Silly Season Finale: Texas A&M Found Its Head Coach In Mike Elko But It Could've Easily Been Mark Stoops Up On That Stage Today

Sometimes things just end up working out, no matter the path it took to get there. This is obviously the case for Texas A&M as they introduced Mike Elko as its new head coach on Monday afternoon, even when things were trending towards Mark Stoops late Saturday night.

In what turned out to be a joyful afternoon in College Station during the introductory party for Mike Elko, there is always the question of what if things had gone differently. By that, I mean Mark Stoops being on the stage today with athletic director Ross Bjork, signing the Aggies fight song.

If you've followed enough college football coaching searches you'd know that nothing is finalized until pen is put to paper. In this case, it was Mike Elko getting on the plane headed for College Station on Sunday evening. I'd imagine the circumstances surrounding the whole coaching search might've caused a little bit of hesitation on the part of Elko.

Mike Elko was introduced as the new head coach at Texas A&M on Monday, when it could've easily been Mark Stoops. Courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

Putting A Bow On The Mark Stoops-Texas A&M Situation

Late Saturday night, it was reported by 247Sports affiliate Gigem247 that Mark Stoops was going to be the next head coach at Texas A&M, until he wasn't. This is not some rare occurrence in the coaching search business, knowing how everything can change with just one phone call.

The easiest explanation for what occurred between Texas A&M and Mark Stoops was that the high-dollar folks in College Station were not going to sign-off on the Kentucky head coach. Even though a donor's job doesn't have 'official authority' in the description, money talks in these circumstances. And while an athletic director would love to make his own hire without folks getting in the way, this isn't how college athletics work.

So, when Ross Bjork was ready to give Mark Stoops the keys to the football building, his phone started going haywire.

In these tense moments, money can be a interesting way of imploring power. When asked about the situation involving Mark Stoops on Saturday night, AD Ross Bjork said he was unaware of how that information got out to the public.

In terms of either side telling the truth of what went down Saturday night, you'll never hear it. That's just not how the game works, even if the truth is somewhere in the middle. Mark Stoops would be the coach right now if everyone in College Station was on-board with the hire. But at the end of the day, the stars didn't align and Kentucky is where Stoops will be for at least one more season.

"You know, sometimes people pursue you. My concentration was on the Louisville game, which was evident by the way we played," Mark Stoops said Monday night during his coaches show. "It was extremely important to end that way. Simply agreed to a conversation that night. Yea, I was pursued by another opportunity and I'm right where I wanna be with a great team and administration."

Texas A&M Welcomes Mike Elko Back To College Station

The welcome back party for Mike Elko was about as normal as you can get in College Station. Surrounded by donors, players, Yell Leaders and the Texas A&M administration, Elko took the stage to re-introduce himself to the Aggies faithful.

Thankfully for Texas A&M fans, they know what they're going to get with the former Aggies assistant. Knowing the lay of the land, especially with a massive program like Texas A&M should already have Elko on first base in terms of turning the program around.

The good part is that the money didn't dry-up when Jimbo Fisher was fired, which was evident by his assistant coach's $11 million pool. Along with a base salary of $7 million, with a number of incentives, the school is ready to give Elko whatever he needs to succeed.

It's evident that the school is ready to turn the page on what has been a rough few years for the football program. Expectations of winning national titles and competing in the playoffs every season come with this type of job, which is part of the reason why Jimbo Fisher is most likely sitting at his ranch right now.

At the end of the search, Texas A&M found the right fit with Mike Elko, but it could've easily been Mark Stoops on that stage Monday.

Silly season is officially over in College Station.

If you have any thoughts on the matter, send over your comments to Trey Wallace's email address at trey.wallace@outkick.com. Follow on social media @TreyWallace_