Stoops: Texas A&M pursued Kentucky coach 'aggressively' before hiring Mike Elko

DALLAS, Texas (KBTX) - On Nov. 25 last year, Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker flipped open his phone to mindlessly scroll on Instagram.

Minutes later, he was dialing up his head coach, Mark Stoops, to ask if he was on his way to College Station to become the next Texas A&M football coach.

At that point, Walker felt certain the deal must already have been done, he said.

Thursday, as the final speaker at Southeastern Conference Media Days, Stoops still donned a blue tie while representing Kentucky for his 11th appearance at the preseason media kickoff. However, after the firing of former head coach Jimbo Fisher, the Aggies made a run at Stoops, he confirmed from the podium at the Omni Dallas Hotel.

“I was pursued pretty aggressively by them and we’ll just leave it at that out of respect for everybody involved,” Stoops said.

Traveling back in time to Nov. 25, the Aggies had just suffered a regular-season ending, 42-30 loss to LSU at Tiger Stadium, when message board rumors began to get legs on more public social media. Then, a handful of fan-run websites reported Stoops would be the Aggies’ head coach, following the $77 million buyout of Fisher two weeks prior.

The backlash on social media, message boards and in then athletic director Ross Bjork’s email inbox was swift and unanimous — A&M fans did not want Stoops, who holds a 35-55 record in SEC play, anywhere near Kyle Field.

“I’m seeing all this online, not knowing what to think,” Walker said. “I can only believe [it], [when] I get in touch with him.”

Stoops initial answer to Walker’s question was less than concrete.

“He was like, he hadn’t really taken anything yet,” Walker said. “But I’m like, ‘Coach, could you please just tell me, you feel me, so I can get my stuff in order?’” Walker said.

Wildcat offensive lineman Marques Cox didn’t give much thought to the speculation and reports he saw on social media that night, he said.

“He didn’t really tell us that he was going anywhere, so I wasn’t really worried,” Cox said.

At approximately midnight that Sunday morning, Stoops hammered out a tweet that confirmed he would remain in Lexington for his 12th season at the helm of the Wildcats, stating his heart couldn’t leave the university.

Walker said Stoops harkened back to an earlier conversation to recommit himself to the program.

“He’s like, ‘I told you, ever since you got here, I’m loyal to you. I’m loyal to you,’ and he told me he was going to stay,” Walker said.

Stoops provided the necessary reassurance to Walker in enough time that the transfer portal never crossed the defensive lineman’s mind, he said.

For other players, Stoops sent a message in a group chat that confirmed he wasn’t going anywhere, according to Cox. The text told players to let the news cycle pass, because it was just a rumor and nothing was set in stone. Ultimately, he wasn’t going anywhere, Cox recalled reading.

Thursday, Stoops quickly pivoted to the pride he holds in his longevity at Kentucky. Only 19 coaches in the SEC have remained at one school for 12 years, he said, a club he will join this season.

“I’m proud to be a member of that group,” he said. “I’ve been grinding at Kentucky for a long time and very proud of that and want to continue to do that.”

Ultimately, Bjork named Mike Elko the Aggies’ next head coach. Elko made his debut at SEC Media Days Thursday, with a contingent of three Aggie players.

During Elko’s introductory press conference in November, Bjork said there was a lot of moving parts to the hiring process, and multiple conversations were taking place with a group of finalists. Though the process was fluid until the end, hiring Elko was the right result, Bjork said.

“We wanted to make sure that we engaged with our final group of candidates as long as possible,” Bjork said at the time. “So, I don’t know how all of that got out. I respect Coach Stoops. He’s been in the SEC a long time. I appreciated his statement… So the process, to me with all the moving parts and all the candidates, to me that validated the choice even more.”

Approximately a half of a year later, both programs made their way through the media car wash with the belief that everything sorted out for the best. However, players, coaches and fans all preferred not to live those hours frantic hours again.

“It was a bad time, to say the least,” Walker said.