Mike Elko expresses 'regret' for 'cesspool' comment in response to question about Texas A&M fans

Things are not going well at Texas A&M.

An Aggies football team that was ranked No. 8 in the preseason AP poll is now 3-3 and nowhere near the top 25. It had fallen out of the poll’s “others receiving votes” section even before Saturday’s 27-6 loss to Missouri, its third in four SEC games.

And as of Monday, head coach Mike Elko was left to express “regret” for calling a portion of the Texas A&M fanbase a “cesspool.”

Here’s Elko at his Monday news conference, given a couple of days to cool off from Saturday’s blowout loss.

“In the heat of the moment, I think I answered a question in a way that I certainly regret,” Elko said. “I think everybody knows that I have a tremendous relationship with Billy. I appreciate Billy. …

“I think everybody knows I appreciate our fanbase and everything that they’re about and everything they mean to Texas A&M. Outside of that, I’ll leave it alone.

“I regret the way it was taken. I regret the way it came out. I regret the way it ran. That certainly was never my intention. … At no point ever did I lend any blame to anything other than myself. I am the reason why this team is struggling.”

Who’s Billy?

Billy is Billy Liucci. He runs TexAgs.com, a media hub for Texas A&M fans featuring active and vocal message boards that people pay to gain access to. He’s a long-established power player around Texas A&M sports.

Message boards generally aren’t where one goes to find reasoned, sober analysis of college sports, and Elko’s presumably being lit up in the paywall-protected forums.

Elko’s objectively deserving of criticism for Texas A&M’s performance. He’s also aware of how things are going over on the TexAgs message boards. He responded thusly when asked after Saturday’s loss about Texas A&M’s fanbase.

‘There’s one group I don’t care much about’

“There’s a difference to me between the fanbase and social media,” Elko said. “There’s one group I don’t care much about.

“Billy’s cesspool can go be Billy’s cesspool. Our fanbase, stay with us. Be behind us. We’re gonna build something that we told you we were gonna build. We’re in a really bad spot right now, but we’re gonna work our way out of it.”

“Billy’s cesspool” has swiftly taken off in the digital community revolving around around College Station. As of Monday, TexAgs.com boasted an above-the-fold poll asking its subscribers: “How long have you been a part of Billy’s Cesspool?”

Even if TexAgs represents a vocal minority of Texas A&M fans, it’s a forum that carries significant influence. And Elko’s comments are certainly cause for “regret” considering the already shaky foundation of his job security.

But notice that they weren’t cause for an apology. At no point in Monday’s statement does Elko apologize for calling the collective TexAgs forum users a “cesspool.”

He instead noted that he regrets the way his postgame commentary “was taken,” “the way it came out” and “the way it ran,” placing the accountability for the words that he said elsewhere.

That’s not likely to go unnoticed over at TexAgs.com. And for a portion of the fanbase that Elko already lit a fire under, his statement of “regret” isn’t likely to put it out.