Texas A&M coach Mike Elko is staying with the Aggies.
Sources told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger that Elko is set to sign a new deal with the school that will make him one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in the country. The Aggies are 9-0 and No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings through the first 11 weeks of the season.
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Elko is in his second season with the Aggies after Jimbo Fisher was fired with two regular-season games to go in the 2023 season. The Aggies went 8-5 in 2024 and have already eclipsed that win total this season.
The Aggies had a chance to win the SEC a season ago but lost their last three conference games of the season. This year, A&M has a much better shot to get to the SEC title game. After South Carolina on Saturday, the Aggies just have a game against Texas in the final week of the season. A&M and Alabama are the only two teams in the SEC with undefeated conference records entering Week 12.
Elko was the 32nd highest-paid coach in college football in 2024 according to USA Today’s salary database with a salary of $7 million. Four SEC coaches — Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel and Kentucky’s Mark Stoops — were tied at No. 10 in the database with a salary of $9 million.
Given A&M’s success this season, it felt unlikely that Elko would leave for a job like LSU, Florida or Penn State. But the extension virtually guarantees that he won’t be going anywhere and follows coaches like Nebraska’s Matt Rhule and SMU’s Rhett Lashlee by signing in-season extensions this year to take their names out of the potential coaching carousel.
