waynehisler said:

---

I don't think many people were saying this halfway through the LSU game. For once, let's wait and see before we go anointing him as the savior.

---

Halfway through doesn't matter, figured out a way to win the game...

aglaes said:

---

Aggie_Nuke said:

---

infinity ag said:

---

Some fools here expected scintillating wins from day 1 in year 1. That is a long shot. Those people started cursing Elko after the ND loss.

Now they are eating their words.

We may still lose a few more but no denying we have improved. That is all my expectation was. To keep improving every year. I have waited 29 years as an Aggie, I can wait a few more as long as the direction is UP. We will get to the top one day.

---

I've waited 55 years for something better than mediocre. You seem to forget Elko looked great in year 1 a Duke, then came year 2.... not so much. We won't know if we've improved until the end of year 2, and later.

My problem with Elko regarding the ND loss was he didn't pull Weigman and put Reed in for the 2nd half. If he'd done that, we would likely have won. I was glad to see him put Reed in for the LSU game.... but, he should have recognized the problem with Weigman in the 1rst and 2nd quarters, and put Reed in at the beginning of the second half.

I'm not expecting "scintillating wins", just a WIN will do me fine. What I am expecting is that our coaching staff will be quick to identify problems "in game" (real time), and make adjustments immediately.... not 1 or 2 quarters later.

---

Really not a big difference from year 1 to year 2 at Duke. 2022 they went 8-4, 2023 7-5. Won their bowl game both years. Didn't he lose his starting QB in yr 2?

---

Yes. Lost starting QB early in the season.

AustinCountyAg said:

---

Whether this team wins out and get a NC, or loses out it is obvious that he's a great fit for A&M.

---

Yeah... I'm calling bull**** on this. There is no way if he loses to SC, NMSU, Auburn, t.u., and a bowl opponent to finish 7-6 that you'll still feel the same way.

This is like when people get married and both parties pledge "till death do us part". That's easy to say when you're riding high. But get real.

Still perfect?

Fire em all

But Billy will say he's the right coach, just give him time.

Mike Elko sucks

What a joke this program is!

AustinCountyAg said:

---

Like many I had my doubts when he was hired. He wasn't the big, sexy hire, but after watching the recent pulse he's got me sold. Whether this team wins out and get a NC, or loses out it is obvious that he's a great fit for A&M. Blue collar, what you see is what you get kind of guy, and the players have bought in. He seems genuine, and sincere, and the players respect that. A complete opposite of what we had before in Jimbo. Elko "gets" A&M and the players "get" Elko and believe in him.

I'm excited for this weekend, and excited for the future of Aggie football.

---

He is what he is, a golden corral buffet coach on a Ruth Chris budget.

Great coaches have started 8-5 (or worse) at lots of places where they eventually won big.

However, I am not aware of any great coaches tanking the last half of the season, and then going on to great things. I'd love to be wrong.

SchizoAg said:

---

Great coaches have started 8-5 (or worse) at lots of places where they eventually won big.

However, I am not aware of any great coaches tanking the last half of the season, and then going on to great things. I'd love to be wrong.

---

True. However, those "great" coaches of the past 30 years all showed incredible improvement by year two or three. Save Dabo. This idea of taking five to six seasons to build a program and be in the "discussion" at the end of the season is absolute myth. That may have been the case until the 90s but recent history shows otherwise.

Elko has three seasons, four tops to, at the very least, get us to the playoffs. Personally if he doesn't do that by season three I'll definitely be in the "fire Elko" camp.

fastgreens said:

---

I'm ready for our next coach

---

SchizoAg said:

---

Great coaches have started 8-5 (or worse) at lots of places where they eventually won big.

However, I am not aware of any great coaches tanking the last half of the season, and then going on to great things. I'd love to be wrong.

---

Now do how many bad coaching hires started out 8-5 or worse

JohnnyShotgun said:

---

But Billy will say he's the right coach, just give him time.

---

Give him a break. He doesn't have much of a choice. If he blows up a newly hired coach day one Texags access to the program is at risk. And ultimately this place is a business and it's a business that relies on access to coaches and players, past and present. Start bad mouthing the program too much and that becomes problematic.

Don't mistake those who work here as actual journalists. They aren't.

gunan01 said:

---

There is no way to know this yet.

Great year so far. But he could lose 3 of the next 4 games and no one will be this enthusiastic.

---

Prescient

I am a believer in Elko. Our expectations were high on year one, of course. That's what we do.

I think our weakness is at QB. We have had QB's come here then leave and then have success. Haynes King looked good this year at GT.

Reed has some skills. However he is not at the level of a top 20 QB in the nation. Until we get that level QB we will not be challenging for a NC.

Perfect… in that he was cheap and the best we could do without having a well thought out plan before an emotional AD reacted in a child like manner with an eye on walking out the door.

Bjork and Schloss might be good people, but they both screwed Aggieland within months of one another.

AGDAD14 said:

---

Perfect… in that he was cheap and the best we could do without having a well thought out plan before an emotional AD reacted in a child like manner with an eye on walking out the door.

Bjork and Schloss might be good people, but they both screwed Aggieland within months of one another.

---

I doubt seriously Bjork pulled the trigger.

Wait til next year. We will get them. I need to do better.

lol

I counted 16 unique posts from users with Ag tags in some 37 posts, with a few instances of multiple posts made by the same poster. That's not even doing a breakdown of who was supportive and who was not.

Now on a site of over 20 thousand users this hardly seems a good sample of what Ags thought about Elko being the perfect hire.

You just wanted to follow up from your October post and gloat didn't you?

Elko was not the perfect hire unless he wins the national title which he won't. Let me know in five years who the next perfect hire is.

There is not one data point that indicates that there is anything "great" about Elko. There are some things that indicate performance of below - above average. Coaching at A&M is different than coaching at a school like Duke. There are more demands on your time and energy. It's a skill set. Not everyone has it. You can be a good coach but not have it. Saban had it. He taught some guys who have it or are trying to prove that they do. IMO it's a lot about judgement and discernment. That's reflected in the choices of staff and who they are placing a heavy bet on to make themselves look good.
I don't have a solution but I just refuse to believe that we have to settle for a guy who is essentially learning on the job how to be a big time football coach.

The jury is out. It takes most coaches several years to get teams to the point of greatness. We will accomplish nothing if we fire him after year two or even year three, other than setting ourselves back 2 or 3 MORE years. Look at tu. Sarkisian didn't get it turned around until year three and had a far worse record than Elko after one year.

True, but if you are going to be intellectually honest you have to admit that Elko was left much better talent.

December 2023 Elko was the best hire
October 2024 we finally got our coach
December 2024 well, maybe not
He gets 3 years. I still think Elko will be successful here. Luicci didn't say anything unreasonable.

Good thing we didn't hire DeBoer. Lost four games with Alabama's talent. How many would he have lost with ours?

HikesNH said:

---

Good thing we didn't hire DeBoer. Lost four games with Alabama's talent. How many would he have lost with ours?

---

5 or 6

This thread didn't age well.

Don Powell said:

---

True, but if you are going to be intellectually honest you have to admit that Elko was left much better talent.

---

Be intellectually honest and tell me when Texas has had a bad recruiting class? Who was our all star WR that Elko inherited? QB? How was the O-line before he got here? DBs? We no doubt have some excellent players but please, let's view everything through the same lens. Not to mention key injuries.

* my personal opinion of t.u. vs us: I think our players have to learn on the job, under fire and sometimes too early in an extremely tough conference where anyone can beat anyone else on any given day. t.u. has had the luxury of getting highly rated players, developing them in a weak conference against weak opponents to the point they were able to come in and perform decently (although, with not the toughest SEC schedule). Timing is everything.

A solid hire under stressful circumstances.

Elko started 7-1 (5-0 SEC) before losing 4 of his last 5 games, including 3 consecutive losses to end the season. Our only win in that span was over New Mexico State, and we have lost 4 consecutive games to Power 4 opponents since a 38-23 win over LSU on 10/26. Dating back to a 42-30 road loss at LSU on 11/25/2023, we have lost 4 consecutive November SEC games and 6 consecutive November Power 4 games. We have not won beaten a Power 4 opponent in the month of November since a 51-10 home win over Mississippi State on 11/11/2023, which was Jimbo's last game of his tenure. Also, we have not won a bowl game since a 41-27 win over North Carolina in the 2021 Orange Bowl on 1/2/2021.

Next year, we will have a tougher home/away split because our toughest games against Notre Dame, LSU, Missouri, and Texas will all be on the road instead of at home. We will play a true road game at Arkansas for the first time since 2013 and at LSU the very next week. Also, our schedule is very unbalanced with 3 straight SEC home games against Auburn on 9/27, Mississippi State on 10/4, and Florida on 10/11 before a stretch of 3 straight SEC road games at Arkansas on 10/18, LSU on 10/25, and Missouri on 11/8 in span of 4 weeks. With that schedule, I think we will have a floor of 7-5 and a ceiling of 9-3 with likely road losses at Notre Dame, LSU, and Texas. The 5 road games at Notre Dame, Arkansas, Missouri, LSU, and Texas will make or break our season.

I think 2026 could be a playoff year or 10+ win season, but we don't know if we will go to 8 or 9 SEC games or even who we are playing besides Texas. The 2026 SEC schedule might have us playing Georgia at Kyle Field for the first time ever and Kentucky at Kroger Field for the first time since 1953.