Texas A&M Loses Assistant To Mike Elko

Harland Bower leaves Aggies to coach defensive line at Duke

Texas A&M was hopeful to retain all assistant coaches following the departure of Mike Elko. That changed Tuesday afternoon. 

Harland Bower, who served as a defensive analyst in 2021, will leave College Station to coach the defensive ends at Duke. The Blue Devils also added East Carolina's director of player personnel Derek Miller, who will serve as the team's recruiting general manager. 

Bower, 33, joined the Aggies from South Alabama, where he coached the defensive line for three seasons. Prior to joining the Jaguars in Mobile, he worked under Elko at Notre Dame for two seasons, serving as a defensive graduate assistant. 

During his coaching tenure, Bower also has coached at Central Arkansas, Troy, Rutgers and Murray State. A former defensive end, Bower played at both Central Michigan and Georgia Southern. 

In his final season with the Aggies, Elko helped A&M finish No. 3 nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 15.92 points per game. A&M finished ninth in pass efficiency defense (112.00) and seventh in red zone defense (.710). 

A&M ranked seventh in yards per play, allowing just 4.66. They also finished tied for 10th in fourth down defense (.353), tied for 12th in total sacks (39) and defensive touchdowns (three), 16th in third down defense (.328), and 20th in total defense (327.5 yards per game).

The Aggies (8-4) have not named a defensive coordinator successor to Elko. Prior to pulling out of the Gator Bowl against No. 17 Wake Forest, linebackers coach Tyler Santucci was expected to call the plays defensively. 

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher has yet to update the defensive coordinator search publicly. 

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