I'd agree with this statement. I'm not sure he's the guy, but definitely convinced that he's bought himself at least a few more years of our patience. It's nice to see how we're ranked third in the country this late in the season, but if we lose to Tx and immediately get bumped from the playoffs, how will all of us feel about him then?

I'll decide in year 4-5k which is when we traditionally shop for new coaches. If elko is still around and we're in the hunt talk then I'll fightin Texas Aggie believe.

At one time, people thought that the following coaches were "THE guys", too:

• Larry Coker
• Gene Chizik
• Ed Orgeron
• Les Miles

That said, my sole criterion for a successful season was making the playoffs, and Coach Elko has achieved that. So, taking it one year at a time, I am happy with 2025.

RightWingConspirator said:

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I'd agree with this statement. I'm not sure he's the guy, but definitely convinced that he's bought himself at least a few more years of our patience. It's nice to see how we're ranked third in the country this late in the season, but if we lose to Tx and immediately get bumped from the playoffs, how will all of us feel about him then?

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We are not losing to tu ( how can you have an AG TAG refer to them as Tx) and even if we did, we'd still be in the playoffs.

Given our post-Slocum pattern of big splash hire then follow that up with a "gets A&M" guy, I think this is the absolute best possible outcome and I hope Elko coaches here as long as he wants, and he'll have that opportunity if he cashes a NC.

ut Austin will be the first team we face with a winning SEC conference record. We've been scraping by against the bottom of the SEC. We need to face the real possibility we may lose in a few weeks and get bounced hard in the first round of the playoffs.

Little Rock Ag said:

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At one time, people thought that the following coaches were "THE guys", too:

• Larry Coker
• Gene Chizik
• Ed Orgeron
• Les Miles

That said, my sole criterion for a successful season was making the playoffs, and Coach Elko has achieved that. So, taking it one year at a time, I am happy with 2025.

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They all won a National Championship and deservedly reached 'The Guy' status for a moment in time. Nobody stays 'The Guy' for very long except a unique rare few. Even Dabo is no longer 'The Guy' at Clemson.

Elko now has a better record (19-5, 11-4 SEC) his first 24 games start than Jimbo or Sumlin did….so he certainly qualifies as a 'Good hire' for A&M. Whether or not he ever actually wins a natty, who knows. That is an incredibly hard thing to do and there are a bunch of wealthy big schools just as obsessed about football that A&M has to compete with. And every game there is a winner and loser. It is a zero sum game.

All you can do is enjoy the moment of each special season when they happen, as this one is, because future success is never guaranteed.

jturner181 said:

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The better question is - Did anything think that Elko would leave if we waited until after the season to give him a contract extension?

I believe in rewarding my performers after the job is complete, not while they are forecasting a big sale.

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By knocking this out you take away potential for negative recruiting saying staff is leaving. Worth it in my book.

NoahAg said:

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Great rosters can make just about any HC look like "the guy."

This is the most balance, best all-around roster we have had in a long long time. Not to take away from what he has done this season, but a lot of coaches would be 10-0 with this roster.

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But the guys that they brought in under his watch have been a huge success. And by all accounts recruiting is going very well. Seems like he's got a knack for identifying holes in the roster and finding good football players to fill them. At the expense of using an over used term, the team culture seems really strong.

Pumpkinhead said:

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Little Rock Ag said:

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At one time, people thought that the following coaches were "THE guys", too:

• Larry Coker
• Gene Chizik
• Ed Orgeron
• Les Miles

That said, my sole criterion for a successful season was making the playoffs, and Coach Elko has achieved that. So, taking it one year at a time, I am happy with 2025.

---

They all won a National Championship and deservedly reached 'The Guy' status for a moment in time. Nobody stays 'The Guy' for very long except a unique rare few. Even Dabo is no longer 'The Guy' at Clemson.

Elko now has a better record (19-5, 11-4 SEC) his first 24 games start than Jimbo or Sumlin did….so he certainly qualifies as a 'Good hire' for A&M. Whether or not he ever actually wins a natty, who knows. That is an incredibly hard thing to do and there are a bunch of wealthy big schools just as obsessed about football that A&M has to compete with. And every game there is a winner and loser. It is a zero sum game.

All you can do is enjoy the moment of each special season when they happen, as this one is, because future success is never guaranteed.

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It's unreal. People are listing championship winners as if it would be a terrible thing to just win one

Honestly I was excited but cautious. I knew he was a good coordinator but had trepidations about his ability as a HC.

I qas so glad to be proven wrong and the press conferences have shown me his character and what kind of a man he is and I hope he retires here in 20+ years after a few nattys

I'm a believer but he needs to maintain a high level for a few years before crowning him. I hope he takes the Aggies to the next level. Let's look back to this moment in 2 years. I remember everyone cheering jimbo after the orange bowl win.

AozorAg said it perfectly.

He's not "the guy" in my mind until I see "the" hardware.

Until then, I love the fact he "seems like 'the' guy" and am completely optimistic about his chances to be "the guy."

Wish we could stop trying to crown any coach until we see "the" result.

jturner181 said:

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The better question is - Did anything think that Elko would leave if we waited until after the season to give him a contract extension?

I believe in rewarding my performers after the job is complete, not while they are forecasting a big sale.

---

I don't think he was leaving. I think he wanted commitment to the program and a solid path forward more than anything.

The coaching staff hasn't been rewarded yet. They've been given the incentive to continue into the playoffs. They still have to make it and keep winning to earn it. I think this is a classy move from Elko because he didn't have to do it, they've certainly earned the incentive opportunity, and they still have to win to get it even though we're basically a lock at this point.

I know because in postgame press conference after tu game. Watch it. He already was started analyzing we need to get explosive plays. We need to be able to be physical and get the one yard. This year he got explosive receivers. Blocking tight ends. He immediately after the game knew what was needed and addressed the issue off season.

Elko is more of "the guy" than anyone else ever has been in the last quarter century.

Marcus Rhoades thinks he isn't very good and that our defense sucks.

JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:

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NoahAg said:

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Great rosters can make just about any HC look like "the guy."

This is the most balance, best all-around roster we have had in a long long time. Not to take away from what he has done this season, but a lot of coaches would be 10-0 with this roster.

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And yet you predicted 6 wins after the first 2 games of watching this roster.

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True. Because we did not look great in those cupcake games. I give everyone credit for improving over the season.

War Belly! He's definitely the guy.

NoahAg said:

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Great rosters can make just about any HC look like "the guy."

This is the most balance, best all-around roster we have had in a long long time. Not to take away from what he has done this season, but a lot of coaches would be 10-0 with this roster.

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The "just about" caveat must be there for Jimbo.

The very best coaches instill a "refuse to lose" mentality in a team. Saban did it in the teens. Kirby is doing it now. Doesn't mean the team wins every game, but it finds a way to win the vast majority of them. The Dawgs were on the ropes this year against UT, Auburn and Ole Miss. Sizable deficits but clawed back for wins. Elko did something similar on Saturday. Also nice wins in close games against ND and Arkansas. I'm not suggesting he's becoming a Saban or Kirby, but he led our guys to wins in three games that we almost always lose in the past. We need a much larger sample set, but I'm encouraged.

Honestly I like it because he can control a locker room unlike some coaches we have had in the past. Its nice to hear him state that he is the 'CEO' of the team, and expects people to fall in line off that note. Good coaching, will be able to say cuss words and get heated. Remember that one coach that was nothing but milk toast on the sideline for years? Yeah, somewhere in-between RC and Elko.....
We are lucky. Pay the man.

Great job so far! Next year though yall will be crying because we lose a lot of great players and our entire offensive line with a very tough schedule

I wished that he did not leave his DC in the moment but I wanted what was best for him. A shot at a HC gig. When it came time to get a new coach I thought he should have been #1 on our list.

So far he has done well. Sure, we kind of fell apart at the end of last season but he made adjustments in the off season that put us into a better position. That is a sign of a good coach in my opinion. Let's see how we finish out. One game at a time and hopefully we can get some of our injured guys back

Love Elko. Thought he was a great hire at the time. BUT, I simply questioned the money it took to fire jimbo. At the time, I thought we could use that money to get better players and overcome Jimbo's shortcomings…. I think I underestimated the importance that the head coach still makes even in this NIL era.

Clearly the jimmy's and Joe's still matter, but without the right head coach, it won't matter when it counts.

AozorAg said:

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Honest answer: I don't know, and neither do you. It has barely been two seasons. People were saying the same thing about Jimbo after the 2020 season.

Whether he's "the guy" or not, I agree he is currently having a good year and recruiting very well, and therefore based on everything we know at this point, we made the right decision to pay him market rate and keep him here.

But whether he ultimately wins a championship and/or succeeds here at the level that will make him "the guy"….who knows.

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the only reasonable way to view this.

TBoneAg said:

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Great job so far! Next year though yall will be crying because we lose a lot of great players and our entire offensive line with a very tough schedule

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truth to this

When we have Jimbo an extension I thought we'd be better off letting him go to LSU and promote Elko to head coach.

RC - liked the hire, let's keep this thing Jackie's got going
Franchione - regrettably I thought it was time to make a change from RC, loved the hire at the time
Sherman - Fran needed to go, no opinion of Sherm at the time, but thought it good he was an NFL HC
Sumlin - loved the hire, grew tired of his schtick and the QB debacle with Murray etc...
Jimbo - I have never liked Jimbo from way back when he was at LSU, did not like the hire but tempered by the fact he did have a NC, supported him while he was here.
Elko - my favorite of all the hires. Wanted him as HC since before he left to go to Duke

C2 Ag 93 said:

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AozorAg said it perfectly.

He's not "the guy" in my mind until I see "the" hardware.

Until then, I love the fact he "seems like 'the' guy" and and completely optimistic about his chances to be "the guy."

Wish we could stop trying to crown any coach until we see "the" result.

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This.

Everything so far suggests that he is (he's already the best coach we've had since Sherrill). Let's wait and see where we are at the end of the season. Hopefully that's later rather than sooner.

Jawbreaker said:

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Honestly I like it because he can control a locker room unlike some coaches we have had in the past. Its nice to hear him state that he is the 'CEO' of the team, and expects people to fall in line off that note. Good coaching, will be able to say cuss words and get heated. Remember that one coach that was nothing but milk toast on the sideline for years? Yeah, somewhere in-between RC and Elko.....
We are lucky. Pay the man.

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Milquetoast, dude, it's milquetoast.....

We will find out next year. There will be huge holes to fill in the portal and the schedule is about 100x harder.

Now if he wins the championship this year, I don't really care if he goes 2-10 for the next decade

amercer said:

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We will find out next year. There will be huge holes to fill in the portal and the schedule is about 100x harder.

Now if he wins the championship this year, I don't really care if he goes 2-10 for the next decade

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I agree that it's a bit early to call him "the guy". We have been fortunate to have an easier SEC slate this year. I think we will beat tu and hopefully advance in the playoffs, but what if we lost to tu and got knocked out in the first round of the playoff and then go 8-4 next year? Obviously if you think he's the guy that won't happen.

jturner181 said:

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The better question is - Did anything think that Elko would leave if we waited until after the season to give him a contract extension?

I believe in rewarding my performers after the job is complete, not while they are forecasting a big sale.

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Big Mike willingly gave up money in his own contract to pay his staff better and add to the NIL budget. This was not a normal mid-season contract renegotiation where the coach is only in it for himself.