Last November, Texas A&M made the (financially) difficult decision to move on from a national championship-winning head coach in hopes of finding someone who can overhaul a culture that had grown stale.
The Aggies had appeared stuck in neutral under Jimbo Fisher, which is why they moved on before his sixth season at the helm could come to a close and with more than $76 million remaining on his fully guaranteed contract.
In his place is Mike Elko, who engineered an impressive turnaround at Duke and has ties to College Station, Texas, having been Fisher’s defensive coordinator in 2018-21. Who will make up his first staff of the Aggies football program?
Texas A&M Aggies Coaching Staff
Head Coach, Mike Elko
Elko returns to Aggieland after two successful seasons as head coach at Duke where he was named the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year. The former Texas A&M defensive coordinator also made stops at Notre Dame and Wake Forest before his time with the maroon and white.
Elko became only the second Blue Devils head coach to reach back-to-back bowl games (David Cutcliffe) and the first to do so in his first two seasons at the helm. The 2023 season saw the team get off to a 4-0 start, including a 28-7 victory over then-No. 9 Clemson to start the year before injuries took their toll as Duke finished the regular season 7-5.
Before his time in Durham, N.C., Elko served as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Texas A&M from 2018-21, helping Texas A&M finish with four straight bowl trips and an overall record of 34-14 (.708). The Aggies ranked among the top 15 in FBS in both total defense (14th) and scoring defense (third) in 2021, allowing opponents to score just six rushing touchdowns all year.
Before arriving at Texas A&M, Elko was the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame in 2017 and was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award as the Fighting Irish finished 10-3 with a win over LSU in the Citrus Bowl.
Elko served three seasons (2014-16) as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Wake Forest under head coach Dave Clawson. His 2016 defensive unit was one of only four schools in the country that could claim to rank in the top 20 for turnovers forced, sacks, and scoring defense; the other three teams in that group all qualified for the College Football Playoff that season (Alabama, Clemson, and Washington).
Associate Head Coach (Offense)/Running Backs Coach, Trooper Taylor
Trooper Taylor joins Elko’s staff after being at Duke for the past five seasons, serving in the same capacity under Elko over the past two seasons that he will assume in College Station.
Taylor has over 30 years of coaching experience, including being on staff at Auburn for its 2010 BCS National Championship run, in which the Tigers went a perfect 14-0. In total, he’s coached in 16 bowl games during a career that also includes stints at Baylor, New Mexico, Tulane, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas State.
Taylor joined the Duke staff as an assistant coach in Jan. 2019 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2020. He worked with the wide receivers in his first two seasons and spent the 2021 season overseeing the cornerbacks before Coach Elko tabbed him as the running backs coach in 2022. Taylor closed out his time at Duke leading the Blue Devils to victory in the Birmingham Bowl as the interim head coach.
Under Taylor in 2022, Duke finished the season ranked among the top three ACC teams in both rushing touchdowns (31) and rushing yards per game (184.2).
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, Jay Bateman
A 25-year coaching veteran, Jay Bateman arrives in Aggieland for his first season with the maroon and white following two seasons at Florida as the inside linebackers coach and three seasons as the defensive coordinator at North Carolina.
During his first year at Florida, Bateman delivered two NFL Draft picks (Ventrell Miller and Amari Burney) and contributed to a Florida defense that helped lead the SEC, producing 22 takeaways during the 2022 season.
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Bateman made the move to Gainesville, Fla., after spending three seasons as North Carolina’s co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach (2019-21). Upon his arrival, Bateman helped engineer major improvements in the Tar Heel defense, one of the nation’s top five most improved units in total defense, scoring defense, and rushing defense that year.
Before UNC, Bateman spent five seasons (2014-18) as Army’s defensive coordinator. Army won 29 games during Bateman’s tenure, including three bowl games during his last three seasons, which included two top-10 finishes in total defense. Bateman was one of five finalists for the 2018 Broyles Award and a semifinalist in 2016.
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach, Collin Klein
A former Heisman Trophy finalist and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner in 2012, Collin Klein joins Mike Elko’s staff as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for his first season at Texas A&M. He served in the same role for his alma mater, Kansas State, for the past two seasons.
Klein orchestrated one of the country’s highest-scoring offenses in 2023, including an FBS-best 79% touchdown rate in the red zone. The Wildcats offense also ranked eighth in third-down conversions (49%), 10th in scoring offense (37.8 PPG), 13th in rushing yards per game (198.7), and 23rd in total yards per game (446.1).
Klein began his post-collegiate journey as an assistant director of recruiting operations and defensive quality control coach at K-State in 2014 before serving as an offensive graduate assistant the following season. He secured his first coaching position at Northern Iowa as the quarterbacks coach in 2016, before returning to his alma mater in 2017.
Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach, Jordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson begins his first season at Texas A&M after spending the previous four at Kansas as the defensive backs coach.
During his time at Kansas, Peterson mentored four All-Big 12 selections, including two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection Cobee Bryant, who became the second Jayhawk cornerback in school history to be named first-team all-conference twice.
Before making the move to Kansas, Peterson spent three seasons at New Mexico (2017-19) working with the safeties and was promoted to defensive coordinator before the 2019 season.
Before his time at New Mexico, Peterson coached at Fresno State for five seasons, from 2012-16, helping the Bulldogs to three consecutive bowl games and a 2014 Mountain West Championship game appearance, as well as a 2013 Mountain West title. Peterson coached both the secondary and outside linebackers through his time at Fresno State while serving as recruiting coordinator and a special teams coach.
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach, Holmon Wiggins
Holmon Wiggins enters his first season at Texas A&M as the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. He spent the previous five seasons at Alabama as the wide receivers coach, including the previous three seasons as the assistant head coach of offense.
During his time in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Wiggins produced a Heisman Trophy and Biletnikoff Award winner in DeVonta Smith in 2020. He also developed four other first-round NFL Draft picks, including Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs III, Jameson Williams, and Jerry Jeudy — all of whom were selected in the top 15 of their respective draft years.
Before his time at Alabama, Wiggins spent three years (2015-18) coaching wide receivers at Virginia Tech where he was part of a staff that helped guide the team’s offense to single-season records for passing touchdowns, total offense, and points in 2016.
Wiggins’ time in Blacksburg, Va., was preceded by four seasons at Memphis where he was an integral component of Justin Fuente’s staff that helped lead Memphis to 19 victories and back-to-back bowl appearances in 2014-15.
Defensive Backs Coach, Ishmael Aristide
Ishmael Aristide returns to College Station to begin his first season as the Aggies’ defensive backs coach. He was originally on the Texas A&M staff when he held the title of Senior Defensive Analyst/Secondary Assistant with the program in 2019-20.
Aristide was on head coach Mike Elko’s staff as the cornerbacks coach at Duke for two seasons. He made the move to Durham after one year at Miami, coaching the “strikers” and outside linebackers. The Hurricanes finished the 2021 season with a 7-5 mark and an invitation to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
Aristide spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Ole Miss, serving as the senior defensive analyst and secondary assistant, preceded by the start of his coaching career at Auburn where he was a defensive graduate assistant coach.
A graduate of Purdue, Aristide was a three-year letterman playing safety and wide receiver, and he was also a member of the track and field program, earning three Big Ten Academic All-Conference honors. After graduating from college, he worked for Deloitte Consulting LLP from 2013-16 before joining the Tigers’ coaching staff.
Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach, Adam Cushing
Adam Cushing is in his first season with Texas A&M as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach. Cushing came to Aggieland after two seasons in the same role on Elko’s staff at Duke.
Cushing made an immediate impact in his first season in Durham as the offensive line helped set a Duke program record with 31 rushing touchdowns while finishing with 2,394 rushing yards.
Before his time in Durham, Cushing served a three-year stint as the head coach at Eastern Illinois from 2019-21. In his final season, the Panthers ranked No. 2 in FCS in fumbles recovered (14), 15th in kickoff return defense (16.44), and 28th in team tackles for loss per game (6.5).
Before his tenure at Eastern Illinois, Cushing spent 15 seasons in a variety of roles at Northwestern, including 10 seasons as the offensive line coach.
Special Teams Coordinator, Patrick Dougherty
Patrick Dougherty is in his first season at Texas A&M as the special teams coordinator, the same role he held at Duke under Mike Elko in 2022 and 2023. Dougherty also was the tight ends coach during his time in Durham.
During his first year, Duke ranked first nationally in punt return average (19.9) and 21st in kickoff return defense (17.2).
Before his time at Duke, Dougherty had an eight-year stint at Ball State from 2014-21. Dougherty was elevated to assistant head coach for the last two seasons while maintaining special teams coordinator and tight ends coaching duties (2016-19).
Defensive Line Coach, Tony Jerod-Eddie
Former Texas A&M and NFL football defensive lineman Tony Jerod-Eddie was named a full-time assistant by new head coach Mike Elko and will remain on staff as defensive line coach.
As a senior for the Aggies in 2011, the team was Texas Bowl champions as he earned second-team All-Conference honors as selected by the league’s coaches. He led Texas A&M defensive linemen with 48 tackles and four sacks that season.
A four-year Aggie letterman, he ended his career playing in 51 games and making 38 starts. Jerod-Eddie signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers after the 2012 NFL Draft and played for the club from 2012-2016, including an appearance in Super Bowl 47 against the Baltimore Ravens.
After his retirement from the NFL, he returned to Texas A&M in 2020 to work with the Aggie defensive line where he was mentored by coaches Terry Price and Elijah Robinson.
Defensive Line Coach, Sean Spencer
A veteran coach with more than 20 years of experience at the collegiate and professional levels, Sean Spencer joins the Texas A&M staff as the defensive line coach for Mike Elko’s first season.
He previously served as the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for two seasons at Florida following stints at Penn State, Vanderbilt, and with the New York Giants before arriving in Aggieland.
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