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I'm sick of the Elko hate on here

7,339 Views | 108 Replies | Last: 20 hrs ago by TxAg76
HoustonAg2106
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AG
In his first year he had us playing for a trip to the SEC championship game in the last game of the year against our most hated rival.

Would you seriously have said that is a bad first year if I told you that in July? I understand the context of losing every power 4 game in November, but it's not enough to just completely give up on him after one freaking year
W
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AG
the problem is...

the fanbase has seen this movie before

and looking back...Sumlin never recovered from the November slides after the first one happened in 2014
offenseguru
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AG
I really liked this year's team. Serious grit, togetherness, and really made no excuses where there were some glaring holes.

Coaching staff did that so i believe in them. They have this thing going the right way but will have to up the recruiting level to win big.

Hopefully enough pieces coming in portal and high school to get to a competitive level and continue to climb and break through.
DCC80
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AG
Beat Auburn, show an offensive pulse against Texas and a defensive pulse against USC, and a lot of the angst goes away.

Unfortunately, we're left with the egg that's been laid for us.
TxAg76
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AG
The fanbase here (like most other fanbases that actually give a damn) is full of overreactive idiots who really don't know what they're looking at anyway.

They just know they didn't get what they wanted, or what they think they "deserve", and they kick and scream like infants because of it.

That's a big part of the problem with fanbase perception. There's a huge disconnect across the board about how "talented" this team really is, and what our record "should" be, relative to said "talent"…..versus what it actually is.

Do we have some talent? Yeah, in a few spots.
Do we have championship caliber talent across the board, with quality depth right behind them? Hell no, not even close.

But the recruiting stars, OMG don't you remember all the recruiting stars??
That #1 class was fools gold. Most of em are gone anyway, so I'm not sure why it keeps getting brought up. Bad fits, several bad apples….just bad in a lot of aspects.
As for others, our previous regimes since we've joined the SEC were severely lacking when it comes to DEVELOPING players into NFL caliber prospects. Something Saban made a priority.

But the "talent composite", look at that talent composite! That doesn't mean **** if they're not improving. Because the elite competition we wanna beat, those rosters ARE improving, whereas ours historically just remained mostly stagnant.

Michigan won it all last year. Gutted out the ups and downs with Harbaugh, and it paid off.
The numbers that matter (relative to "talent" levels) are very telling.
That season, plus the 4 years leading up, they created/developed a roster that put 45 players into NFL Draft. Forty ****ing five.

What did we produce in that same timeframe? Only 17.
Yeah, they damn near tripled us up. Very telling.

More ammo? UGA had 49. Bama had 46.
Again, we did 17.

Ok, so let's talk t.u. Make jokes about Sark if you want, but he's building something over there.
Last year they put in 11. We did 4.
This year they prob do 10+ again. We'll likely do 3.

Until this changes, and until we can also push 10+ with some consistency, we won't have the "talent".
We'll just be another team, looking up, hoping like hell we pull off some big upsets.

I don't know if Elko's the guy.
But I don't know that he's not, either. Not yet.
One thing for sure though, it's not something he can fix in just his first year.

Anybody assuming "we're soooo close" is completely clueless and absolutely full of *****
RaggedConverge
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AG
I think you hit on a good portion of the problem. A program has to develop the athletes. In the end these kids want to get to the nfl.

Deserves more then the 1 blue star I can give.
W
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what's interesting...and also very sad...

the one position group where the program has done a great job of recruiting, developing, and pushing to the NFL is defensive line -- thanks to Terry Price

I believe A&M has had 8 defensive linemen drafted since 2017

starting with Myles, then Madubuike, Bobby Brown, DeMarvin, Clemons, McKinley, et al

and A&M will have more d-linemen in the 2025 draft

unfortunately, at other position groups like WR, DB, LB, OL -- the situation has been a near-disaster the last 8 years
Big-D
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He is personally responsible for losing to Aubirn by calling a timeout. People are raising valid concerns about an incompetent coach. We cheaped out on an uproven coach and as a result are irrelevant. Other Aggie sports are on the way up. We're a basketball and baseball school now.
BigSneezy
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HoustonAg2106 said:

In his first year he had us playing for a trip to the SEC championship game in the last game of the year against our most hated rival.

Would you seriously have said that is a bad first year if I told you that in July? I understand the context of losing every power 4 game in November, but it's not enough to just completely give up on him after one freaking year


He lost 4 out of his last 5. That's awful and anyone who says otherwise is just rationalizing away the truth.
LB12Diamond
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AG
Elko has now been a head coach for three years. He seems to do all the things in the off season and leading up to games correctly. During games he's made several mistakes. Let's see if he's one that learns from those. Mistakes. Maybe he does, maybe he does not. We shall see.

Sark has had two good seasons in a row. Prior to that he was known as 7 win Sark for several years. Did he figure things out or did Texas NIL just bump up his recruiting to help him win games.
TxAg76
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AG
LB12Diamond said:

Elko has now been a head coach for three years. He seems to do all the things in the off season and leading up to games correctly. During games he's made several mistakes. Let's see if he's one that learns from those. Mistakes. Maybe he does, maybe he does not. We shall see.

Sark has had two good seasons in a row. Prior to that he was known as 7 win Sark for several years. Did he figure things out or did Texas NIL just bump up his recruiting to help him win games.


I'd credit the Saban school of recovering coaches.
Sark was a model student, apparently.
Kiffin paid attention, but was more the Eddie Haskell type
greg.w.h
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HoustonAg2106 said:

In his first year he had us playing for a trip to the SEC championship game in the last game of the year against our most hated rival.

Would you seriously have said that is a bad first year if I told you that in July? I understand the context of losing every power 4 game in November, but it's not enough to just completely give up on him after one freaking year
The firing and payout was stupid. I'm sure it made people giddy. But it was stupid.
LB12Diamond
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AG
I have learned on here in the last two days that all these bright individuals crying like children on here paid Jimbo's buyout. Even though I have it on good authority other super rich Ags were the ones that paid his buyout. I guess I'm going to have to believe the ones throwing temper tantrums on here bc they bring a very sound argument. They use the word we over and over.
LB12Diamond
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TxAg76 said:

LB12Diamond said:

Elko has now been a head coach for three years. He seems to do all the things in the off season and leading up to games correctly. During games he's made several mistakes. Let's see if he's one that learns from those. Mistakes. Maybe he does, maybe he does not. We shall see.

Sark has had two good seasons in a row. Prior to that he was known as 7 win Sark for several years. Did he figure things out or did Texas NIL just bump up his recruiting to help him win games.


I'd credit the Saban school of recovering coaches.
Sark was a model student, apparently.
Kiffin paid attention, but was more the Eddie Haskell type


Apparently Kirby paid more attention than Sark in the Saban school.
HoustonAggie37713
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Elko needs a QB to pan out next year and look the part. 7 wins, 9 wins, whatever. If we come into 2026 with no proven QB, he's likely on the way out.
TxAg76
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LB12Diamond said:

TxAg76 said:

LB12Diamond said:

Elko has now been a head coach for three years. He seems to do all the things in the off season and leading up to games correctly. During games he's made several mistakes. Let's see if he's one that learns from those. Mistakes. Maybe he does, maybe he does not. We shall see.

Sark has had two good seasons in a row. Prior to that he was known as 7 win Sark for several years. Did he figure things out or did Texas NIL just bump up his recruiting to help him win games.


I'd credit the Saban school of recovering coaches.
Sark was a model student, apparently.
Kiffin paid attention, but was more the Eddie Haskell type


Apparently Kirby paid more attention than Sark in the Saban school.


Certainly not taking anything away from Kirby.
But Kirby's first title came in year #6

Sark could get there quicker. Although I really hope not.

Plus Kirby was more a conventional student, not really a recovery project
phatty26
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Not prepared for usc and auburn first qtr behind 38-0. I get culture etc but you've been here a year take some accountability for your lack of motivation for these two games. Take the points vs Texas first drive to keep the crowd in it. I fully believe if we kick the fg the first drive we win the game.
LB12Diamond
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HoustonAggie37713 said:

Elko needs a QB to pan out next year and look the part. 7 wins, 9 wins, whatever. If we come into 2026 with no proven QB, he's likely on the way out.



We are fine at QB. Offense needs playmakers at WR. Surely, some of these guys can step up. The entire O line might be back. Only concern on O is Moss coming back full strength. I think Klein will do a lot better not having a QB issue to deal with next year and second year of implementing his system. Weigman being a head case is not something any coaching staff would like to manage and being the first year made it even more of an issue for this staff. Sark even said his offense was not fully ready until his 3rd year at Texas.

Fixing the defense will be priority number one. It will determine how successful Elko is next year.
LB12Diamond
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I think the entire team and coaches were looking past Auburn to Texas. Heck, they were mainly talking about Texas at the SEC meetings in the summer.

Not making excuses, just reality of the team not being ready. Back in the day we always had a dog fight with Baylor bc the players did not focus on them until the second quarter. Had a friend on the team. On the bus ride to the game no one was focused on the game. Talked about party's etc they were going to after the game.

Next year we have Samford the weekend prior which will help. It's the reason most teams don't like a SEC game prior to their rivalry game.
Bobaloo
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Great post by TxAg76. I'm a numbers guy. The outgoing numbers (NFL draft) are much more important than the incoming numbers (Stars). A player is a product. A program is responsible for product development. Sumlin was given a gift by Sherman on the offensive side of the ball. Sherman had prior NFL experience, and it showed. A talented OL, excellent WRs, more than serviceable RBs and a legend at QB.
As you noted, I don't know if Elko is the guy, but I don't know if he isn't. It took Nick Saban almost 30 years in coaching to become NICK SABAN. Harbaugh won three games in 2020. Then turned it around. He did so with NFL talent. That always helps.
TexasAggie81
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HoustonAg2106 said:

In his first year he had us playing for a trip to the SEC championship game in the last game of the year against our most hated rival.

Would you seriously have said that is a bad first year if I told you that in July? I understand the context of losing every power 4 game in November, but it's not enough to just completely give up on him after one freaking year


No hate here. It's just the time for Elko's annual review. The 2/3 of the year were acceptable. The last 1/3 of the year was an abysmal failure. He and his coaches failed to evolve and did the "same ol' same." They coasted … just like their subordinates. Their performance was terrible. It ain't personal. It's business.
LB12Diamond
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AG
They both learned from Saban. Does not matter really when in their tenure they did it. They are both winning at schools getting top talent now. Go figure. Just like Saban did at LSU and Bama, not at Michigan State or in the NFL where it's more equal. Kirby has ONLY coached at a school known for getting top talent. It's amazing how that one helps out. He's 2-0 Vs Sark in Sarks 4th year. He most likely will be 3-0 next year after Sarks 5th year.

Now losing to Kirby is not really that bad of a thing unless it continues for a long time. I'm just mentioning all the above bc he tried to minimize Kirby being 2-0 thus year Vs Stark.
Sterling82
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I think the people who keep talking about lack of talent and asserting all the underperforming top recruits are simply busts while giving the coaches a pass are the ones that don't know what they're looking at. Our struggles in the last 5 games were squarely coaching issues. Not ready to play at SC, blowing late leads against Auburn and USC. I would be much more inclined to believe in Elko's future if we had won 2 of the 3…the coach we need would have won all three. Why anyone wants to make excuses for the collapse or is offended by the fan criticism is beyond me.

Medaggie
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Bowl games are meaningless and there is little take away. Teams are a shell of themselves and most players are there to enjoy the trip. The game is the last thing on their mind.

But appearance matters for a coach or any high level position. If you are morbidly overweight, it is hard to command a room/lead a team even outside of sports. People respect well dressed, fit people who take care of their appearance because it shows they are willing to put the effort in. You show up obese, poorly dressed then that reflects poorly on your social awareness

Look at most companies and you will find that the fit/well dressed are more likely in the upper level of management. The poorly dressed/obese are the low level positions. It takes discipline to be fit/well dressed which translates into where you will be in the food chain
jt16
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AG
Say what you want about Sark, but they're developing players over in Austin. They have former walk ons performing better than our high four star safety. We have to get better at developing what we have on campus.

One red flag with jimbo is the high number of his own recruits portalling out less than a year on campus. So far that doesn't look like the case with Elko. Hopefully that means we'll have the chance to develop our talent. Year 1 is a bit of a pass based on the sheer numbers of transfers in and out at the last second.
OBJTEX
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jt16 said:

Say what you want about Sark, but they're developing players over in Austin. They have former walk ons performing better than our high four star safety. We have to get better at developing what we have on campus.

One red flag with jimbo is the high number of his own recruits portalling out less than a year on campus. So far that doesn't look like the case with Elko. Hopefully that means we'll have the chance to develop our talent. Year 1 is a bit of a pass based on the sheer numbers of transfers in and out at the last second.


This is dead on. They are getting max out of 3-4 stars (look at the rb eho torched us) and hitting on 5 stars.

Meanwhile, the last three years are a graveyard of Connor Weigmans and transfer papers blowing in the wind.
coldmoose
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Big-D said:

He is personally responsible for losing to Aubirn by calling a timeout. People are raising valid concerns about an incompetent coach. We cheaped out on an uproven coach and as a result are irrelevant. Other Aggie sports are on the way up. We're a basketball and baseball school now.
And Women's Tennis. National Champions!
AggieSouth06
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The Auburn game specifically filled me with a level of pessimism that hasn't gone away.
OTredux
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OBJTEX said:

jt16 said:

Say what you want about Sark, but they're developing players over in Austin. They have former walk ons performing better than our high four star safety. We have to get better at developing what we have on campus.

One red flag with jimbo is the high number of his own recruits portalling out less than a year on campus. So far that doesn't look like the case with Elko. Hopefully that means we'll have the chance to develop our talent. Year 1 is a bit of a pass based on the sheer numbers of transfers in and out at the last second.


This is dead on. They are getting max out of 3-4 stars (look at the rb eho torched us) and hitting on 5 stars.

Meanwhile, the last three years are a graveyard of Connor Weigmans and transfer papers blowing in the wind.
Yes the RB who torched us was 5th on their depth chart after spring ball. 3 star kid who most figured MIGHT get some snaps on St and as a wing back in specialty situations.

Their RB injuries mirrored ours. Yet, they developed "the next man up" and their little 3 star nobody looked like Earl Campbell vs us.

Says all you need to know.
TxAg76
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AG
LB12Diamond said:

They both learned from Saban. Does not matter really when in their tenure they did it. They are both winning at schools getting top talent now. Go figure. Just like Saban did at LSU and Bama, not at Michigan State or in the NFL where it's more equal. Kirby has ONLY coached at a school known for getting top talent. It's amazing how that one helps out. He's 2-0 Vs Sark in Sarks 4th year. He most likely will be 3-0 next year after Sarks 5th year.

Now losing to Kirby is not really that bad of a thing unless it continues for a long time. I'm just mentioning all the above bc he tried to minimize Kirby being 2-0 thus year Vs Stark.


No, I just didn't see Kirby as a recovery project.
The joke I made was "Saban's school for recovering coaches"
TxAg76
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OTredux said:

OBJTEX said:

jt16 said:

Say what you want about Sark, but they're developing players over in Austin. They have former walk ons performing better than our high four star safety. We have to get better at developing what we have on campus.

One red flag with jimbo is the high number of his own recruits portalling out less than a year on campus. So far that doesn't look like the case with Elko. Hopefully that means we'll have the chance to develop our talent. Year 1 is a bit of a pass based on the sheer numbers of transfers in and out at the last second.


This is dead on. They are getting max out of 3-4 stars (look at the rb eho torched us) and hitting on 5 stars.

Meanwhile, the last three years are a graveyard of Connor Weigmans and transfer papers blowing in the wind.
Yes the RB who torched us was 5th on their depth chart after spring ball. 3 star kid who most figured MIGHT get some snaps on St and as a wing back in specialty situations.

Their RB injuries mirrored ours. Yet, they developed "the next man up" and their little 3 star nobody looked like Earl Campbell vs us.

Says all you need to know.


There's not a RB in the country that can run anywhere at all without an effective OLine.
And their OLine manhandled our front 7 most of the night.

That night, their RB just needed to do his job and not fumble.
DrAg14
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Sit down bus driver no one want to hear you sunshine, rainbow and unicorn dribble. He is paid to put a quality program on the field. He failed he has produced a team that has lost 4 of our last five games and you are tired to the vitriol. Sit down bus driver.

Yep call me a flipping 2% do not give a flip.

We may as well kept Sumlin or Fisher. At least we would not be paying 2 or 3 coaches for same ol same ol.

We are at best a second tier program with an over inflated ego and have not done a damn thing in 30 years

Suck it up and embrace the suck
Magneto
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I'm still at a loss where our "elite" defense went the second half of the season? Never heard from the stars of this elite defense after the halfway point……….I guess the defensive-minded head coach had to worry about other things.

This is what bothered me this year.
TxAg76
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Sterling82 said:

I think the people who keep talking about lack of talent and asserting all the underperforming top recruits are simply busts while giving the coaches a pass are the ones that don't know what they're looking at. Our struggles in the last 5 games were squarely coaching issues. Not ready to play at SC, blowing late leads against Auburn and USC. I would be much more inclined to believe in Elko's future if we had won 2 of the 3…the coach we need would have won all three. Why anyone wants to make excuses for the collapse or is offended by the fan criticism is beyond me.




Nobody's giving the coaches a pass. Just pointing out some realities.
Part of it, yeah, this isn't something that's fixable in a new coaches first year.
Another part, seems we have a lot of people feeling like we have a Georgia roster and should be getting Georgia seasons, when we definitely don't.
Part of that lack of roster issue is depth, or lack thereof, particularly on defense. Similar to Sumlins end of year pitfalls, I don't know if we rotated enough players to give the 1's enough recovery. It's a long season, and the offense didn't do them many favors either.
Would be curious to see a chart on snaps, and what players played what quantities. The front 7 success against LSU just didn't look the same against SCar or Aub, both winnable.
Then against Texas, that's extra adrenaline, but they just proved to be better. Without the turnovers deep in our territory, that game can easily be 0-31
Magneto
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I will offer kudos to Elko throwing a few curveballs of putting in personnel when opposing coaches weren't expecting it (LSU game)…….but soon the game film moving forward provided plenty of info to game plan against…..especially Klein's offense
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