ATLANTA – Texas A&M football head coach Mike Elko was named to the 2026 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List, the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl announced Thursday.
Elko has guided the Aggies to a 19-7 record through his first two seasons in Aggieland, marking the second-best two-year start by a head coach in program history. Texas A&M also entered the final week of the regular season with an opportunity to earn a berth in the SEC Championship Game in each of Elko’s first two years at the helm.
In 2025, Elko led the Aggies to an 11-2 record and the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance. The season featured Texas A&M’s first 10-plus win campaign since 2012, while Elko became just the third head coach in school history to open a season with 11 consecutive victories. The Aggies’ 11 regular season wins were the second-most in program history.
Under Elko’s leadership, Texas A&M has recorded victories over five AP Top 25 opponents, including three top-10 teams. The Aggies also established a single-season home attendance record in 2025, averaging 106,159 fans.
Off the field, Elko has overseen one of the nation’s premier student-athlete cultures. During his time in Aggieland, the Maroon & White have posted the highest cumulative team GPA in program history and achieved full participation in The Big Event, the nation’s largest student-run community service project.
The Dodd Trophy, college football’s most coveted national coaching award, celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.
The preseason watch list was created through a selection process by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation an Peach Bowl, Inc. taking into consideration each program’s Academic Progress Rate (APR), Graduation Success Rate (GSR), commitment to service and charity in the community, as well as projected success for the 2026 season.
A midseason watch list will be released in the fall, and finalists will be revealed at the conclusion of the 2026 season. The winner of the 2026 Dodd Trophy will be announced in Atlanta during the week of the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
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