As Texas A&M stands atop the SEC, coach Mike Elko says, ‘This is a real program’

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko didn’t mince words after his team beat LSU on Saturday night to claim the top spot in the SEC.

The No. 14 Aggies beat the No. 8 Tigers 38-23 after a second-half quarterback change sparked A&M. After Conner Weigman was replaced by Marcel Reed, Texas A&M scored touchdowns on four straight drives. Thanks to those scores and three interceptions of LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier, A&M pulled away in the fourth quarter for a comfortable victory.

“This is a real program,” Elko said in his postgame news conference. “It’s not fake, it’s not a politician running this program talking fast and BS’ing everybody. This is a real program and for all the recruits out there, this is a real place and if you want to be really good at football, this is a really good place to be.”

Let’s be clear, Elko didn’t mention anyone by name in that quote above. But it’s all too easy to see how it could be referring to former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, a man who talks quite quickly. Fisher was fired during the 2023 season despite having a buyout of over $70 million because of the massive contract extension he signed after the 2020 season.

Fisher always reeled in stellar recruiting classes with the Aggies, but the on-field results didn’t match the stars in those classes. Outside of a 9-1 season in a COVID-impacted 2020, the Aggies lost at least four games in each of Fisher’s seasons with the team.

Elko was a part of Fisher’s staff for that 2020 season. The former Duke head coach ran Texas A&M’s defense from 2018-21 before he became the Blue Devils’ head coach. After a flirtation with Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, A&M hired Elko in the offseason.

Kentucky is now 1-5 in the SEC this season after a home loss to Auburn on Saturday night. A&M, meanwhile, is 5-0 and has a very manageable conference schedule remaining compared to the rest of the teams at the top of the conference. While Georgia has games against Ole Miss and Tennessee remaining, and LSU plays Alabama, the Aggies have games at South Carolina and Auburn before a renewal of their rivalry vs. Texas on the final weekend of the season. If A&M beats the Gamecocks and Tigers, the Aggies could have a spot in the SEC title game locked up before the Longhorns come to town.