Matt Rhule on Elijah Robinson being named Texas A&M interim coach: 'I was fired up'
Some may be wondering who exactly Texas A&M interim head coach Elijah Robinson is, but Matt Rhule is here to quell some fear.
Robinson was chosen to lead the Aggies following the firing of Jimbo Fisher over the weekend. The Nebraska head coach has a long history with Robinson, dating back to his time with the Temple Owls and Baylor Bears.
The Texas A&M coach spent multiple seasons working with Rhule at two separate stops, before joining the Aggies. Evidently, Rhule is more than happy to see his former assistant have this opportunity, as he explained during his press conference earlier this week.
“I was fired up,” Rhule said, regarding his reaction to hearing Robinson would be leading the Aggies over the remainder of the season. “He’s like my blood. I love Elijah. I hired Elijah at Temple, to be the defensive line coach. He was player development at Penn State, and got put on the field for a little bit. I didn’t know Elijah, Fran Brown, who’s the defensive backs coach at Georgia, recommended him to me. … You can’t talk about someone who’s better with people. Elite recruiter. Tremendous man. Great defensive line coach. Was with me at Temple. Went with me to Baylor. Then he just got too expensive, I couldn’t keep him.
“He’s had opportunity after opportunity. He really loved A&M, and wanted to stay there. I think it’s a great choice for them, for the interim coach. I hope he gets consideration to be the head coach, because people in college football know who he is. Sometimes there’s those names, you know. I’ve tried to hire him back. People have tried to hire him back. People have called me, trying to convince him to go be their defensive coordinator. He’s just an awesome, awesome, awesome person. You know, I don’t really have a coaching tree. I haven’t won enough games to have a coaching tree. But it’s pretty cool for me to say, there’s two coaches in Texas that were on my staff, both he and (Texas Tech’s) Joey McGuire. I think Elijah will do a great job, the players will play for him.”
Will Elijah Robinson be the man who leads Texas A&M in 2024? The odds aren’t in his favor, but Matt Rhule is in his corner, and Robinson will have his shot to prove his mettle over the next couple of weeks. What do you know, stranger things have happened.