Being a college football head coach isn’t the cushy, glamorous gig critics imagine just because of a multi-million-dollar contract. The role demands immense sacrifices. Just like in Mike Elko’s case. He filled the hot seat of Jimbo Fisher, who was fired by the Aggies. Elko has signed a six-year contract worth $42 million, which boils down to an annual salary of $7 million.

But time for us to shift focus away from the financial benefits, as Elko shared about the sacrifices he and his wife, Michelle Elko, had to make. “I heard all the coaches before me come up and talk about the great summers they had. And mine got to spend the summer packing. And so to my wife, another apology,” shared the head coach. Now, will the Aggies’ 2025 run be worth the sacrifice? Ex-Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel has an answer to it, with a daunting past looming.     

On the August 14 episode of The Rich Eisen Show, Manziel was invited as a guest. He shared, “Feeling good about my Aggies this year, to be honest. Last year, obviously, towards the end of the season, I don’t think it went exactly the way we wanted it to. Showed some promise. One of those seasons where you get off to a decent start, you’re sitting there, you know, five and two, six and two, and then you have a stumble on the way home. But I think a full off-season for Marcel Reed will be really good. I think Elko, in his second year, will be more prepared for what the SEC is, a gauntlet.” Elko’s program wrapped with an 8-5 overall record.

During their last lap, the Aggies squad was broken down into pieces. They lost against Auburn (41-43), Texas (7-17), and USC (31-35). After a 13-year hiatus, Texas and Texas A&M renewed the historic Lone Star Showdown for the 2024-25 season. And obviously, this did not go well for Elko and Co. Their run defense was porous. Their luck too did not favor as their running back Le’Veon Moss went missing after being sidelined by injury. The offense’s lack of depth in the backfield, combined with quarterback Marcel Reed’s lack of passing production. Now, fans might be looking for answers about whether Elko’s dark past will come back to haunt this season as well.  

Even Manziel did not sound very confident. He shared, “And that’s the question. Obviously, last year was being at that game and the rivalry finally coming back in 2011 when I was redshirting. I got to be a part of the last heartbreak. Justin Tucker’s field goal to knock us off for the last one obviously, throughout my time there in the past years. Didn’t get to have that game, but that is the game that’s circled on the schedule right now as they’re going through training camp. So, prepare, boys, because you know they’re one up on us coming back into the rivalry.”  

Fourteen years ago, future Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker nailed a 40-yard field goal. And that one move has been the game-changing moment as the Longhorns sealed an emotional 27-25 victory over the Aggies. Other than the Texas blunder, Elko is reminded not to repeat another program’s big mishap. 

An Ohio State warning for Mike Elko  

Elko has revamped the Aggies camp from top to bottom when it came to their coaching roster, starting with the demotion of defensive coordinator Jay Bateman as the primary play-caller. On the other hand, Elko is counting on his former Duke staff, James Madison defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill, to fill a place on the coaching roster. Looks like Texas A&M’s 2025 run will be about the power trio.

As Aggies insider Cater Karels shared, “They’re not revealing much, but I think what there is to know is that Mike Elko will be more involved. It’s going to be kind of that collaborative approach between him and Lyle and the defensive coordinator, Jay Bateman.” But what makes Elko get fussy about his defense coaching room? He is still not over the 2024 trauma. The Aggies ended the year ranked 91st of 134 FBS teams in pass defense. Their average? A daunting 232.2 yards per game. There is something more on Elko’s plate. As On3’s J.D.PicKell raised a disclaimer: DO NOT REPEAT THE OHIO STATE BLUNDER.

The analyst noted, “I think we saw that — Ohio State’s a great example — and Jim Knowles and his defense were extremely complex. So there was maybe some extra learning curve there. But what hurt Ohio State in the previous years of not winning a National Championship — say what you want around Kyle McCord — the defense, same situation, let up a lot of explosive plays that kept them from accomplishing their goals.”

Mike Elko must tread with extreme caution while making changes to his roster. Time for us to travel back to 2022. Back then, fans held high expectations for Ohio State’s defense during Jim Knowles’ first season. But the end result? They coughed up explosive plays in their two biggest games, 87 points combined against Michigan and Georgia. And with this, their Natty goals got crushed. Can Elko strike the perfect balance to deliver long-awaited payback against Texas with all the changes?