My big five Elko Decisions

1. Portal acquisitions A+
2. Colin Klein C-
3. Taking over Defensive Play calling B +
4. Wardrobe decisions C+ -should have gone with a Black Out against Miami
5. Spreading out some money for the staff A


2026 Big Decision
Raid the talent pool at K-State and buy their best three players, an offer they cannot refuse.

Kicker decision was a head scratcher for me. Zirkel did not show that he was an upgrade when he kicked late in the season and bond had big game experience. Not that bond was great, but at least he had significant big game experience.

safety guy said:

---

Kicker decision was a head scratcher for me. Zirkel did not show that he was an upgrade when he kicked late in the season and bond had big game experience. Not that bond was great, but at least he had significant big game experience.

---

Bond was an automatic from short yardage. That's all we needed against Miami. Zerkil kicked low like every kick was a 60 yarder

Black out is definitely for a night game. That said, the CFP was idiotic for putting the best matchup at 11 am and the known blowouts for afternoon and evening games

Portal additions A
Culture and Accountability A
11 Win season A

Half time adjustments of tu game D-
Retention of Klein for playoffs D-
QB Development D

That was only to avoid going against the NFL. They could have out us on Friday, but that would have transferred our griping about the Saturday morning kickoff up the road to Norman.

We didn't come out ready to play to our fullest. We moved the ball okay - look at the disparity in yardage gained and time of possession - but never did what was needed to turn those irrelevant stats into points. We certainly could have beaten Miami by 2 TDs or more, but stepped on our own dicks too many times with the three turnovers and stupid play calls or a QB not seeing open options downfield. So here we are, awaiting portal decisions, coaching updates, spring camp, and ultimately kickoff against Missouri State.

Kicker
Run D
Oline
QB


First 11 games his grade is an A+


Last 2 games (only games that mattered all year) his grade is a lolz



Overall grade D-

Putting yourself in position to win..A+
Finishing the deal..F

C+

If his overall is a D- I take it you'd like to see Elko fired?

Bibbyyyyy said:

---

If his overall is a D- I take it you'd like to see Elko fired?

---

No id like to see him win games that matter

He's also still only in year 2, I don't think college coaches should be fired until they've had 4-5 years to build their program


Hopefully next year he practices what he preaches & finishes

QB decisions D
Kicker F
Run defense C
DC hire -D
OC hire C
Everything else A+

Pichael Thompson said:

---

Bibbyyyyy said:

---

If his overall is a D- I take it you'd like to see Elko fired?

---

No id like to see him win games that matter

He's also still only in year 2, I don't think college coaches should be fired until they've had 4-5 years to build their program


Hopefully next year he practices what he preaches & finishes

---

Which games didn't matter?

Portal - A+ great additions that helped a ton in several areas

Kicker - F If he just sticks with Bond but goes for it instead of kicking FG over 40yds the last two games are a little different. Miami we have a 6-3 lead most of the game and that alone makes it a much different game than it ended up.

DC - F (we ultimately replaced him before his 2nd season) while many questioned the hire to begin with.

OC - B- Klein was pretty complimentary to a defense but it really stood out when we got challenged up front the last two games and he couldn't overcome it.

Overall C- because we fell on our face when it mattered. It's a shame that 11-2 was so underwhelming. Puts A LOT of pressure on next year. 8-4 and Elko isn't the guy. If we make the playoff again, we are starting to build something.

Portal has been a solid A+ so far. He needs to get a QB this go around to maintain that grade.

Agsrback12 said:

---

Portal - A+ great additions that helped a ton in several areas

Kicker - F If he just sticks with Bond but goes for it instead of kicking FG over 40yds the last two games are a little different. Miami we have a 6-3 lead most of the game and that alone makes it a much different game than it ended up.

DC - F (we ultimately replaced him before his 2nd season) while many questioned the hire to begin with.

OC - B- Klein was pretty complimentary to a defense but it really stood out when we got challenged up front the last two games and he couldn't overcome it.

Overall C- because we fell on our face when it mattered. It's a shame that 11-2 was so underwhelming. Puts A LOT of pressure on next year. 8-4 and Elko isn't the guy. If we make the playoff again, we are starting to build something.

---

I've seen A LOT of good (and a couple of great) kickers during the bowl season. It's time to throw some NIL $$$ around to get at least one of them. It's not healthy to hold your breath during that many "routine" FGs and PATs.

His 2024 and 2025 seasons were equivalent to an open book test. He somehow has no wins in December

Pichael Thompson said:

---

Bibbyyyyy said:

---

If his overall is a D- I take it you'd like to see Elko fired?

---

No id like to see him win games that matter

He's also still only in year 2, I don't think college coaches should be fired until they've had 4-5 years to build their program


Hopefully next year he practices what he preaches & finishes

---

These days it doesn't take 4-5 years to build a program.

Demo_Slug said:

---

QB decisions D
Kicker F
Run defense C
DC hire -D
OC hire C
Everything else A+

---

Run defense C ? That would be more in the D- to F range along with hiring that idiot Collin Klein.

Elko gets an A- overall. Losing at tu after leading at halftime ruined a 12-0 season. But he did get us to 11-0 winning tough road games at ND, LSU and MIssouri.

Another successful portal adventure this year may be enough to repeat our CFP qualification in 2026. I think our future is stronger than tu and ou at this point. Tu is facing the departure of Sark and moving on from Manning that is coming soon.

He should have run the touchdown play more!

jt16 said:

---

safety guy said:

---

Kicker decision was a head scratcher for me. Zirkel did not show that he was an upgrade when he kicked late in the season and bond had big game experience. Not that bond was great, but at least he had significant big game experience.

---

Bond was an automatic from short yardage. That's all we needed against Miami. Zerkil kicked low like every kick was a 60 yarder

---

He did miss a 21 yarder against South Carolina...

Pichael Thompson said:

---

Bibbyyyyy said:

---

If his overall is a D- I take it you'd like to see Elko fired?

---

No id like to see him win games that matter

He's also still only in year 2, I don't think college coaches should be fired until they've had 4-5 years to build their program


Hopefully next year he practices what he preaches & finishes

---

The four to five years to build a program mindset is dead and buried. The portal killed that idea.

safety guy said:

---

Kicker decision was a head scratcher for me. Zirkel did not show that he was an upgrade when he kicked late in the season and bond had big game experience. Not that bond was great, but at least he had significant big game experience.

---

Entire tone of that game changes if we make that 22 yard FG. Just inexcusable to miss. Bond makes those easily.

Elko screwed up special teams big time this year.

Agsrback12 said:

---

Portal - A+ great additions that helped a ton in several areas

Kicker - F If he just sticks with Bond but goes for it instead of kicking FG over 40yds the last two games are a little different. Miami we have a 6-3 lead most of the game and that alone makes it a much different game than it ended up.

DC - F (we ultimately replaced him before his 2nd season) while many questioned the hire to begin with.

OC - B- Klein was pretty complimentary to a defense but it really stood out when we got challenged up front the last two games and he couldn't overcome it.

Overall C- because we fell on our face when it mattered. It's a shame that 11-2 was so underwhelming. Puts A LOT of pressure on next year. 8-4 and Elko isn't the guy. If we make the playoff again, we are starting to build something.

---

I agree but overall I have to give him a B because we made the playoffs. If we missed I would definitely give him a C-

Our inability to consistently stop the run and consistently run the ball hurt bigtime. The stupid contract extension and non developing the QB position especially the backup was not good. Lost 2 biggest games of the year

I have massive questions about the culture Elko is fostering. Teams with good cultures do not collapse at the end of the year two seasons in a row.

I love it how Elko not retaining Klein when he was offered a head coaching position at KSU is somehow him doing something wrong. What was he supposed to do? Lock him in the basement? When your assistant's take head coaching jobs it means you picked the right guy. Look at Saban and how he continually refreshed the staff after assistants took head jobs.

The Marksman said:

---

I have massive questions about the culture Elko is fostering. Teams with good cultures do not collapse at the end of the year two seasons in a row.

---

As many have mentioned, Ryan Day did this several seasons before he finally broke through. So far Elko has been phenomenal. A+. Next year is going to be incredibly difficult given how much production we lose and staff turnover. Will be a huge test for him.

Blonde Coffee Beans said:

---

He somehow has no wins in December

---

2022 Military Bowl
December 28, 2022
Duke 30 UCF 13

Yes, I know what you actually meant

A because we made the playoffs.

No + because 2nd half of tu and all of Miami game.

Idk if I can stand with you on a black out game at 11am

I'd also give him an A on defensive play calling, thought he did a pretty damn good job on that end. If we had a B+ OC idk if we'd be talking about much other than A&M in the second round.

Missouri wasn't a tough road game. Their QB couldn't throw a forward pass. We knew they were going to run, and still gave up 100+ to both rb's.

2-0 against LSU has been great.

TyperWoods said:

---

A because we made the playoffs.

No + because 2nd half of tu and all of Miami game.

---

Even Tom Wilson beat Texas half the time…