Report: Texas A&M Aggies Expected to Hire Duke OL Coach Adam Cushing, CB Coach Ishmael Aristide

The Texas A&M Aggies new coaching staff is beginning to come together, with Mike Elko hiring a pair of Duke assistants on Tuesday.

Matt Galatzan | Dec 5, 2023

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The new Texas A&M Aggies coaching staff under Mike Elko is beginning to take shape.

Since Elko's hiring, the Aggies have said goodbye to multiple assistants, including offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, defensive line coach Elijah Robinson, wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig, and offensive line coach, Steve Addazio.

Some of those replacements have already begun to come in as well, with the Aggies hiring former Florida defensive line coach Sean Spencer on Sunday.

Now, two more coaches are in the pipeline, with the Aggies reportedly expected to hire Duke offensive line coach Adam Cushing and cornerbacks coach Ishmail Aristide - both of whom are following Elko from his previous job with the Blue Devils.

Elko had hinted after his hiring that he would be bringing 'quite a few guys' from Durham to College Station.

Eastern Illinois Panthers head coach Adam Cushing directs his team against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the third quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. — Adam Cushing / Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

“There are a lot of guys in Durham that I think fit and are going to make a lot of sense here,” Elko said in an interview with Paul Finebaum “We obviously had a ton of success at that program. We took it to big heights really quick and did things that had not really happened at Duke."

"There are quite a few of those guys who are going to make sense, are elite coaches, elite men, elite relationship-builders and elite recruiters. So those guys, we are going to try to get here."

And now it seems that Cushing and Aristide are set to be the first of the bunch.

Last season under Cushing, Duke's offensive line was one of the best in the ACC, giving up just 15 sacks throughout the year, ranking 18th in the country and second in the conference. Duke also ranked 26th in the country in yards per rush, under Cushing.

On the other side of the ball, the Blue Devils ranked 39th in the nation and sixth in the ACC in pass defense. They also gave up just 11 touchdown passes in 2023, which time them for ninth in the nation and second in the ACC behind Florida State.

Elko Plans To Bring 'Quite A Few' Staff Members From Duke

Published Dec 5, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.