Mike Elko

Michael Elko (born 1977) is a football coach who has been the defensive coordinator for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team since 2017.

Early life

Raised in South Brunswick, New Jersey, Elko graduated in 1995 from South Brunswick High School, where he played baseball, basketball and was the quarterback for the school's football team.[1] He was recognized by the coaches of the Greater Middlesex Conference as the league's top quarterback in 1994 and was inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame in 2012.[2] He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he played Safety for the Penn Quakers football team that won the Ivy league championship in 1998.[1]

Career

Prior to being named defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Elko had coached the defense for three seasons at Hofstra University, for five seasons with the Bowling Green Falcons, and for three seasons with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.[1] During the 2016 season, Elko's Wake Forest defense ranked in the top 20 for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in defensive touchdowns scored, turnovers, red zone defense, sacks, and scoring defense. Alabama, Clemson and Washington, the three other FBS teams to accomplish this on defense, were among the four teams selected to compete in that season's College Football Playoff postseason tournament.[3] The Fighting Irish fired DC Brian VanGorder the prior September after Notre Dame started the season with a 1-3 record and a defense ranked third from the bottom of the FBS.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sargeant, Keith. "Defensive coordinator with N.J. roots reportedly headed to Notre Dame | Who is Mike Elko?", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 16, 2016. Accessed January 15, 2017. "Mike Elko, 39, grew up in South Brunswick, starring as the high school's quarterback before heading to play linebacker at the University of Pennsylvania and then beginning a collegiate coaching career that is now in its second decade. The 1995 South Brunswick High School graduate is set to be named the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, according to SI.com and other published reports."
  2. ↑ Viking Athletic Club Hall of Fame Class of 2012, South Brunswick High School. Accessed January 15, 2017.
  3. ↑ Mike Elko Named Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator, Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. Accessed January 15, 2017. "In 2016 at Wake Forest, Elko coordinated one of the two FBS defenses to rank in the top-20 in turnovers forced, sacks, red zone defense and scoring defense.... Wake Forest was one of four schools in the FBS to rank in the top-20 in turnovers forced, sacks and scoring defense in 2016. The other three schools -- Alabama, Clemson and Washington -- qualified for the College Football Playoff."
  4. ↑ via Associated Press. "Notre Dame hires Wake Forest's Elko as defensive coordinator", Chicago Tribune, December 21, 2016. Accessed January 15, 2017. "Notre Dame has hired Mike Elko as its defensive coordinator, hoping he can turn around a unit that struggled at the beginning of last season and was blamed in part for a down year for the Fighting Irish.... Brian VanGorder was fired as defensive coordinator on Sept. 25, the day after a 38-35 loss to Duke dropped Notre Dame to 1-3 in what ended up being a 4-8 season. The Irish were ranked 103rd out of 128 teams in total defense at the time, giving up 456 yards a game."
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