Little more than 100 days before Mike Elko opens his tenure atop the Texas A&M football program against storied Notre Dame, the Aggies first-year coach has made a key off-the-field hire, FootballScoop has learned.
Elko and the Aggies are tabbing Carter Banks to head up their football equipment operations, sources tell FootballScoop Friday evening.
Texas A&M opens its 2024 campaign -- its first-ever season under Elko, hired to replace the fired Jimbo Fisher -- Aug. 31 against visiting Notre Dame, which is expected to be a preseason top-10 program under third-year coach Marcus Freeman.
Banks is a former University of Georgia student who served as the head of football equipment at Arkansas State prior to being hired by Jim Mora into the same role for the UConn Huskies program.
The equipment position in college football has absorbed heightened importance for the coming season, as the sport transitions into both in-helmet coach-to-player communication and the utilization of electronic tablets on sidelines among coaches and players.
Texas A&M's opener against the Fighting Irish is full of subplots.
A former defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Elko was head coach at Duke where his quarterback was Riley Leonard -- the presumptive starter for Notre Dame after Leonard transferred to South Bend, Ind., in December, for his final season of collegiate football.
After the opening tilt against the Irish, the Aggies have a money game against FCS program McNeese State before beginning Southeastern Conference play against Billy Napier's Florida program.
Texas A&M has additional SEC tilts against Arkansas, Missouri, LSU and Texas among others in Elko's debut season.