Skip to main content

Mike Elko Just Gave the Best Answer to College Football Playoff Expansion Questions

Mike Elko gave an honest and refreshing answer to College Football Playoff expansion talk.
Texas A&M Aggies head football coach Mike Elko sits courtside during the Men’s basketball game against the Florida Gators
Texas A&M Aggies head football coach Mike Elko sits courtside during the Men’s basketball game against the Florida Gators | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

In this story:

College Football Playoff expansion has been a massive topic so far this offseason, particularly when it comes to the proposed 24-team playoff model that popped up earlier this spring.

As is to be expected, every SEC head coach has been asked about their opinions on the matter throughout the last few months.

That topic came up once again at the SEC's spring meetings in Destin, with every coach sharing their own take on what direction the sport should take.

That included Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko, who might have given the best answer of the bunch.

'Why are you asking us?'

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko
Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts during the second half of the first round game of the CFP National Playoff | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

When asked about his opinions on CFP expansion, Elko gave a simple, relatable answer: He doesn't care as long as it makes it easier for him to keep his job.

“I don’t know why you ask us. It doesn’t matter what we think," Elko said to reporters. “I don’t know why we’re trying to become a trophy sport. What does Mike Elko want? 40. Then I won’t get fired."

As simple as it sounds, however, what Elko is really doing here is making a great point in reference to the health of the sport of college football itself, and the ever-increasing expectations of its head coaches.

Just last season, for example, James Franklin was fired from Penn State, just nine months after getting his team within a field goal of playing for a national title game.

Why? Because his team started ranked No. 2 in the country, only to lose three straight games after a 3-0 start, taking his team out of playoff contention.

That firing then set a precedent across the sport that one down year, no matter how much success you've had as a coach, could result in your termination.

In other words, it seems the only way to avoid that fate for certain, is to make the playoffs every year.

So, of course, as Elko points out, nearly every coach of a program that isn't a perennial playoff contender would want to advocate for expansion to help him keep his own job.

"We don’t have to find a number that allows everyone to get in," Elko said in Destin. "It’s OK for it to be hard to get into the Playoff. None of us (coaches) is answering for the good of the sport. We are answering for the good of ourselves.”

And even though he's coming off of arguably the best season the school has had since the turn of the century, Elko is 100 percent right about that

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations


Published
Matt Galatzan
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.

Share on XFollow MattGalatzan