Former Texas A&M DC Mike Elko left College Station earlier this offseason to take over as the head coach at Duke.

But, the talented former coordinator still played a big part in Texas A&M’s record-setting No. 1 recruiting class during the 2022 cycle.

This week, he joined the Saturday Down South Podcast and praised coach Jimbo Fisher for his tireless efforts on the recruiting trails:

“For whatever reason, people don’t want to give him the credit that he deserves for the job that he does,” Elko said of Fisher. “It’s not just money. Texas A&M is a really special place across the board.

“Jimbo signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country to Texas A&M. When you do that, you deserve praise. Point blank. To look at it any other way is unfair. It takes so much work, it takes so many people, it takes an effort from such a large group to do that. To try to turn this into any other story, to me, just isn’t right. I think it deserves a ton of praise that he was able to go out and land the class that he did.”

Fisher has already made his thoughts known about those who doubt his No. 1 class. Now, Elko has come to his former boss’s defense, too.