Fittingly, Texas A&M followed Texas in the first weekly conference call of the season with all 16 of the SEC football coaches on Wednesday.
Whether Aggie adorers or Longhorn lovers like it or not, the two rival schools separated by 100 miles of rolling prairie are once again connected at the conference hip, a pair of conjoined and quick-tempered twins. They’re the only two schools from the state of Texas in the expanded SEC, and their rivalry extends across all sports and all seasons.
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Don’t believe it? Just ask Cotton Holdings, Inc., an infrastructure support services conglomerate that likely paid millions (the amount was not disclosed) to sponsor the athletic rivalry between the two schools. When they play Nov. 30, it’ll be for the first time since Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012.
But new Texas A&M coach Mike Elko doesn’t have time to worry about a game more than three months away, even if the 47-year-old New Jersey native has quickly learned he can’t ever ignore it.
“We know it’s there, certainly through the offseason, we are very aware of that game,” he said. “We know that it’s coming down the road. But I think when you get to this point in the season, it’s really, really easy to not focus on that one and just kind of focus on this week’s game. “I mean, at this point, I handle it by focusing on Notre Dame.”
Coach Mike Elko of the Duke Blue Devils celebrates with quarterback Riley Leonard after Duke beat UCF in the Military Bowl last season. Elko took over the Texcas A&M program in the offseason while Leonard transferred to Notre Dame. The two will meet again Saturday when No. 7 Notre Dame visits the No. 20 Aggies.
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-m-football-coach-mike-203940435.html
Author : Austin American-Statesman
Publish date : 2024-08-28 20:39:40
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