{
  "id": 14035551,
  "title": "Texas A&M's Mike Elko Regrets Way Fan 'Cesspool' Comments Were 'Taken'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/texas-a-ms-mike-elko-regrets-way-fan-cesspool-comments-were-taken",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-12T20:11:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/sports/ncaa/texas-am-mike-elko-regrets-way-fan-cesspool-comments-were-taken-12558048"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko appeared to defend his remarks about a vocal portion of the Aggies fan base after the team's loss to Mizzou on Saturday. During a news conference on Monday, Elko was asked about fans expressing discontent with the program, and he responded by criticizing those same fans on social media. He called the fan base that was taking part in this behavior \"Billy's cesspool\" and that they should \"go be Billy's cesspool.\" While Elko claimed to have a good relationship with Billy Liucci, who oversees the fan engagement at Texas A&M, he did not apologize for his comments. Instead, he expressed regret over how his remarks were taken and the way they were reported. Elko suggested that his comments were not meant to blame others and that he still values the relationship he has with Billy Liucci. However, many fans and observers were disappointed by his lack of apology for calling a large part of the fan base a \"cesspool.\"",
  "summary": "Texas A&M HC Mike Elko didn't appear to completely back down from his \"cesspool\" comments about some of the Aggies fan base.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "Texas A&M's Mike Elko says he regrets how his ‘cesspool' comment about website came across to fans",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/texas-a-ms-mike-elko-says-he-regrets-how-his-cesspool-comment-about",
        "published": "2026-10-12T20:27:05.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}