DALLAS – From the personality standpoint, former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher and new coach Mike Elko could not be much different.
Aggie fans no doubt hope the results are, too.
During his six-year tenure in College Station, Fisher’s mouth often made more headlines than his team.
His verbal tiff two seasons ago with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban drew headlines, and unwelcomed attention to the program.
The fact Texas A&M struggled on the field and never met the expectations fans had from Fisher did not help.
Enter Elko, the former Aggie defensive coordinator, who led Duke to respect in the ACC, earning ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2022.
He is all business and accountability, something Aggie offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III and his teammates quickly learned.
“I remember an example when someone was late for team meetings, he said that he had car trouble,” Zuhn said. “Coach Elko looked at him and made him get a receipt from AAA coming to replace his tire. He makes sure you’re on top of yourself.”
Per Elko, he's had no choice but to start doing things differently.
"We had to have some real honest conversations when I took over about where we were as a program. You know, we can't verbalize what we are. Facts tell us who we are, and we were a 12-13 football program the last two years. So the only way to change that is to work," he said. "You can't just say you want to be different and say you want to compete, you have to do it. And I think that has been from day one internal conversations that we had. And then you have a lot of great kids with great character with a lot of pride in themselves. That's not lost on them either."
Zuhn said it’s been a welcomed change.
“A lot was going to where it made it hard to focus on football at times,” Zuhn said. “It’s completely different now.”
It’s taken some getting used to.
Elko has demanded players to be more accountable and take their work on the practice field more seriously.
“It was rough for the first week or two because of the accountability he demanded,” Zuhn said. “He wanted to make sure everybody was where they were supposed to be when they needed to be there.”
Changes have also been made off the practice field. Competition is now part of everything they do.
“He taught us how to win and how to be competitive. He made sure that’s the main part of being part of the A&M football team,” Zuhn said. “We’re competing in everything, from agility, and conditioning, to weight training.”
