It’s not often you see a college assistant coach being touted as one that is so well respected and good at his job that a jump to the NFL is a realistic possibility.

It’s even rarer to see two college coaches from the same staff be recognized as future professional coaches.

However, that is the case in College Station at the moment as Jimbo Fisher deserves a ton of credit for assembling an assistant coaching staff that has a pair of his Aggie assistants being referenced when it comes to candidates to make the jump to the pros.

According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko and defensive backs coach TJ Rushing are two names to watch when it comes to assistant coaches that could one day be working in the NFL.

Breer posted these thoughts after writing, “I think the NFL is going to continue to mine the college game for coaches,” in his most recent article for SI.

Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko: He was a short-list candidate in Cincinnati to be Zac Taylor’s defensive coordinator in 2019, before pulling his name out. The belief is he’ll be a college head coach or NFL DC soon.

Texas A&M DBs coach T.J. Rushing: A former Colts and Lions safety, Rushing has worked his way up in the college ranks, and drew interest from the Bengals last year and three more teams this year.

To be clear, Breer mentioned 12 college assistants he believed could be in line to make the jump to the NFL one day. Elko and Rushing were the only SEC assistants named by Breer.