Texas A&M came into the season with high expectations. They wanted to make a run to the college football playoff after losing in the first round last year. Those plans have been derailed. The Aggies just lost their third game of the year, losing to Missouri 27-6. After the loss, Mike Elko targeted some critics. Elko took aim at TexAgs.com, calling them Billy's Cesspool.
Now, Elko is having to walk back some of his comments, apologizing for his rant, per Carter Karels of On3.
“In the heat of the moment, I think I answered a question in a way that I certainly regret. I think everybody knows I have a tremendous relationship with Billy (Liucci). I appreciate Billy. I appreciate him being here today,” Elko said. “There's nothing about Billy and I that has ever been off since 2018. I think everybody knows I appreciate our fan base and everything that they're about and everything that they mean to Texas A&M. Outside of that, I'll leave it alone.”
Billy Liucci is the editor and co-owner of TexAgs. The website is an online community with over a million views per day, and discusses everything with the Aggies.
“So I regret the way it was taken. I regret the way it came out. I regret the way that it ran. That certainly was never my intention. Certainly throughout the course of that interview, at no point ever did I lend any blame to anything other than myself,” Elko continued. “I am the reason why this team is struggling. I have owned that since this has started. I continue to own that. It's my job to figure out how to get it better.”
For his part, Liucci also responded in a conciliatory way, per Sam Neumann of AwfulAnnouncing.
Article Continues Below“I’ve known Elko for a long time, like seven years,” Liucci said. “I knew him when he was at Duke. I was talking to him when this job was in play, and once I settled down, I realized he wasn’t trying to take a shot at me. He and I have had a lot of conversations about message boards, and his mistake was, I think, much bigger than having anything to do with me.”
While Elko may not be in jeopardy of losing his job right now, turning the fan base against you will create an issue where his job could be in question. The easiest way to calm the noise of the fan base is to win. The Aggies will look to get back to winning on Saturday when they host The Citadel.