Mike Elko, the defensive coordinator for Texas A&M football, will become the Duke Blue Devils new head coach for the program.

Duke has seen just five winning seasons since the turn of the century and will look to turn the tide with Elko’s defensive prowess.

Each year under Elko, the Aggies have finished in the top 40 nationally in total defense, including a top-10 finish in 2020. The Aggies have also finished in the top 40 nationally in scoring defense in three of Elko’s four seasons at A&M, including a third-place ranking this season.

A graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, where he played safety, Elko started his coaching career working alongside current Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson for 12 seasons as both a positions coach and an eventual coordinator. He then spent one season with Notre Dame as a defensive coordinator before signing with A&M to join head coach Jimbo Fisher’s staff.

Elko will join his colleague Clawson, now the head coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Elko will get his first chance as an NCAA head coach with Duke after the team splits ways with David Cutcliffe, who has been with the program since 2008.

The news comes as a surprise to those surrounding the A&M football team. Here is how current and former players and coaches reacted on social media: