Aggy 2024: Still waiting on the Looch 44

[Rickylovesweed 14262]

That mercenary class will be almost all gone next year when you consider 1) Transfers and 2) Players that leave for the draft. 

It's based on 1 more year. It's a terrible decision-calculus to be that worried about 1 recruiting class. 

[Vertigo 20276]

10 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

The theory is that Jimbo let the lockeroom cancer fester because he's a cuck scumbag, but ruff tuff Elko will whip them into shape.   So the question is can he fix the culture with those players or does he have to hit eject on some. 

If you are a player in this scenario, all I would really be seeing is more of the same. Same coaches, same culture, etc. i would be out of there ASAP.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Vertigo

[Rickylovesweed 14262]

Who was the last ACC coach that left for another P5 school that had success? 

Jimbo (FSU to A&M): Failure

Satterfield (Louisville to Cincinnati): 3-9 in year 1

Christ (Pitt to Wisconsin): I think he did a decent job at Wisconsin but he was fired. Finished unranked in 4 of 5 final years a Wisconsin. 

Has there ever been a success story? Christ is the closest it seems. This seems like a problem with the ACC. There aren't many good programs that are getting coaches promoted and the ones that do get promoted are because of beating bad teams. Then it doesn't work out well at the next school. 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Rickylovesweed

[Michael Knight 12976]

1 hour ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Who was the last ACC coach that left for another P5 school that had success? 

Jimbo (FSU to A&M): Failure

Satterfield (Louisville to Cincinnati): 3-9 in year 1

Christ (Pitt to Wisconsin): I think he did a decent job at Wisconsin but he was fired. Finished unranked in 4 of 5 final years a Wisconsin. 

Has there ever been a success story? Christ is the closest it seems. This seems like a problem with the ACC. There aren't many good programs that are getting coaches promoted and the ones that do get promoted are because of beating bad teams. Then it doesn't work out well at the next school. 

 

Uhm who's gonna tell him?

[Rickylovesweed 14262]

18 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

Uhm who's gonna tell him?

Mack Brown was over 25 years ago when the ACC was actually pretty good. That's back when there was Mack, Bowden, Welsh, O'Leary, etc. 

Since realignment back around '04, it has not been producing many great coaches that move from the ACC to another P5. Especially not many that have succeeded that I can think of. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Rickylovesweed

[956 Worldwide 34700]

6 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

That mercenary class will be almost all gone next year when you consider 1) Transfers and 2) Players that leave for the draft. 

It's based on 1 more year. It's a terrible decision-calculus to be that worried about 1 recruiting class. 

I don’t think that class was really part of the decision-making matrix, I really do think Elko was best realistically available. And objectively I don’t think he’s a bad hire, but he’s also not a super-exciting one and comes with questions. 
 

As for what’s left of the 22 class, it’s about the opportunity it presents.  If most of them stay, then Elko will have a talented locker room that can win games and that will make a lot of difference for what he’s able to build in the medium term.  Coming in and taking a step back, which is absolutely a possibility, is going to put him in a pretty deep hole when you survey the college football landscape around us. Coming in and taking even a small step forward is pretty important. 

[Duane Moore 5237]

9 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

So, my semi-actual thoughts on this hire. My thoughts are…Elko’s OK? Which is good, because this was going to be the hire all along until Ross Bjork gave into the intrusive thoughts regarding Mike Stoops. 
 

There’s no doubt Elko can run a defense, as he’s shown at every stop he’s been at. And he is not a “Chief” type DC on the downswing. He took Duke to 22 PPG in 2022 and this year is second in the ACC at 19 PPG.  

HC chops, you have to give him an incomplete. Objectively, you have to say that anyone who gets Duke to a 9-4 record had a good year coaching. You’d have liked to see them hold or take a step forward this year to feel really good about him.  He walked into a gift with Riley Leonard and you wonder how they’d be if he stayed healthy, Duke does not have a lot of depth. You can stay at Duke a long time at 7-5 and everyone is happy. From what he’s shown, he’s able to put a competitive team on the field, win most of the games he’s supposed to win, but there is a big step up to championship levels that most people don’t make and prior records at mid-tier schools aren’t a predictor.  He hasn’t shown he can do that. 
 

I do think there is a sense of urgency to keep some of the talent on campus (more later) and so that’s why assistant hires will be key here. It’s a no-brainer to leave Robinson in place if he’ll stay. He can coach the DL, he can recruit, and hopefully Elko taps him as DC with a lot of oversight. After that….a lot of meh. Addazzio needed to be gone last year. Durkin plays a different style and is an awful person. Petrino was a step up from Jimbo calling plays, but Elko needs to change culture and does he want Petrino knocking around Bright? Likely not. 
 

The biggest issues that Elko faces is that he is walking into a worse situation than Jimbo in 2018. Less money. Lots of recent embarrassment. A toxic locker room culture. And Texas is coming with their dick swinging into the SEC instead of aimlessly floundering in a dying Big 12. Which means that if you want to get things past 8-4, you need to make some moves NOW before the narrative is written in stone. And a big part of that is, yes, keeping as much of the 2022 class around as you can.  He’s fortunate the strength of the team will be on defense.  His immediate job is to hit the portal for offensive linemen that can play now and for someone to fight with Henderson for QB2, and convince Weigman that he’s in better hands than he was with Jimbo. I think Evan Stewart is gone, but there will still be some good WR talent available. 
 

And then he needs to do a couple things with the 2024 season. First, he’s got to win games on the road, which was Jimbo’s undoing.  No losing stinkers in Starkville or Columbia and ideally you win one of Auburn or Florida. And you can’t lose to Arkansas. The toughest games next season are at home.

Second, he can’t get embarrassed at home. Aside from the cupcakes (no monster like App State looming), we get: Notre Dame, Mizzou, LSU, and Texas at home. We can easily go 0-4 against that slate, and if we do it’s going to be a big hole to climb out of because that means we likely also are taking some bad road losses.  He really needs to get one good win from that group and can’t get blown out in the others. Ideally, he manages to take down Mizzou and one of LSU or Texas and then everyone will forget the growing pains with Notre Dame.  
 

I am not optimistic that happens. If he manages to get us to 9 wins including a bowl, I think that’s close to the ceiling and will give him some breathing room. But we can just as easily lose all four of those and drop a couple on the road and finish 6-6 and if that happens then he might never get the opening he needs to really build something. 

This is a very fair and reasonable take. 

6 hours ago, Vertigo said:

Once again, I truly don't understand why everyone in that school is so intent on keeping a mercenary class that is 12-12 in their careers. It is a bad locker room, 5 stars play like 3 stars when they aren't happy or are unmotivated.

Because they paid good money for that class!

[MonkeyDoughnut 10228]

I think if they give him a couple years Elko has a chance to overcome his defences inability to stop passing attacks. 

I really don't think his prior time at aggy or Duke is reflective of his true potential. I think he's just been waiting to unveil it.

[Enchubben 5510]

I’m sure they will quickly fix that OL in one offseason. Tons of high level experienced OL in the portal and a great OL coach and OC hire is 100% certain.

That said, their schedule is hammered dogshit next year; they should win at least 8. I don’t know if that’s enough to move the needle for most, maybe it is. I assume the schedule the following year will not be as easy and a meltdown follows.

 

[Fud 9551]

My response to someone asking what seniors they're losing, on another site. I'm not on the aggie sites, so let me know if I'm missing something obvious

With the caveat that this shit is way tougher to predict than it used to be with the extra covid year and the ability to convince a fringe NFL prospect to stay for his 5th, 6th, or even 7th year with NIL, here's what I've got

Seniors, more or less in order of importance
McKinnley Jackson
Fadill Diggs
Layden Robinson
Ainias Smith
Josh Deberry
Isaiah Raikes
Demani Richardson
Chris Russell Jr
Max Wright

Draft dudes
Edgerrin Cooper
Shemar Turner

Likely portal
Evan Stewart
Max Johnson
Jake Johnson
Raymond Cottrell

They also have about a dozen guys either in the two deep or former highly rated prospects who are attrition risks for various reasons, although maybe some of that changes with a coaching change

[NoName 16351]

9 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Poster on IT who has connections inside the A&M athletic department said he expects Kirby Moore to be OC

from the Kalen DeBoer tree..sort of. Mizzou tried to point to him as more of the Chris Peterson tree so that's probably more accurate since thats part of the tie that got him the job at Mizzou in the first place.

FEI has Mizzou as the #18 OFEI team and #46 at Fresno in 2022.

brother of Kellen.

super young, like 32 now? born in 91.

here was Rock M Nation's post on him when he got hired: https://www.rockmnation.com/2023/1/10/23546902/get-to-know-your-new-offensive-coordinator-kirby-moore with a ton of background

here is their post on what a Kirby Moore offense should look like: https://www.rockmnation.com/2023/1/16/23555287/what-does-a-kirby-moore-offense-look-like

Quote

The big takeaway is that Kirby has similar struggles in scoring opportunities that Eli has. However, he had a much more efficient offense with similar explosive capabilities and was - basically - the epitomized version of offense that Eli has always wanted to have at Mizzou. And we haven’t even talked about Kirby’s schemes, where he likes inside zone and Dagger passing concepts, two plays that Bush Hamdan liked to call and had some of the highest success rates on the year. This hire makes a ton of sense because, on the surface, Kirby did what Eli wants to do but did it better in the Mountain West. I don’t anticipate a massive overhaul of this offense - which is both good and bad - but I do anticipate a better ability to identify players and schemes that work and be much more adaptable than we’ve seen in the past. How that will affect the SP+ product is yet to be seen but I’m feeling optimistic about this hire.

he is absolutely an interesting hire. no real track record outside of this year, worked under coaches like Tedford and Drink who are very hands on with the scheme and concepts. will be his first time truly out on his own and no ties to anyone currently on the A&M staff which probably means a lot of turnover on that offensive staff. will be interesting to see if he pulls anyone from Mizzou honestly, but not like he has a long time with them - he was hired in Jan 2023 there.

i assume they keep someone like Blackwell since he appears to be actually good at his job. will clearly need new OL and WR coaches to teach the changes in concepts vs what they have now and do a full offensive install ASAP.

honestly, if he's the name then it's a really good hire in my (new) opinion. it may blow up (lack of experience is a concern) but he will have Texa$ A&M $$$ behind him, and an exciting offense vs the shit Jimbo has pushed out there for years and some recent success to point to.

 

[NoName 16351]

9 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Sark worked for Pete Carroll and Saban for multiple seasons. He learned at the feet of true masters of their craft. 
 

The best coach Elko has worked for is Brian Kelly for 1 season. 

Dave Clawson identified him, hired him and worked with him for over a decade. and he is a damn good coach.

Elko is a very good defensive coach and anyone saying otherwise doesn't know jack shit.

Edited November 27, 2023 by NoName

[ClubWhatever 12120]

If Moore does well he won't be there more than 2 seasons. 

[NoName 16351]

8 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

I don't disagree. Point being that I view Moore as a tier 2 OC hire. 

Elko feels like a tier 2 hire, Moore feels like a tier 2 OC hire, and the question is who calls plays on defense. If it's Elko I would probably consider that a tier 1 DC hire but if it's Robinson I would consider that a tier 3 DC hire. 

there is literally no question who is going to call plays on defense man. come on. you are smarter than this.

[texifornia 56862]

Elko starting out on a real solid note:

"Told the Duke team at 8:00 PM that he hadnt decided yet

Flew to College Station at 2:00 AM

Schedules a zoom call for 10:00 AM

Players are dragging him on social"

[Enchubben 5510]

Probably wanted to make sure by the time the plane landed he still had a job before he told Duke players. And if the rumors about Stoops are true, I don’t blame him.

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

Also probably knows when the first batch of shipleys hits the grease in the morning

[cochamps 1879]

9 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Elko starting out on a real solid note:

"Told the Duke team at 8:00 PM that he hadnt decided yet

Flew to College Station at 2:00 AM

Schedules a zoom call for 10:00 AM

Players are dragging him on social"

It's turdition.  

aggy never lies, cheats, or steals.  Of course, Jackie Sherrill was their icon until Johnny 8 ball appeared.

[Enchubben 5510]

I heard the incentives in his contract were based on a combination of road wins and reduction of his BMI.

[Deej 76754]

If you have to fly in to College Station, 2 am is the best time to do it. Too dark to see just how big of a shithole that town is on approach.

[Shaddie 1651]

Well the BMI thing is optional. 
 

The road wins are…………well optional also. 

[Atticus 3973]

15 minutes ago, NoName said:

Dave Clawson identified him, hired him and worked with him for over a decade. and he is a damn good coach.

Elko is a very good defensive coach and anyone saying otherwise doesn't know jack shit.

The thing Elko did that was successful when he was at A&M was having 3 big run stoppers on the front. They also played safety types at corner who were good in run support. It was pretty hard to run consistently on them, but they regularly got torched against the pass.

It won't help them with two really talented passing offenses coming into the league though.

[Napoleon 8661]

58 minutes ago, Fud said:

My response to someone asking what seniors they're losing, on another site…

Seniors, more or less in order of importance
McKinnley Jackson…

…Max Wright

Draft dudes
Edgerrin Cooper
Shemar Turner

Likely portal
Evan Stewart
Max Johnson…

They also have about a dozen guys either in the two deep or former highly rated prospects who are attrition risks for various reasons, although maybe some of that changes with a coaching change

So you’re saying that the aggies will spend this offseason…

…Maxing out.

 

 

36 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

I heard the incentives in his contract were based on a combination of road wins and reduction of his BMI.

So if Elko gets a tapeworm in the next 9 months, he could be rich come January 2025?

Edited November 27, 2023 by Napoleon

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

15 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

So if Elko gets a tapeworm in the next 9 months

Pretty sure he already has an agent. 
 

heyo!

[Hookem2147 21194]

Elko's butt-buddy starting with the sunshine pumping

[HenryJames 66037]

5 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Elko's butt-buddy starting with the sunshine pumping

“…knows what it takes to win at A&M…”

Have another global pandemic?

[HtownHorn 14663]

aggy plays New Mexico State next year that is very much an Appalachian type game for them.

[Hornlover 8829]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

there is literally no question who is going to call plays on defense man. come on. you are smarter than this.

[Ghost of Stevie Ray 1584]

On 11/17/2023 at 5:59 PM, Ghost of Stevie Ray said:

It’s going to be Elko.  He’s the only guy that’s 1.) plausible and 2.) wont have the aggy faithful grumbling.

It was always gonna be Elko.  

[Napoleon 8661]

31 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Elko's butt-buddy starting with the sunshine pumping

“I think if y’all hire Kevin Jones as the OC you should be very excited about that.”

 

Now beat writers & guys who cover recruiting are serving as P.R. agents for new coaches?

Or are they consultants for new coaches?

[TheAuditor 1035]

35 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Elko's butt-buddy starting with the sunshine pumping

Wasn't Elko thought to be Fong's connection to A&M and thus all the love to A&M?  If so,  looks like that is right back on the rollercoaster tracks. 

 

EDIT:  Sorry 2147,  didn't see your intro statement.  

Edited November 27, 2023 by TheAuditor

[Tex Pete 20330]

11 minutes ago, TheAuditor said:

Wasn't Elko thought to be Fong's connection to A&M and thus all the love to A&M?  If so,  looks like that is right back on the rollercoaster tracks.

Yes. Elko will feed info to Wiltfong and Wiltfong will heap praise upon Elko and the aggies.

[Getafix 28559]

 

Insider.

 

 

 

[Professor Chesney 481]

Given Missouri’s renewed program interest from their fans and boosters, it would be really weird for them to let their OC get poached by a conference rival after having their best season in a decade

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

I had forgotten the Elko/Fong love connection. That will be nauseating to watch.

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

3 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

Insider.

 

 

 

Isn’t Santucci ass?

[Getafix 28559]

2 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Isn’t Santucci ass?

 

 

Yes, my dude.

 

 

[satyanash 14473]

54 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Elko's butt-buddy starting with the sunshine pumping

[utexas8 1436]

I thought elko didn’t like to recruit

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Just now, utexas8 said:

I thought elko didn’t like to recruit

They didn’t have to….just bag a kid. 

[Tex Pete 20330]

2 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Isn’t Santucci ass?

And aggy hates him.

[NoName 16351]

6 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

Insider.

 

 

 

Santucci back there?

 

those guys are going to have a full on meltdown.

1 minute ago, Tex Pete said:

And aggy hates him.

dude was fine w Elko there and ass once Durkin took over.

[Fud 9551]

26 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

Insider.

 

 

 

Who calls the defense?

[Navin R. Johnson 705]

Elko is engaged, organized, and has a plan. The SEC is in for a world of hurt. How can anyone be expected to compete with that total package?

[RomaVicta 29902]

2 minutes ago, Navin R. Johnson said:

Elko is engaged, organized, and has a plan. The SEC is in for a world of hurt. How can anyone be expected to compete with that total package?

He's coming in ready to work day one. Gonna toughen up the team. Knows how to win a national championship. Understands A&M. Reveille sniffed his ass and nuts and barked approvingly. Widely respected. Buddy close to the tu team says they're all shitting their pants and pissing themselves.

Sitting winning coach. 'Nuff said.

[TheAuditor 1035]

Don't Care,  Got Jimbo Fisch Traylor Stoops Erob Elko

[Teryor 4450]

Fong

Quote

Longview (Texas) Pine Tree Top247 defensive lineman Dealyn Evans has been committed to Texas A&M since July 2022 but tells 247Sports Florida is currently his leader following his latest visit to Gainesville over the weekend. He is slated to visit Alabama with an official the weekend of Dec. 8 and the Aggies the weekend of Dec. 15. Mike Elko and the new staff will be doing all they can to hold him.

 

[Hiphopopotamos 20869]

I understand NIL changed the landscape of recruiting - but I think people are underestimating Jimbo's involvement in recruiting and just how effective that little person could be as a used-car-salesman/closer.  From everything we heard about Elko - he was described as 'competent'.  The best Fong could say, in the middle of his fawning prose, was that Elko will be 'engaged' and 'organized'.  

[billfromlaketravis 11447]

3 hours ago, NoName said:

Dave Clawson identified him, hired him and worked with him for over a decade. and he is a damn good coach.

Elko is a very good defensive coach and anyone saying otherwise doesn't know jack shit.

Oh no doubt. Clawson is a good coach, and Elko is a good DC. 
 

I think Elko sets the floor. aggy should be competent on defense. Elko was damn good at taking away the run game while at aggy. 

[ATXhorn17 1617]

58 minutes ago, Getafix said:

 

Insider.

 

 

 

Please, please bring Kevin Johns as OC... His offense relies pretty heavily on the QB run -- straight into the teeth of SEC front 7s... Kevin Johns + A&M's offensive line = 3rd string QB playing by week 6.