Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Mike Elko set out to overhaul the culture at Texas A&M when he was hired to replace Jimbo Fisher, and while he still has some work to do, the program rebounded during his first season at the helm. However, he’s dealing with a bit of headache ahead of his second courtesy of the questionable motto his defensive line has decided to adopt.
Texas A&M opted to bring the ill-fated Jim Fisher Era to an end midway through the 2023 campaign before poaching Mike Elko from Duke in the hopes he’d be able to turn things around.
The Aggies ultimately finished with an 8-5 record, but they showed plenty of promise during a season where they peaked at No. 10 after getting off to a 7-1 start before things fell apart toward the end.
It was certainly an improvement over the last two years of Fisher’s tenure, and there are plenty of reasons for Texas A&M fans to be optimistic about the future when you consider the school also has a Top 10 recruiting class heading into the 2025 season.
According to KBTX, defensive tackle DJ Hicks recently tried to give those supporters another reason to get excited for what’s in store during an interview where he hyped up the mentality the guys on his side of the trenches have adopted, as he credited a couple of coaches and former teammates for instilling a culture he’s intent on following while ” trying to stay with our motto with ‘C.B.O.’”
Hicks was subsequently asked what C.B.O. stood for and committed a bit of an unforced error by candidly responding, “In simple terms, choke a woman out. Let’s say that.”
It goes without saying that is the textbook definition of A Bad Look, and it didn’t take long for those comments to come to Elko’s attention before he got the chance to address them at a press conference where he did not mince words while pledging to tackle the matter, saying:
“[It]’s absolutely ridiculous that that was stated.
It’s conveying something that shouldn’t be conveyed. So, we’ll get that handled and addressed.”
There was once a time when plenty of people would have tried to downplay this as “boys being boys” and “locker room talk,” and it would be foolish to suggest Texas A&M is the only college football team that has players who are using similarly derogatory language behind the scenes.
With that said, it’s obviously something that needs to be discouraged, and Elko is probably going to have some very exhausted defensive linemen on his hands in the near future.