Mike Elko shares how he will handle pressure at Texas A&M

Mike Elko recognizes that his new gig at Texas A&M comes with a boatload of pressure, but he isn’t shying away from it.

The new Aggies leader has seen first-hand what type of expectations surround the head coach of the Texas A&M football program. However, he decided to come back to College Station and look to lead the Aggies to the promise land, and he has a plan for how to do it.

“I think if you want to chase the highest prizes in this sport, it’s going to come with high expectations and high pressure,” Elko shared, via his introductory press conference. “There’s no program out there that’s capable of winning the whole thing that doesn’t expect to win the whole thing every year. So it’s the price you pay. You embrace who you are. I think I embrace my process as a head coach.

“That’s one of the things I told (Texas A&M AD) Ross [Bjork] in this process. I believe in who I am, I believe in my process for making decisions. We won’t always make the right one, but when we make the wrong one, we’re going to identify it. We’re going to evaluate it. We’re going to fix it, and we’re going to move forward. Not second guess what we’re doing, and believe in who we are. Know that we have what it takes to build a blue-print for the best program in the country.”

It’s going to be fascinating to watch how Mike Elko fares when Texas A&M takes the field in 2024, but many believe the hire was the best thing the Aggies could’ve done this offseason. Time will tell if the supporters are vindicated or not.

Rece Davis: Texas A&M hit a home run with Mike Elko hire

Mike Elko is barely getting his feet wet as head coach at Texas A&M — but high expectations are already surrounding his hire. 

According to ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis, those expectations are well warranted, as he expects big things from the former Aggie defensive coordinator during his tenure in College Station. 

“From Ross Bjork’s standpoint, and from A&M’s standpoint, they hit a home-run here,” Davis said on the College GameDay podcast. “Honesty compels me to say, I thought the same thing when they hired Jimbo [Fisher], but even though he worked for Jimbo, he’s a completely different guy as we’ve outlined here. 

“I think it is an absolute home run hire, and probably one that is a more creative approach to hire than what appeared to be his initial attempt to hire him.”

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.