Notre Dame Football: Where do Fighting Irish go after Mike Elko departure?
In a surprise move, Texas A&M poached defensive coordinator Mike Elko from Notre Dame. Where do the Fighting Irish go from here?
Jimbo Fisher isn’t making too many friends in the Midwest these days, especially after poaching one of Notre Dame’s prized possessions in defensive coordinator Mike Elko.
The top-tier defensive coordinator left South Bend, according to reports, to take the same job with Texas A&M to coach under Jimbo Fisher. Not many saw this move coming, especially since he was with Notre Dame for just one season, leading the Irish to a top-40 defense.
Elko is one of only two FBS coaches to have a defense in the top 40 each of the last five years. That's...not shabby.
— Mark Passwaters (@mbpRivals) January 4, 2018
That stat says it all. Elko flies under the radar compared to some of the big-name coordinators in college football because he was at Wake Forest for three seasons before Notre Dame and then Bowling Green before that. He’s quickly rising in the ranks and Fisher saw an opportunity to poach him, and he did.
Where does Notre Dame go from here, though? The Irish will have plenty of options to assist Brian Kelly as their checkbook isn’t limited. They have money to shell out to any top defensive coordinator in college football, but they might target a smaller name given the amount of big names off the market.
Do the Irish promote within? That’s not likely the case given the expectations for the Irish heading into 2018 and the money the program has to spend. It’s always possible, but don’t look for a promotion within the program, rather looking elsewhere. Texas A&M was rumored to be going after Michigan State’s Harlon Barnett, but would Notre Dame now do so with Elko out?
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There’s still plenty of time to figure this out, but you can bet Kelly and the rest of the Irish are fuming after this loss.