JIMBO FISHER FIRED BY TEXAS A&M

'Jimbo Fisher' PhotoCredit: Gamecock Central via Flickr

Texas A&M has fired head coach Jimbo Fisher the school reported this afternoon. Fisher ends his tenure in College Station, TX with a record of 45-25 in six seasons. Per Billy Liucci of TexAgs.com, the decision to fire Fisher was made at “the recommendation of the Athletic Dept/University president during last Thursday’s (November 9) Board of Regents meeting.”

Texas A&M Athletic Director Ross Bjork released a statement Sunday that read: “After very careful analysis of all the components related to Texas A&M football, I recommended to President Welsh and then Chancellor Sharp that a change in the leadership of the program was necessary in order for Aggie football to reach our full potential and they accepted my decision. We appreciate Coach Fisher’s time here at Texas A&M and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Fisher will receive his entire buyout of more than $75 million, courtesy of the $95 million extension he signed with Texas A&M in 2021. His original deal was for 10 years, $75 million that lured the National Championship-winning coach away from Florida State in 2018.

Fisher is the second Power Five head coach to lose his job this season, joining Michigan State’s Mel Tucker, who was fired in September during a sexual assault investigation.

Expectations were high at A&M when the Aggies hired Fisher just a few years after his Florida State Seminoles won the National Championship after the 2013 season. But Fisher never lived up to those expectations. His most successful year was a 9-1 2020 Covid-19 impacted season, which earned Fisher the $95 million extension.

But the Aggies went 8-4 in 2021, 5-7 in 2022, and are 6-4 this year. These are not the records you would expect from someone you just signed to that monster deal. After the 2022 season, Fisher reluctantly gave up play-calling duties as his offense was abysmal despite having the No. 1 recruiting class for 2022 and the No. 9 class for 2021. Fisher’s record against the SEC is not stellar either, sitting at 26-21.

Further evidence of the need to make a change is the fact that Texas A&M has not won a road game since October 16, 2021, at Missouri. Also, Fisher’s Aggie teams were only 1-5 against rival Alabama. These numbers fall way short of what you would expect when you pony up $75 million on an original deal then a $95 million extension.

Be prepared to hear the names of the usual suspects during the coaching search: Urban Meyer and Lane Kiffin. However, after buying out Fisher and his staff, Texas A&M may not be able to lure another big-money coach to College Station.

Look for names such as Duke head coach, and former Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, and a dark horse possibility is Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith. With Oregon State being left out of the Conference Realignment musical chairs, it will not be tough for Texas A&M to outbid Oregon State for Smith’s services, despite any loyalties the former Oregon State quarterback may have.