Mike Elko Pushes Back on Criticism of Marcel Reed
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Very few relationships in football are as crucial as the one between a quarterback and his head coach.
Everyone remembers the tandem of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick during the New England Patriots' dynasty, Joe Montana and Bill Walsh during the successful days of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s, and even Drew Brees and Sean Payton with the New Orleans Saints, winning Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.
The same can be said for collegiate coaches and their signal callers, and with Texas A&M's Marcel Reed drawing mass amounts of criticism after some mediocre play to start the season, head coach Mike Elko is not going to stand by idly and let his leader take these shots.
No Loss of Confidence for Coach Elko
During his weekly appearance on his radio show Wednesday night, Elko, ever loyal to his players, pointed out the positives that have come from Reed's tenure in College Station, essentially saying that the occasional loss is just part of it all.
"He's the fifth-winningest quarterback in Texas A&M football history," Elko said. "He's seventh in passing yards in Texas A&M football history. So yes, he was the quarterback in a couple of games that they lost."
And much like his postgame press conference after the team's most recent loss to Kentucky, Elko didn't waste any time taking blame or saying that the head coaching also contributed to the past losses.
"I'm quite sure that all of them, in conjunction with the head coach, were the reason why they lost those games."
Elko was quick to throw himself under the bus after the loss to Will Stein's Wildcats, as a responsible leader should be, but Reed's play was just as bad of a reason for the loss.
Reed completed 26 of 49 passes in the game, with two interceptions and one late touchdown to Micah Riley to keep A&M's slim chances of winning at the time alive.
But the junior's struggles were evident throughout the day. Routine throws looked like near Herculean efforts. A wide open check down to Carsyn Baker on fourth down fell incomplete and forced a turnover on downs.
It just seemed like everything they spent the offseason working on either took a week off or never came to fruition to begin with.
Luckily for Reed and the rest of the Aggies, there comes a perfect time for redemption, and it just so happens to be in Baton Rogue against the No. 10 LSU Tigers, who will be looking to avenge their own SEC-opening loss.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tamu as Mike Elko Pushes Back on Criticism of Marcel Reed.
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