Texas A&M and head coach Mike Elko are putting the finishing touches on a six-year contract extension that will vault the 48-year-old into the upper tier of college football’s highest-paid coaches.
The deal, which is expected to average more than $11 million per season, would place Elko among the top five highest-paid coaches in the country.
This makes sense when looked at what he has accomplished in College Station. The Aggies are 9-0 and ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings, putting together their best start in 33 years.
Texas A&M sits alone atop the SEC as the only undefeated team overall in conference play, with Alabama being the only other team that hasn’t lost in SEC games this season.
After a respectable 8-5 first season following his arrival from Duke, Elko has the program positioned for a legitimate run at both an SEC championship and College Football Playoff berth.
Elko previously served as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator under Jimbo Fisher from 2018 to 2021 before departing for the Duke head coaching position.
He earned ACC Coach of the Year honors at Duke in 2022 and compiled a 16-9 record with the Blue Devils before returning to College Station. His current deal pays him $7 million annually, which ranks him 32nd nationally.
NEW: Mike Elko and Texas A&M are finalizing a contract extension, @PeteNakos reports👍
The deal will make Elko one of the top-10 highest-paid coaches in the country.https://t.co/P60dbbOZ0S pic.twitter.com/xJ33ozGj6s
— On3 (@On3sports) November 15, 2025
Extension Locks Down Elko Amid Coaching Carousel and Growing Interest from Other Programs
The coaching job across college football has been turbulent this season, with 11 coaches losing their jobs in-season, including four at SEC schools such as LSU, Florida, Arkansas and Auburn. Penn State, Virginia Tech, UCLA and Oklahoma State are among the power conference programs searching for new head coach.
Elko’s name had surfaced in connection with some openings, particularly given his New Jersey roots and potential fit with programs in that region.
The extension addresses Texas A&M’s desire to lock down stability after the expensive exit from the Jimbo Fisher era. Fisher’s buyout remains the largest ever paid to a coach in college football history, a fact that still hangs over the program’s financial decisions till date.
The school appears to have learned from that experience, structuring Elko’s original contract with significant performance incentives rather than fully guaranteed money.
The Aggies face South Carolina on Saturday before closing the regular season with a rivalry game against Texas. A win over the Gamecocks would give Texas A&M its first 10-win season since 2012 and only its second since 2000.
More importantly, it would keep the Aggies on track for their first SEC championship game appearance and a high seed in the expanded College Football Playoff format.
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