Texas A&M's Mike Elko jokes about debating college football's 'talking heads'

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko has a retirement plan, and he says it involves college football's commentators. He shared it this week while explaining how he wants the Aggies to tune out outside opinion before Saturday's trip to No. 14 Missouri.

Aggies Wire reported that Elko spoke to reporters about how hard it is to block out noise in the current era of the sport and how his team felt after getting back into the win column. In a clip shared by Cartel Karles of On3 Sports, Elko said he had told his players what he plans to do once he stops coaching: "I'm going to go debate all the talking heads in college football, just to really make it clear to everybody who knows things about football and who doesn't."

Aggies Wire noted that the line was not directed at any particular media member. Elko was poking fun at how the sport works now, with an opinion available on every team's performance, every coaching decision and every move in the transfer portal. His larger point was serious. He does not want outside verdicts on Texas A&M's direction to shape how his players see themselves. He described his job as having the players and staff ready to perform at their best each week.

The message comes at a pointed time. Texas A&M is 3-2 and coming off a win after a stretch that drew plenty of the commentary Elko was joking about. The schedule offers little room to settle in. On Saturday the Aggies visit Columbia to face Missouri, a 4-1 team ranked 14th nationally. Kickoff is set for noon Eastern on ABC.

The Missouri side has been complimentary in the run-up. Aggies Wire has also reported that Tigers quarterback Austin Simmons praised Texas A&M ahead of the matchup, and that coach Eli Drinkwitz singled out the Aggies' third-down defense. That unit will likely need to hold up again for A&M to leave with a road win in SEC play.

For Texas A&M, the stakes are clear. A win at a ranked conference opponent would give the Aggies a second straight victory and put them back in the conversation Elko says his team is ignoring. A loss would drop them to 3-3 and add to the outside criticism he has spent the week brushing aside.

Prices for the game had not been posted at the time of writing, so no favorite has been set yet.

Elko's joke about a second career as a full-time debater is an aside in a game week. Whether his players have actually tuned out the noise will be easier to judge after Saturday in Columbia.