Top candidates coy on job opening
COLLEGE STATION — Three of the top potential candidates for the open Texas A&M job have chimed in, and Dan Lanning sounded most adamant about staying at Oregon.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Lanning told the assembled media this week when asked about A&M following the firing of Jimbo Fisher. “There is zero chance that I would be coaching somewhere else. I’ve got unfinished business here … and my No. 1 priority is being elite here at Oregon.”
The Ducks (9-1) are ranked sixth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. The CFP is four teams this year and 12 starting next season.
Naturally UTSA coach Jeff Traylor, a native Texan, sounded most interested in perhaps exploring his options as a coach in the Southeastern Conference.
“Me coaching in the state of Texas my entire life, the success we’ve had at Gilmer and here at UTSA, it’s natural,” Traylor told reporters of interest from Power Five programs. “It means you’ve been winning a lot of ballgames. It means I’ve had a group of seniors, 21 of them, who are going to play their last home game Friday night. They’ve had four years of success. That speculation is going to always come up when you’ve had great players like I’ve had and have been blessed to coach them.”
The Roadrunners are 7-3 and have won six consecutive games in the American Athletic Conference, and their losses have been to Houston, Army and Tennessee.
Former A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko also fielded questions about A&M. He’s in his second season as Duke’s head coach and the Blue Devils are 6-4.
“It’s a profession where people just like to put stuff out there,” Elko told media that covers Duke. “I’m very committed to this place. Everybody knows I’m very happy at this place. We’re doing a lot of really special things at this place. My family’s very happy here. We love Duke. We love everything this place (stands) for.
“When you’re doing the job well, everybody thinks you’re leaving. When you’re doing your job bad, everybody thinks you’re leaving.”
A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said he hopes to have a replacement for Fisher, who was fired Sunday and is owed about $77 million, by early December, but that can change. The Aggies are 6-4 overall and host Abilene Christian on Saturday morning before closing out the regular season at LSU on the morning of Nov. 25. A&M is led by interim coach Elijah Robinson, who also is a candidate for the job.