DURHAM, N.C. — Duke landed its next football coach as Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko’s job is to return Duke to the successes David Cutcliffe brought the program during his 14 seasons.
Following a search process that lasted two days shy of two weeks, the school and Elko agreed on a deal Friday for him to take over a Blue Devils program that’s suffered through three consecutive losing seasons.
Duke and Cutcliffe agreed to part ways on Nov. 28, one day after the Blue Devils lost 47-10 to Miami to finish 3-9 and 0-8 in ACC play. It was the school’s first winless ACC campaign since 2007.
With the Blue Devils having lost 13 ACC games in a row and gone 1-17 in league play over the last two seasons, Duke athletics director Nina King and senior associate athletics director Art Chase led a search that brought them the 44-year-old Elko.
“We are absolutely thrilled to announce Mike Elko as our next head football coach,” King said in a statement. “He has an innovative football mind and a natural ability to connect with both players and coaches around him. Mike has a proven track record of success and is deeply committed to the overall student-athlete experience.”
Duke also considered Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, whom Chase and King interviewed in South Carolina last Sunday, in a search that saw them discuss the job with around a dozen candidates. Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett expressed interest in the job and Duke considered Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun and Marshall head coach Charles Huff as well.
“I want to thank Nina King and President (Vincent) Price for this great opportunity,” Elko said in a statement. “Duke stands for excellence. The university has excelled in everything they’ve ever tried to do, whether that’d be in academics or athletics. I’m excited to get to work.”
Cutcliffe won 77 games in his 14 seasons, taking Duke to six bowl games over a seven-year stretch from 2012-2018. That included the 2013 ACC Coastal Division championship when Duke went 10-4, the only season with 10 or more wins in program history.
Prior to Cutcliffe’s arrival, Duke had won 10 games over the previous eight seasons and hadn’t been to a bowl game since 1994.
Though Duke has endured three seasons without a bowl appearance, four Blue Devils were selected in last spring’s NFL Draft.
Elko will be tasked with bringing talent to Duke that can get the Blue Devils back to regularly making bowl appearances.
“I am delighted to welcome Mike Elko to Duke as our next head football coach,” Price said in a statement. “We look forward to his leadership and vision on the field and his commitment to the highest standards of academic success. We could not be more excited to have Mike on our team as a teacher and mentor for our student athletes.”
He comes to Durham, and his first head coaching job, after four seasons leading Texas A&M’s defense. The Aggies were No. 9 nationally in total defense and are ranked 20th this season ahead of their Gator Bowl matchup with Wake Forest.
Elko was a Demon Deacons assistant coach from 2014-16, part of 12 years he worked for Dave Clawson, Wake Forest’s head coach who won the ACC coach of the year award this season. Elko was Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 2017 before joining Jimbo Fisher’s staff at Texas A&M.
A New Jersey native, Elko played safety at Penn from 1995-98, helping the Quakers win an Ivy League championship as a senior.
Duke is particularly in need of help on defense, where the 39.8 points per game the Blue Devils allowed this season were next-to-last nationally among Power Five schools. Only Kansas (42.2) allowed more.
Elko’s history shows he’s been able to improve defensively play at various levels of college football.
During his five years as Bowling Green’s defensive coordinator from 2009-13, his defense finished first in the Mid-American Conference in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense and pass defense efficiency in each of his last two years.
In 2007, when Elko coached Hofstra’s defense, the Pride finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association and No. 15 nationally in total defense.
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