Reporter takes blame for incident that upset Mike Elko in postgame press conference
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The Texas A&M Aggies were handed their first loss of the season on Friday night, dropping their regular-season finale on the road to their hated in-state rivals, the Texas Longhorns.
This was the second straight season the Horns handed the Aggies a devastating loss, and Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko wasn’t very pleased during his postgame presser when a reporter left the door open, and he could hear Texas fans celebrating in the concourse.
Elko ended up snapping at the reporter who left the door open, and we now know who that reporter was, as The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel fessed up to being the one that Elko snapped at on X.
“It’s a tiny interview room tucked into the concourse of the stadium where fans were still exiting,” Mandel said.”A reporter opened the door not realizing the press conference had already started. (And that reporter was me.)”
Mandel certainly got the brunt of Elko’s ire in this moment, but it’s very likely that the head coach for the Aggies’ frustrations had far more to do with being knocked out of the SEC Championship Game by the Longhorns for the second straight season than anything else.
Texas A&M’s season isn’t over yet, though, as the Aggies had already locked up their spot in the College Football Playoff regardless of the outcome on Friday night in Austin. Still, missing out on their first trip to Atlanta and a perfect 12-0 regular season stings, and Mandel learned that the hard way.
