Duke got its first glimpse of the "Elko Era" in 2022. On Monday afternoon, the Blue Devils affirmed their commitment to ensuring that era endures.
Athletic director Nina King announced that Duke had extended and restructured head coach Mike Elko's contract through 2029, including an escalated, elevated model for assistant coaches and additional resources for staff salaries. The decision comes after Elko, the former defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, turned the Blue Devils around from a 3-9 season in 2021 to a 9-4 campaign in 2022, including a Military Bowl victory against UCF.
"Over the last 18 months, coach Elko has cultivated and executed a plan to push Duke football forward with tremendous attention to detail, energy and a persistent commitment to excellence," King said in a team release. "His passionate dedication to the Duke experience sets the standard, and we are fortunate to have him and the entire staff developing the young men in our program into elite student-athletes and future community leaders."
Since arriving in Durham, Elko has breathed new life into the Blue Devils and was rewarded for his above-expectations debut season with ACC Coach of the Year honors. Duke improved from 102nd and 127th nationally in scoring offense and defense, respectively, to 31st in both, and finished the year second in the country with a +16 turnover margin.
Key to these improvements was a comprehensive restructuring on both sides of the ball. On the offensive end, he created a fierce ground game spearheaded by quarterback Riley Leonard, who logged 33 total touchdowns, 13 on the ground and 20 in the air, and a lethal rush-by-committee running back room. Defensively, Elko helped shore up a leaky secondary and turned the now-departed duo of Darius Joiner and Shaka Heyward into one of the conference's fiercest tackling units.
"We came here with a mission to create a program that could become the absolute best of both worlds, and this is another step in that direction," Elko said of his extension. "The future of Duke football is extremely bright."
The Blue Devils open their 2023 season at home Sept. 4 against Clemson.
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Andrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle's 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.