Texas A&M is no stranger to signing its football coaches to market-shifting contracts. It hasn’t always worked out for the Aggies, but few in College Station should have an issue with the massive extension that the program is finalizing with coach Mike Elko on Saturday morning.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde, Texas A&M and Elko are nearing a six-year extension that will make him one of the sport’s highest-paid coaches. PerYahoo’s Ross Dellenger, the deal, which could be announced as soon as today, is worth “upwards of $11 million per year.”
According to the data available through USA Today’s coaching salaries database, four coaches have deals that exceed $11 million per year: Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, USC’s Lincoln Riley and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. By vaulting into the top five, Elko joins a group that features the three active national championship-winning head coaches.
Sources confirm. Mike Elko is finalizing a new six-year contract expected to make him one the top five paid coaches in the country, with significant investment in the resources for the program. @RossDellenger first.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) November 15, 2025
Elko’s current deal pays him $7 million annually, ranked 31st in the country and just 12th in the SEC.
The 48-year-old led the Aggies to an 8–5 record in his first year at Texas A&M, and has the team at 9–0 and ranked No. 3 in the country, on pace to reach the program’s first SEC championship and College Football Playoff this season. Elko joined A&M after a successful two-year stint as head coach of Duke, where he went 16–9. He served as Jimbo Fisher’s defensive coordinator at A&M fro 2018 to ‘21, and has done an impressive job in replacing his former boss, whose $77 million buyout remains the largest ever paid out to a coach in the sport’s history.
A New Jersey native and Penn graduate, Elko’s name has been floated in connection to the opening at Penn State, though prying him away from Texas A&M felt like a long shot. This new deal should slam that door shut.
The Aggies kick off against South Carolina at noon ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mike Elko, Texas A&M Finalizing Massive New Extension After 9–0 Start.
