Mike Elko’s staff beginning to round into form
As has been discussed for weeks, Duke Associate Head Coach/RB Coach (and interim head coach) Trooper Taylor has officially been named the new AHC/RB Coach at Texas A&M, following Mike Elko to Aggieland.
Welcome to Aggieland, Trooper!
Meet new Associate Head Coach on offense and Running Backs coach Trooper Taylor:
https://t.co/TIsBNZidUj#GigEm pic.twitter.com/d4JuldWdnG
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 29, 2023
Taylor was born in Cuero, TX, and spent his playing days as a DB at Baylor. He has more than 30 years of coaching experience, coaching DBs, WRs and RBs at Baylor, New Mexico, Tulane, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Auburn and Arkansas State. He had been at Duke since 2019, and was one of the few coaches who Mike Elko retained from the previous coaching staff when he arrived in Durham in 2022.
Like Elko, Taylor also has a Dave Clawson connection. But while Elko coached for years under Clawson, Taylor had Clawson chosen over him for a job, as the Vols hired Clawson as their OC in 2008 (instead of Taylor, who had been the Co-OC the previous season under OC David Cutcliffe.
With this hire, Texas A&M’s new coaching staff under Mike Elko is nearly complete. There are two position coach spots still open, with one assumedly going to current A&M DL assistant (and former player) Tony Jerrod-Eddie. The other will be a WR Coach, and who that will be is very much more up in the air.
Current Coaching Staff:
- Head Coach: Mike Elko
- Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach: Collin Klein
- Associate Head Coach/RB Coach: Trooper Taylor*
- Run Game Coordinator/OL Coach: Adam Cushing*
- Special Teams/TE Coach: Patrick Dougherty*
- Defensive Coordinator/LB Coach: Jay Bateman
- DL Coach: Spean Spencer
- DB Coach: Ishmael Aristide*
- Director of Football Strength & Conditioning: Tommy Moffitt
*Held same position under Mike Elko at Duke