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Mike Elko’s Texas A&M Arrival Stands in Stark Contrast to Jimbo Fisher’s Audacious Welcome

There was no fanfare in College Station for Elko’s arrival, unlike that of his predecessor.

Madison Williams

Mike Elko’s Texas A&M Arrival Stands in Stark Contrast to Jimbo Fisher’s Audacious Welcome
Mike Elko’s Texas A&M Arrival Stands in Stark Contrast to Jimbo Fisher’s Audacious Welcome /
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Mike Elko flew into in College Station, Texas, in the early hours of Monday morning shortly after finalizing a deal to become the new coach of the Texas A&M football program.

The former Duke coach is going viral for the low-key arrival which occurred at approximately 2:15 a.m. CT. That’s because it stands in stark contrast to the 2017 arrival of predecessor Jimbo Fisher who was fired Nov. 12.

Elko walked off the private plane onto the tarmac and made his way to a plain white pickup truck. Photographers only had a few seconds to snap images of him before he disappeared.

When Fisher was named the Aggies coach in 2017, he arrived in College Station to massive fanfare. 

A maroon carpet was laid out for Fisher as he walked out of the plane. Members of the Texas A&M band then played the school’s fight song as he walked along the carpet. 

The two coaches couldn’t have had a more different entrance, and Aggies fans certainly hope for more success under Elko than Fisher, who went 45–25 in five-plus seasons.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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