Dan Lanning, Mike Elko respond to Texas A&M job

“I’m not going anywhere. There’s zero chance I would be coaching somewhere else. I’ve got unfinished business here.”

A major coaching job suddenly opened on Sunday when Texas A&M decided to pay the major buyout and fired Jimbo Fisher. The running joke each week was the comparison of Fisher’s record compared to Kevin Sumlin’s. After coaching 70 games Sumlin had a record of 48-22 to Fisher’s 45-25.

So who could be on the list to replace Fisher? Some outlets have already named the current Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning and Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Elko on their top candidates list.

Tap the breaks, it didn’t seem like either man wanted to even think about the A&M job on Monday.

“We talk about outside noise a lot in our program,” Lanning said on Monday. “I guess the reality here is my name and our program would never be [at] the top of conversation for another school if we didn’t have something here everybody else wants. That’s because of our players, the coaches, and the support that exists here at Oregon. I think I’ve been really, really clear here since Day 1. Everything I want exists right here.

“I’m not going anywhere. There’s zero chance I would be coaching somewhere else. I’ve got unfinished business here.”

Oregon is currently 9-1 and within striking distance of the College Football Playoffs. The Ducks will face off with Arizona State on Saturday before wrapping up the regular season against Oregon State on Nov. 24.

Another name that has been linked to the Aggies job is former Texas A&M defensive coordinator and current Duke head coach Mike Elko. Would he trade in Durham, North Carolina, for Aggieland?

“It’s a profession where people just like to put stuff out there,” Elko said in response to A&M rumors. ”I’m very committed to this place. Everybody knows I’m very happy at this place. We’re doing a lot of really special things at this place. My family’s very happy here. We love Duke. We love everything this place is for. I say this all the time, when you’re doing the job well, everybody thinks you’re leaving. When you’re doing your job bad, everybody thinks you’re leaving. That’s the nature of college coaches.

“You try not to pay any attention to that stuff, but I’m obviously not oblivious to it. We’ll certainly address it because it needs to be addressed. I don’t know where that stuff comes from.”

After winning nine games a season ago, Elko has the Blue Devils bowl eligible for the second straight year. That hasn’t happened since the 2017 and 2018 seasons. With games against Virginia and Pittsburgh remaining on the schedule and a bowl game, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to finish 9-4 once again.

We’ve heard these stories before where a head coach denies any thought of them leaving for another job and then turns around and takes that job. We shall take them at their word for now and if that is true, you can take two names off the list for Texas A&M.