowls with interim coaches (GD, TD, JB, ER) all get counted with the coach who started the season

In summary, A&M faired better in both overall record and conference records when hiring coaches with no previous A&M experience.

It is worth noting this is a quick and dirty figuring and my numbers may be off but I checked them twice. Bryant felt like the right place to start since it is generally accepted he brought A&M into the modern age of college football. A case can be made for looking at the numbers starting with the Foldberg era since that is when women were allowed in A&M or when black athletes really started getting recruited. That analysis is for someone else to do.

Additionally, A&M is a slightly above average team no matter who is coaching from Bryant to Fisher regardless of prior A&M experience.

TLDR: Elko has a good chance of failing here since it is factual that head coaches who have been at A&M before tend to do worse than fresh blood, and only Bryant and his successor, Jim Myers, have jumped to other jobs while still the Aggies' head coach.

TheRatt87 said:

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Just Tired said:

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I have been optimistic about past hires… especially jimbo… so it's probably best if i start out pessimistic. like him as a person… doubtful he can bring in talent at the level necessary to compete at the top of the sec. the defensive equivalent of sherman would be my likely comp.

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Sherman was a horrible 2nd half gameday coach. But to think he couldn't evaluate, recruit & develop talent is a really bad take. A list of his recruits that were drafted, and doesn't include some good college players - Cyrus Gray, TJE, C-Mike, Pat Lewis, Sean Porter, Swope, Jake Matthews, Luke Joeckel, Damontre Moore, Ogbuehi, Mike Evans, Deshazor, & Johnny.

Hopefully Elko can be as bad at evaluating, recruiting & developing.

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didn't say Sherman couldn't evaluate or develop but the program was very poor at landing defensive talent during that era. 2012 got by on remarkably few injuries on the defense and then lack of any kind of defensive pipeline really showed up in 2013. Offensive side of the ball didn't have that problem.

Elko is easily the best defensive coach we've had since Bob Davie. I would worry more that he will head coach like Davie if he hadn't been able to win at a place like Duke. He is also in the middle of his prime right now.

Fisher gave genuine effort for a couple of years. I think his commitment got burst when they left us out of the playoffs. I'm sure he got a lot of "told you so"s after that. He got his payday and I think from an outsider's perspective, he started to lose his edge.

Elko will have his own path. I'm optimistic that the odds might be turning for us. I thought his recruiting might be suspect but then he had one of if not the best portal games. The portal is playing a huge factor not just with experienced players, but also with 5 stars that don't want to have limited experience for a year or two. I don't know how much of a pot banger I am, but for now, like I said before, I'm optimistic.

He's gotta win and produce a top notch program right out of the gate or he will be looked at as Fran Elko