Mike Elko

Mike Elko is a prominent college football coach and the head coach at Texas A&M University (Aggies) in College Station, a role he assumed in late 2023 and led into the 2024 season. Raised in South Brunswick, New Jersey, Elko was a multisport athlete in high school and played safety for the University of Pennsylvania, where he was part of an Ivy League championship team.

Elko built his reputation over many years as a defensive specialist, coaching at multiple programs and steadily climbing the ranks. After early roles at Stony Brook, Penn, Merchant Marine, Fordham, Richmond, and Hofstra, he became defensive coordinator under Dave Clawson at Bowling Green and Wake Forest. From 2017-21, he was the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M under then-head coach Jimbo Fisher, before accepting the head-coaching job at Duke University for the 2022-23 seasons. At Duke, he earned the ACC Coach of the Year award in 2022 following a 9-4 season in his first year as head coach.

Returning to Texas A&M as head coach, Elko inherited a program with high expectations in the fiercely competitive Southeastern Conference. His first season (2024) ended with an 8-5 record, and in 2025, the Aggies began the year with an 8-0 start and climbed to a top-five national ranking—a sign of the program’s upward trajectory under his leadership.

Elko is known for his emphasis on defensive discipline, program culture, and recruiting in the South Texas market. He couples his technical background with a leadership style that emphasizes accountability, toughness, and continuous improvement. As the Aggies aim for conference titles and College Football Playoff contention, Elko’s blend of coaching experience and strategic vision positions him as a key figure in the future of college football.