In recent weeks Mike Elko has been linked with vacancies at Michigan State, Mississippi State and most of all former employer Texas A&M.
I had a chance today to ask him about those rumors.
Here’s his response.
“I mean, it's the same one I've always made. It's a profession where people just like to put stuff out there. Everybody knows we're doing a lot of really special things at this place. My family's very happy here. We love everything that this place is for. Again, I say this all the time, if you're doing your job well, everyone thinks you’re leaving. When you're doing bad, everyone thinks you're leaving. It's literally the nature of college coaching. I try not to pay any attention to that stuff. I'm obviously not oblivious to it, and we certainly have addressed it just because it needs to be addressed but I don't know where that stuff comes from. Certainly nobody ever asked my opinion on what I think about things.”
Now the cynics among us will note that this is short of a 100 percent guarantee and coaches always say that sort of thing before leaving.
And yes, cynicism is realism plus experience.
But. I’ve heard coaches respond to similar questions with responses like “no comment,” “I’m not talking about that,” “next question.”
So, until and unless proven otherwise I’ll take Mike Elko at his word. He’s happy where he is, proud of what he’s doing and not looking for another gig.
Let’s move on. Duke is coming off a devastating loss. No one asked Elko about the officiating Saturday night because there’s not much he can say without risking a fine and/or suspension.
Think I’m joking? Steve Spurrier was so critical about a 1988 call against Duke at the end of the NC State game that the ACC suspended him for Duke’s next game, which happened to be against UNC.
But Elko freely admitted that this was no ordinary loss.
“The biggest thing that gets lost in all this with fans, is nobody cares about this game more than the guys. These kids have put their heart and soul into this program and to this university. The second that game ends, that’s the immediate thought process, making sure my guys, these guys are okay. And so you try to uplift them. Try to let them know you care about him and you're there for him. Same thing I told them, that I don't have magic words right now. It's just know that I'm proud of you, I love you and we're just going to find a way to get through this. So just try to keep it straight with them. This is what this program is built off of.”
We’re all familiar with the aphorisms. Tough times don’t last, tough people do. It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, just how many times you get up. If it were easy, everyone would do it.
Coaches talk a lot about culture and this where it comes into play. Elko said his team still has a lot to play for, going 8-4 instead of 6-6, getting into a better bowl game, simply ending the season and, in many cases careers, on a winning note.
Now Virginia is 2-8 but they might be the best 2-8 team in the country. One of those wins was against the Tar Heels and they just played Louisville (31-24) a lot closer than Duke did.
Elko praised Virginia receiver Malik Washington (“elite level”), who has 88 receptions for 1,199 yards and he’d darn sure better be the focus of Duke’s defense. And Washington is doing that without an elite quarterback.
It will be Grayson Loftis’ game again and for the foreseeable future. Elko said Loftis has passed the barrier of first start and then first road start and is ready for the next step.
“He always had arm talent. You go back to the spring game, a lot of people walked away from that game impressed with a lot of the throws he made, some of the different things he could do. It’s just been about adjusting to the speed of the game.”
More down the road.
Virginia gave Louisville all they could handle so I expect a tough 60 minutes of football on Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers are last in the ACC in Scoring Defense giving up 32.3 points per game. Our offense needs to be hitting on all eight cylinders to take advantage. With our running game and the way Loftis is throwing the ball the offense should be able to perform effectively.