Mike Elko worried about 'insane freshmen deals' making upperclassmen insecure & disturbing locker room peace
Count Mike Elko among those with questions about NIL and its effects on college teams. It’s not that the Texas A&M Aggies head coach is opposed to it, just that he raised concerns about how the dynamic of having freshmen receiving these deals could destabilize the locker room.
“I think you have to be really intelligent when you manage this thing, how you manage it for the culture of your program," said Elko.
“You see some of these insane freshman deals. I would like to know how the upperclassmen in their program feel when these freshmen come in making five times more than the returning starter," he added.
While there is no centralized data, some high school players are reportedly nearing seven-figure NIL deals, so Elko's concern is a valid one. While there a large number of players getting paid, most student athletes are nowhere near those kinds of deals.
After an early recruiting period that has seen the Aggies land some strong players, the challenge for Mike Elko and his coaching staff will be to keep everyone on the same page and avoid the rifts that could hit the locker room.
Early success for Mike Elko, Texas A&M in signing day window
There has been some early recruiting success for Elko and the Aggies class of 2025. After Texas A&M bounced back to an 8-4 record in 2024 after finishing at 7-6 in 2023 and 5-7 the year before, there have been some favorable developments in the recruiting front.
After the early signing day period kicked off on Wednesday, Texas A&M was able to land some top prospects. According to 247 Sports, by Wednesday, the Aggies had the number 9 recruiting class in the country, with 24 commits.
The class is headlined by a couple of 5-star recruits in wide receiver Jerome Myles and offensive lineman Lamont Rogers. While Myles is joining after decommitting from University of Southern California (USC), the latter is coming in after flipping from Missouri.
They will also be joined by quarterback Brady Hart, the 28th-ranked quarterback prospect in the nation, who last week flipped from Michigan to Texas A&M.
The Aggies did lose 5-star quarterback commit Husan Longstreet, however, as he flipped to USC after Julian Lewis decided to decommit from the Trojans to join the Colorado Buffaloes and head coach Deion Sanders. A&M will also be losing some experienced players to the transfer portal.
All in all, the Aggies have landed 13 4-star recruits as well, per 247 Sports, a positive reflection of Mike Elko’s first season on the job.
The early signing day window runs through Friday, so there could still be more more added pieces to the Aggies class of 2025.
NIL not an issue for Texas A&M
With the new revenue sharing sharing policy that will allow schools to pay college athletes directly for the first time, Texas schools could have an issue. Texas House Bill 2804 bans universities from paying athletes directly.
However, Mike Elko shot down stipulation that it could hinder the Aggies’ recruiting plan, at least for the 2025 class.
“NIL didn’t play any role in our inability to land anyone. Maybe our NIL plan didn’t allow us to get involved with certain kids or to continue to recruit certain kids, or to match a number that might have allowed us to land certain kids, but that was more of an internal plan,” Mike Elko remarked.
While some states have reportedly begun using revenue sharing deals, there are still questions as to how that practice will work.