The surge of coordinators becoming head coaches at Power 5 schools continued again Friday night.
Mike Elko, who rose to acclaim as a defensive coordinator at Wake Forest, Notre Dame and most recently Texas A&M, got his first head coaching job when he agreed to take over the Duke Blue Devils’ program Friday night.
The news was first reported by Pete Thamel.
Duke officials pivoted immediately to Elko after another coordinator - Clemson offensive play-caller Tony Elliott - accepted the University of Virginia job earlier Friday.
Multiple sources confirmed to FootballScoop that Elko had landed the Duke job, seizing the opportunity at hand and edging out, among others, strong consideration for Army coach Jeff Monken.
A former Broyles Award finalist, the 44-year-old Elko takes over a Blue Devils program that slumped in recent years under David Cutcliffe, who parted with the school last month.
Elko knows the ACC well from his three seasons as Dave Clawson’s defensive coordinator at Wake Forest as well as recruiting the area at Notre Dame.
Update> Duke has now announced the hire.