Mike Elko Addresses Where Texas A&M Kicking Game Stands Heading Into Week 1

Answers have finally been revealed about who the starting kicker will be for the first week of the college football season when Missouri State visits town: David Olano will hold the kicking duties until further notice.

The Illinois transfer is playing in his first season in the Maroon and White and faced extremely tight competition from Asher Murray, who will be the backup kicker. After an injury limited the amount of action Olano saw in the spring, head coach Mike Elko said that factored into it, opening Murray up for a better chance to earn the position, but it ultimately went to Olano.

“He’s a really good kicker,” Elko said. “He was hurt in the spring, and so he didn’t really get to kick much, and so Asher got his opportunity and really did a nice job, and then that created a competition. Not because David didn’t do anything but just because you had this other guy really step up all spring, and so they went back and forth. It was very, very close and very tight because both guys were phenomenal.”

Unraveling Kicking Duties

Illinois Fighting Illini kicker David Olano (24) kicks a field goal during the second quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Two men fought for the right to go out and use their powerful legs to nail extra points and field goal attempts. It came down to a veteran with more experience in the college landscape against a fairly new kicker. Both are perfectly capable of being fit for the gig, but Olano was chosen more for this reason than any other, according to Elko.

“I think we have a really, really strong kicking situation and we just decided to go with the guy who maybe has done it a little bit more at the college level at this point, but both of them were really, really good this fall,” Elko said.

Diving deeper into what both have done in their career, Olano has two years of solid work driving the football between the uprights, where he was on the 2025 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (media) and the 2024 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Coaches) recipient.

This season, he also made the Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List, which shows even more of what he can do at this level. Throughout his collegiate career, he has tallied 37 makes on 43 attempts, with a long of 50 yards.

As for Murray, he entered his first season in Aggieland after enrolling in classes back in January. He lettered four years at C.E. Byrd and was labeled by multiple outlets as a solid kicker regardless of where he was ranked on the star and national kicking scale. In high school, his longest career kick was 56 yards, and he converted 18 of his 22 field goals.

It was a difficult decision, but the coaching staff concluded that Olano would start as the man. Elko mentioned consistency and what he hopes he goes out there and does, with the veteran going out there to drill kicks.

“We had a veteran last year, so hopefully what it means is consistency when he goes out there,” Elko stated. “We’re excited for David. We believe in him, but he’s got to go out there, and he’s got to do it.”

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