Mike Elko, Kirby Smart share value of playing small schools, funding lower levels of college football
Week 1 saw multiple SEC programs open the season against FCS opponents, having an immense amount of success. A couple more on the schedule for Saturday, with Georgia hosting Tennessee Tech and Texas A&M welcoming McNeese State to College Station.
These games are a lot more important to the FCS schools than Georiga or Texas A&M. Mike Elko knows that, being an assistant coach at three I-AA schools in the past. During his time at Richmond as the linebackers coach, the Spiders took on NC State (2004) and Vanderbilt (2005), losing by an average of 34 points. They also got to play in front of 50,000 and 38,000 fans, respectively.
Experiences like those cannot be taken away from players who may not see a crowd of 10,000 fans the rest of the year.
“For sure, I think these games are important,” Elko said during Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference. “As a guy who spent time at the FCS level — being able these kids and those programs opportunities to come play on these stages and these environments. The financial impact these games have on those programs. Those things are really, really important in this day and age, for sure.”
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Kirby Smart honed in more specifically on the financial aspect of what these games mean to FCS programs. According to the AJC, Georgia will be paying Tennessee Tech $550,000 for the game, one the Bulldogs likely win by a good margin.
It’s not about the result for Smart, even though he does want to leave Sanford Stadium 2-0. He feels the need to keep lower-level football programs across the country alive for the sport’s betterment.
The margin of victory may not be pretty but sometimes, it’s the difference between being able to financially continue or not.
“I believe in the sport of football,” Smart said. “If you told me the sport of football was going to lose programs because they can’t sustain without the financial help then, I want to support that. I also want the financial support of our fan base and if you polled them, they’d rather us play Clemson, Notre Dame, every week. I respect that too, I enjoy that. I coached in the NFL, I’ve been around those kind of leagues. I’m sensitive to both of those things.
“I just think if we’re going to lose football at a lower level, because of financial reasons, I would rather try to sustain those programs and try to keep them up.”
While neither Tennessee Tech nor McNeese State are in-state FCS schools, both are within 200 miles of their opponent. Elko sees value in helping those out in the surrounding area a lot more than somebody random.
“I think the more you can do that from a local standpoint, whether that’s Texas or Louisiana or neighboring states, I think it certainly helps the programs in or around your hometown,” Elko said.
All but three SEC teams have FCS opponents on the 2025 schedule. LSU, Texas, and Vanderbilt currently do not. Although, the Tigers and Commodores do have one more game to fill in — this late in the process, a lower-level opponent is more than likely.