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Michael Elko (born July 28, 1977) is an American college football coach who is the head football coach at Texas A&M University. He was previously the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M from 2018 until his hiring by Duke on December 10, 2021, and subsequent departure from Duke and hiring by Texas A&M on November 26, 2023.[2]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Texas A&M |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 7–2 |
| Annual salary | $7 million[1] |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | July 28, 1977 South Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1995–1998 | Penn |
| Position(s) | Safety |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1999 | Stony Brook (GA) |
| 2000 | Penn (DB) |
| 2001 | Merchant Marine (DC/DB) |
| 2002–2003 | Fordham (co-DC/LB) |
| 2004–2005 | Richmond (ST/LB) |
| 2006 | Hofstra (DC/DB) |
| 2007 | Hofstra (DC/LB) |
| 2008 | Hofstra (AHC/DC/LB) |
| 2009–2013 | Bowling Green (DC/LB) |
| 2014–2016 | Wake Forest (DC/S) |
| 2017 | Notre Dame (DC) |
| 2018–2021 | Texas A&M (DC/S) |
| 2022–2023 | Duke |
| 2024–present | Texas A&M |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 23–11 |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| |
Raised in South Brunswick, New Jersey, Elko graduated in 1995 from South Brunswick High School, where he played baseball, basketball and was the quarterback for the school's football team.[3] He was recognized by the coaches of the Greater Middlesex Conference as the league's top quarterback in 1994 and was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame in 2012.[4] He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he played for the Penn Quakers football team that won the Ivy league championship in 1998.[3]
Early career
Elko coached under Dave Clawson for 12 seasons. He spent two seasons with Clawson at both Fordham and Richmond, five seasons with him at Bowling Green, and three seasons with Clawson at Wake Forest.[3] During the 2016 season, Elko's Wake Forest defense ranked in the top 20 for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in defensive touchdowns scored, turnovers, red zone defense, sacks, and scoring defense.
Notre Dame
On December 20, 2016, Elko was announced as the new defensive coordinator at Notre Dame Fighting Irish football[5] The Fighting Irish fired DC Brian VanGorder the prior September after Notre Dame started the season with a 1–3 record and a defense ranked third from the bottom of the FBS.[6]
Texas A&M (defensive coordinator)
On January 4, 2018, Elko was hired by Jimbo Fisher as the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M inking a three-year deal averaging $1.8M/year.[7][8]
Duke
On December 13, 2021, Elko was announced as head coach at Duke.[9] In his first season, the Blue Devils went 9–4 with a win in the Military Bowl. In 2023, Duke began the season with an upset 28–7 win over Clemson, and finished the regular season 7–5.
Texas A&M (head coach)
On November 27, 2023, Elko was named the head coach of Texas A&M.[10]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Blue Devils (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2022–2023) | |||||||||
| 2022 | Duke | 9–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Coastal) | W Military | ||||
| 2023 | Duke | 7–5 | 4–4 | T–6th | Birmingham[lower-alpha 1] | ||||
| Duke: | 16–9 | 9–7 | |||||||
| Texas A&M Aggies (Southeastern Conference) (2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024 | Texas A&M | 7–2 | 5–1 | ||||||
| Texas A&M: | 7–2 | 5–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 23–11 | ||||||||
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