This post is in response to last week’s comments by Scott Woodward in the Houston Chronicle that Texas A&M was booked when Texas asked to schedule a home and home. This post isn’t about playing Texas but I will give my thoughts on that later. This post is putting some tarnish on the SEC and ACC when it comes to their scheduling. Their 8 game conference schedule is creating too many crappy match-ups.
I’m okay with two crappy games a year at Kyle Field but I’m tired of three. All teams in a “Power 5” conference should not schedule more than two non “Power 5” teams at home each season. The Big 10, Big 12, and Pac-12 tend to already do this because they have a 9 game conference schedule. Outside of those nine games they usually schedule a “Power 5” non conference game so they have at least 10 “Power 5” games a year. Some schools go above and beyond it scheduling two non conference “Power 5” games a year. Just last year USC scheduled Notre Dame and Texas out of conference while Texas scheduled Maryland and USC out of conference. That left one crappy home game on their schedule. That’s putting the fans first.
I get Woodward’s comments the SEC West is brutal. As someone who who forks out a decent amount of money every season for tickets at Kyle Field, sitting through 3 crappy non conference games a year is brutal. No dis-respect to the teams we’re playing but there really isn’t anything enjoyable about watching those games. The Aggies should win those games in convincing fashion and if they don’t it’s even worse. There’s nothing to be gained from those games from an enjoyment standpoint. It’s basically schedule manipulation for an easy win and to hopefully keep the team healthy for the season. I get why it’s done but it doesn’t mean I like it. I know there’s also a financial benefit to scheduling those games but that doesn’t make it okay either. Scheduling two crappy games a year at Kyle Field is plenty. Let’s get rid of that 3rd game.
The SEC either needs to add that 9th conference game a year or require teams to schedule two “Power 5” teams every year outside of conference. I get why the SEC isn’t eager to add a 9th game to the schedule because teams like South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia already have regular non conference in state rival games each season. South Carolina plays Clemson, Florida plays Florida State, and Georgia plays Georgia Tech. Sure, Georgia Tech isn’t what it used it to be but it’s still a “Power 5” rivalry game that’s slated for every season. That’s basically a 9 game “Power 5” schedule for those schools. That only allows for 3 free games to schedule each year while other schools have four.
Some teams in the SEC and ACC schedule two “Power 5” non conference games giving them ten “Power 5” games a year but not all. There needs to be some consistency in the quality of opponents when it comes to non conference games. It’s time for the SEC and ACC to come together and get on board with what the rest of the “Power 5” conferences are doing. When they’re not doing it they’re really cheating the fans. Some fans get better schedules while other fans suffer.
If you haven’t taken a look at some of the schedules for teams in the Big 10, Big 12, and Pac 12 you should do so. I get there are some crappy teams in those conferences like Kansas and Illinois. At least they’re conference games and not complete trash games like Northwestern St, Louisiana Monroe, or Alabama Birmingham. There is nothing redeeming about any of those opponents other than glorified practices. Let’s be honest.
I love the Clemson game at home this season but next year these will be the teams we play at Kyle Field – Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Texas State, Lamar, and UTSA. Outside of Alabama and Auburn that’s not a very exciting home schedule. South Carolina and Mississippi State will be competitive games but they’re not super intriguing. Good conference games but that’s about it. I know there’s Arkansas at Jerry World but that game doesn’t count for any home consideration right now. It’s still a conference game and even if we brought it home and home there would still be 3 crappy games at Kyle Field based on how we currently schedule.
For those that argue the SEC West is brutal they’re absolutely right. It’s the toughest division in college football. But that’s what A&M signed up to play in. The fans shouldn’t be punished when A&M is not playing those games. The other reality is thanks to the College Football Playoff if you win the SEC Championship you’re all but a lock to get a spot in the College Football Playoff. A loss in a non conference game doesn’t hurt you at all. A win actually makes your resume look much better in case you don’t win the SEC and you’re looking for a spot. Texas A&M is not Alabama so it’s not going to get the benefit of the doubt if it doesn’t win the SEC West in most seasons. Wins in strong non conference games would only bolster a resume in that situation. Sure, it could hurt but more than likely a quality win would do more to propel a team into the playoff than a loss hurting them.
The reality is non of this is changing for A&M or the SEC and ACC any time soon. Fans at big schools pony up for their prime season tickets every year because taking off a year would mean losing your place in line. It doesn’t mean it’s in the best interest of the fan. It might be in the best financial interest of the school but that doesn’t always align with fan interest. If you really think about what you’re getting for your annual donation and season ticket purchase every year it could be much better. Just don’t expect it to change anytime soon.
As for playing Texas I’d actually like to see it. I’d like for A&M and Texas to renew their annual rivalry like Florida and Florida State. I know lots of fans on both sides come up with reasons why it shouldn’t happen but it’s really emotional reasons. Like jilted lovers both sides come up with reasons like “We’ve moved on” and “We don’t need them.” Neither of those make any real season. Football in the state of Texas is better when A&M and Texas play each other annually. They’re natural rivals even if some fans on either side like to pretend otherwise.
There’s no real downside to playing it because no matter the record in a given season EVERY fan on each side is going to somehow rationalize their team is better than the other team. One team could be 6-6 while the other is 11-1 but the fan on the 6-6 side will find some rationalization for why their team would win that year. You never lose to your rival in your mind and you’ll argue in endless circles whenever someone says differently. Might as well line up the teams and see who would actually win.
Both teams get plenty of run in state so it’s not like some people don’t know who the schools are. It won’t really affect recruiting that much because both teams are now selling two different things. A&M is selling the SEC and Texas is selling the B12. Who wins or loses that game won’t really affect how players feel about each school. If anything it might help the recruiting at both schools as it will re-solidify A&M and Texas as the marquee football programs in the state. They’re still perceptionally seen that way but having that game played every year solidifies it across the state.
It’s pretty obvious this game won’t return anytime soon but the reasons given always strike me as foolish. It reeks of bitterness or jealousy. When you’re confident you don’t care who you play. You’re willing to line it up against the best and see what happens. If you’re not good enough you make excuses accordingly. I know I’m in the minority when it comes to A&M and Texas playing again but I’m not afraid. I only see upside to these two natural rivals strapping it up against each other every year. It’s good for the fans and the sport of college football. Especially the season ticket holders.
Either way, I don’t care if Texas is on the schedule but three crappy games a year at Kyle Field needs to go right away. It can happen if the powers that be want it to. Don’t let their words of there’s no room on the schedule for it to happen fool you. Money talks and if it meant more money it would happen tomorrow. It won’t happen because fans will just keep sucking it up and paying their money. Administration wins blaming a “full schedule” that could easily be bought out while putting a quality opponent in their place. It’s not that hard unless you want to make it that hard.
Oh well, when do the Aggies take on Northwestern State? Thursday? Cool. I’ll be there wearing maroon and cheering for the good guys. Take my money please.
It’s no secret I’m a fan of Jimbo Fisher. Since the rumors surfaced Sumlin was out and Jimbo was the target I was excited. Jimbo Fisher is a legit college football head coach. He loves the grind of coaching, recruiting, and leading. The dude never slows down and is driven to win a National Championship. You need some breaks to win it all but first you need to have ability and effort. I have no idea what the tenure of Jimbo Fisher looks like at Texas A&M but I don’t think it will be from lack of ability and effort at the head coaching spot.
Even with that I don’t think we’ll see a dramatic improvement from a wins and losses standpoint from 2018 from 2017. I definitely don’t see a repeat of 2012. We simply don’t have the talent. We’re also going through a system change so it will take some time to get over the hump of what we’ve seen in the past. I’m confident with Jimbo we’ll get there though.
If you want to read my thoughts on why 2018 won’t be like 2012 you can read why here.
Those thoughts center around the offense. Defensively I think we have some talent at key positions but don’t have quality depth other than defensive tackle. You need quality depth to win big in the SEC and we’re not there yet. Jimbo is working on that but he’ll need a couple of seasons.
Let’s look at the 2018 Season game by game:
Northwestern State Demons (Win):
The Jimbo Fisher Era at Texas A&M kicks off on a Thursday night at Kyle Field on the SEC Network. This should be a win without a doubt. Jimbo’s first game at FSU was against Samford and they won 59-6. Hopefully this game is similar and sets the tone for Jimbo in Aggieland.
An interesting note for this game is Dabo Swinney and Bobby Bowden are the only two coaches to ever win a National Championship in the BCS and CFP era but lose his first game at a school. Bowden took over a horrible Florida State program in 1976. Dabo lost his first game as Clemson coach against Alabama and Nick Saban in a neutral site game. That was Saban’s second season and they went on to win the SEC West that season. I think Dabo gets a pass in that game and 1976 was a different era. Other than that, no National Championship coach has ever lost his first game as that school’s coach. History says if you expect to win a national championship you better win your first game if it’s a winnable situation. Hi Tom Herman!
One other note is both Mike Sherman and Kevin Sumlin lost their first game as Aggie Head Coach. Sherman lost that stinker to Arkansas State and Sumlin lost to Florida. Both games were at Kyle Field. Dennis Franchione was the last Aggie coach to win his first game beating Arkansas State 26-11 at Kyle Field.
I can’t imagine a scenario where Jimbo loses and we’re worried about the ramifications of what it means. We’ll start out 1-0 and keep chugging that delicious Jimbo Kool-Aid.
Clemson Tigers (Loss):
For Clemson I can’t imagine a scenario where A&M wins this game because of the Clemson defensive line against the Aggie offensive line. Clemson has the best defensive line in the country with all four starters likely to go in the first two rounds of the NFL draft. You should know my thoughts about the Aggie offensive line by now. If not, click the link above why 2018 won’t be like 2012.
I do think there’s a chance the Aggies can win simply because I don’t think Dabo Swinney is a great coach. I think he’s an outstanding coach but I put him the class of Mack Brown, Les Miles, and Bobby Bowden. They recruit amazingly well and when they have a great staff they win a lot of games. However, they don’t pay attention to the whole game adapting things when something is going wrong or struggling. They just encourage and clap a lot. Don’t get me wrong Dabo is a Top 10 coach in college football right now but he’s beatable by a great coach.
Clemson has lost to both Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the past two years so it’s possible the Aggies can sneak up on a much better Clemson team. Auburn has also had close games against Clemson early in the schedule the past two seasons. This isn’t an impossible win for the Aggies.
It’ll be a longshot as A&M just doesn’t have the offensive talent to compete with Clemson’s defense. If A&M has any chance of winning this game it needs to be a defensive battle. A&M won’t sustain many drives so they’ll either need to get some points off turnovers or have a couple of big offensive plays. A&M won’t be able to do much between the tackles or have time for plays to develop downfield. Any hope of moving the ball and scoring will require quick plays outside the tackles to Tray Williams or in short seams to the tight end which I assume will be Sternberger if the Maroon and White Game is any indication.
I think there’s a strong chance we see both Aggie quarterbacks in this game. We’ll struggle to move the ball so I think Jimbo has different packages with each quarterback to see if one can move the ball better than the other. Not sure it’ll matter but I think we’ll see both early on. This will also give Aggie fans a chance to evaluate both quarterbacks in game and provide Jimbo the proper guidance on who to play. That’ll be important for Jimbo to know which quarterback Aggie fans think is best. Hopefully he’ll do a Twitter poll each week to determine who starts.
Coaching wise this will be Jimbo and Dabo’s ninth consecutive time to square off as head coaches. They’re plenty familiar with each other from their time in the ACC together. They’re split at 4-4 with Clemson winning the last 3 so Dabo definitely has momentum against Jimbo right now. I think that momentum continues as Jimbo experiences his first loss as an Aggie coach. Mike Elko is also familiar with Clemson having served as Wake Forest’s defensive coordinator prior to last season.
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (Win):
This should be another easy win for Jimbo and the Aggies. The only real interesting note here is ULM beat Nick Saban at Alabama in his first year as Alabama head coach. If Jimbo does lose this game he can recover but I don’t think he loses this game.
Alabama Crimson Tide (Loss):
Speaking of Nick Saban, Jimbo takes his charges to Tuscaloosa for his fourth game. That’s why he’s getting $7.5 million a season. I don’t see any way the Aggies win this game. Our offense won’t have enough firepower and I think Alabama will be able to move the ball on our defense. Nick Saban doesn’t lose games like this. That’s why he’s won 5 National Championships in 9 seasons. That’s an amazing run. Just amazing.
The one wildcard here is the Alabama quarterback. It’s likely going to be Tua Tagovailoa which means this will be his first full game against a legit defense. He certainly caught Georgia by surprise in the second half of the championship game but that won’t be the case here. They start off against Louisville so that won’t be a big defensive test. The Aggies will provide the first defensive test of his career so maybe they can fool him into some mistakes and take advantage with turnovers.
If Hurts plays there’s a chance the Aggies can win if we can shut down the run and not worry about the pass with Hurts. It’s a tall order but Georgia showed how you beat Alabama with Hurts at quarterback. He can’t make throws downfield so you have to shut down the run and get him in the situation where he has to. Tall order but it’s how you beat Bama with Hurts at quarterback.
Alabama also has a new Offensive Coordinator in Mike Locksley but Saban has proven that’s never been an issue with him. Maybe the Aggies can sneak up on a new OC and QB. History says they can’t so I’m going with Alabama here. 2018 won’t be 2012.
Arkansas Razorbacks (Win):
The law of averages says at some point A&M should lose this game. Interestingly enough A&M never beat Arkansas in 3 tries as a member of the Big 12 and has never lost in 5 tries as a member of the SEC. For the most part this is a series that pitted Bobby Petrino against Mike Sherman and Bret Bielema against Kevin Sumlin. Both sides hit CTRL-ALT-DEL after the season so now we have a third chapter with two new sets of coaches on each side.
There’s no doubt A&M will lose a game in this series as a member of the SEC but I don’t think this is the season. Arkansas has gotten progressively worse talent wise under Bielema which was ultimately his undoing. I think Chad Morris will be a MUCH better coach than Bielema but he’s a few years away from building up the offensive talent. Y’all know how I feel about John Chavis but he’ll be working with less talent than he’s had in the last decade. I think Jimbo will be able to exploit Chief’s tendencies. Everybody else did at some point so hopefully Jimbo can too. Chief likes to be aggressive and it doesn’t work when you don’t have the talent.
This won’t be an easy win and I think there will be a fair amount of points put on the board since there’s two strong offensive minds at work. When the dust settles I expect A&M to be on the positive side of the scoreboard.
Also note this is another game with the opposing staffs having history with each other. Morris was formerly the OC at Clemson so he’s matched up against a Fisher coached team and Elko lead defense. It won’t matter though as the Aggies win pushing out the law of average a little further.
Kentucky Wildcats (Win):
I don’t know a ton about UK football other than a Stoops brother is their coach. That’s about all Kentucky fans know about their football program as well. Doing a little research they’ve been 7-5 the last two seasons and lost spare bowl games in the TaxSlayer and Music City. Basically, they’re a little worse than A&M under Kevin Sumlin.
Getting Kentucky at home for an SEC FOOTBALL game should be a win. If we can beat them in basketball in Aggieland then football shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t think it’ll be a cake walk but this should be a game we control from start to finish. At least I hope so.
Interesting nugget here is that Mark Stoops served as defensive coordinator under Jimbo for three seasons at Florida State. That was right before he took the Kentucky job. Hopefully Jimbo is like Saban where he crushes his former assistants.
South Carolina Gamecocks (Win):
This is a much tougher game than most people realize. Will Muschamp is building a decent program at South Carolina. They’re not a flashy team but they’re competitive. I think Muschamp learned a lot after getting fired from Florida. Sometimes you must take a step back to take a step forward.
South Carolina went 8-4 in the regular season last year finishing second in the SEC East. Two of those losses were to Georgia and Clemson. Nothing to be ashamed of there. The other two were to A&M and Kentucky. South Carolina finished the year beating Michigan in the Outback Bowl. I know Michigan was down last year but that’s still a solid win for Muschamp. Beating Harbaugh and Michigan in a bowl game is a damn nice win.
Jake Bentley returns for his third season as quarterback of the Gamecocks. He’s a solid quarterback so South Carolina will move the ball and score points. The question is how many. I see this as a relatively low scoring game as Muschamp and Fisher play cat and mouse more than anything.
In the end I think A&M walks out of Columbia with a win but I’m not certain. This is certainly one of those games that if A&M beats Arkansas and Kentucky with confidence they could slip up going on the road. I just don’t see that happening in Jimbo’s first year. The Aggies are playing to prove a lot. A&M is 4-0 against the Gamecocks and it will extend to 5-0 this season. The James Bonham trophy stays in Aggieland for its fifth straight season. Y’all know that’s a thing, right? There’s trophy for this “rivalry.”
Mississippi State Bulldogs (Win):
Mississippi State is a team that I think is about to fall off big time. I think people are going to realize why Dan Mullen is an elite SEC coach. Florida is about to take two steps forward while Mississippi State takes two steps back. There’s going to be a lot of programs wishing they’d hired that Cousin Eddie look alike. The dude can coach.
The Bulldogs won’t be a pushover with Nick Fitzgerald under center and a decent defense. However, I don’t think you’ll see the brain farts A&M used to have against MSU with Sumlin going up against Mullen. Mullen loved playing Sumlin every year because he could outcoach Sumlin and staff with ease. Without Johnny, Sumlin was 1-3 against Mississippi State. That’s pretty bad. Clearly one guy can coach and the other can’t. Now they’re both gone and things will change.
This is a win I feel pretty confident about considering the coaching changes. One program got remarkably better at head coach. The other program got remarkably worse.
Auburn Tigers (Loss):
Most people forget Auburn won the SEC West last season. They also beat the two teams playing in the National Championship game. I don’t care what you think about Gus Malzahn but that’s damn impressive. Their two regular season losses were at Clemson and LSU. Both games were within 8 points. That’s a damn good regular season. Gus’ offense will struggle every now and then but for the most part he always has a competitive Auburn team.
Jarret Stidham returns under center for Auburn. That’s a big deal for their offense. I think we all know he could be in maroon and white but if he’s in maroon and white then so is Sumlin. It’s kind of like losing to Texas in 2011. Sometimes addition does happen by subtraction.
Auburn has an underrated defensive team and their defensive line will give our offensive line fits. I see this game playing out like the Clemson game. It’ll likely be low scoring but in the end A&M won’t have enough talent to pull out the win. It’s possible the Aggie offensive line is much improved by this time in the season but I just don’t see it happening in 2018. This just feels like a loss with the talent Auburn has on their roster and especially under center. Just take solace Stidham is the reason we have Fisher so it’s a short term sacrifice for a long term gain.
Ole Miss Rebels (Win):
This seems like one of the easiest wins on the schedule. Definitely the easiest SEC win along with Kentucky. They’ve been hammered talent wise by the recruiting and Hugh Freeze escort scandal. Shea Patterson was one of two lone bright spots and he’s gone. AJ Brown at receiver is the other bright spot but I’m not sure who’s going to get him the ball. He’s one of the best receivers in the country but I don’t think he’ll be enough to beat A&M.
This is not a knock on the state of Mississippi as it’s fine state to visit with fine people but I think both of their major football programs are about to take major steps back. Say what you want about Hugh Freeze but they won football guys with him as head coach. Those days are over and aren’t likely coming back anytime soon. I’m totally okay with that as I’d like a weaker SEC West. Crazy to think a few years ago the SEC West had 7 teams with legit Top 25 talent.
UAB Blazers (Win):
This should be an easy win but UAB is a scrappy bunch. Despite only their second year of football after being shut down for a few seasons they went 8-4 last season. Sure, it’s the C-USA but they had wins over Southern Miss, Rice, UTSA, and UTEP. I don’t think it happens but this could be one of those strange games that catches you by surprise late in the season between SEC games.
I say this every year but three non Power 5 conference games at Kyle Field is criminal. We have 4 SEC games and 3 crappy teams this season. Almost 50% of games at Kyle Field suck from an opponent standpoint. We pay a lot of money for tickets and there should be only 2 non Power 5 conference games every season. I’d be fine with 1 every season. I get why it’s done but it still sucks for the fans. I like watching A&M win but not against crappy opponents.
LSU Tigers (Loss):
This is the biggest game of Jimbo’s first season. No matter what happens in the first 11 games (barring a total collapse) this game will have the most meaning. Winning this game will not only get the LSU monkey off A&M’s back for the first time in the SEC but it will put us into the off season with some November momentum. The 2010 and 2012 seasons seem like decades ago where we closed out with big wins in November. Win this game and we get momentum for recruiting and the off season. Lose this game and Jimbo looks like another Aggie coach that can’t close the season. Not completely but it’s ammo for our opponents to use in recruiting.
I have no clue what to expect of LSU. Ed Orgeron entertains me but I think he’s a below average head coach. LSU is loaded with talent so they overcome a lot of head coaching mistakes. He has some great coordinators which know how to utilize that talent. LSU went 9-3 last season with head scratching losses to Mississippi St and Troy. After those loses they only lost to Alabama before losing to Notre Dame in their bowl game. That’s a damn good season for most programs. For LSU it seemed like a complete collapse. They still finished ranked at 18. That’s no collapse.
This is a damn good LSU team despite some folks thinking the Tigers will fall off this season. They have a tough schedule opening with Miami along with drawing Georgia out of the East along with their annual game against Florida. Maybe their record won’t show they’re a good team coming into Kyle Field but they’re still a damn good football team. The homer in me wants to think Jimbo can win this game but I don’t think this is the season it happens. LSU still has too much talent for us to overcome them this season. If our offensive line shows serious improvement we can win this game but until I see that I can’t pick A&M winning this game right now.
I hope like hell we win this game. The difference between 8-4 with a loss to LSU and 9-3 with a win over LSU will be HUGE to the program. Recruits and everyone else will take notice things could finally be different at Texas A&M. 11 games to be played before this one so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with both teams during the season.
Summary:
I have the Ags going 8-4 in Jimbo’s first season with predictable losses against Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, and LSU. It’s very possible we go 7-5 with an additional loss to South Carolina. I also think it’s possible we go 9-3 with a win over LSU or Auburn. I’m almost positive we win at least 7 games but not more than 9. 8-4 seems right based on the schedule, talent, and new coaching scheme. I predicted 8-4 last season getting the Florida and Mississippi State games wrong o I wasn’t far off. I don’t think I’ll be far off this season other.
Since Jimbo got here and based on what Sumlin left I’ve felt 2020 would be the season A&M competes for a SEC West championship. Despite a lot of Jimbo Kool-Aid drinking this off season I think this team is lacking talent for a “break-through” 2018 season. 8-4 still fits in with my expectations for Jimbo assuming he holds the recruiting class.
You can read my overall expectations for Jimbo at Texas A&M here:
Hold tight as Jimbo works to Make Aggie Football Great Again. It’ll happen in due time.
#MAFGA
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If you want a funny and sarcastic tribute to Jimbo Fisher just press play:
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Nobody knows the eventual outcome of Jimbo Fisher’s tenure at Texas A&M. He may never win the SEC West or he may win multiple national titles. Only time will tell. The telling thing will be how much he wins and loses. It’s the only thing that matters in sports. Sure, you want to win with integrity but at the end of the day the only thing fans really care about is wins and losses. Jimbo’s tenure will be judged on wins and losses. This much we know.
When Jimbo was hired I said if he doesn’t win big we might as well shut the Aggie Football program down. I feel no different after seeing him at the Houston A&M Club Coach’s Night. For 45 minutes Jimbo talked football and Aggieland at a pace that made the auctioneer on stage before him seem like he was talking slow. This was after flying back from Atlanta where he spent all day talking at SEC Media Days. Sure, he flew on a private jet so it wasn’t like he was fatigued from travel but regardless the man rattled off things about his team and Texas A&M at a pace and length most people in the audience couldn’t keep up with. They became dis-interested not because what he said was boring but because their brain couldn’t keep up with Jimbo’s words. Seriously. Some people at my table gave up trying to follow along with what he was saying. It got me excited. You needed your brain’s full capacity to catch every word Jimbo was saying.
It’s clear Texas A&M finally has a legitimate football coach again. It’s been since around 1995 that we’ve been in this situation. The last legitimate football coach we had was R.C. Slocum before Mack Brown, Nick Saban, and Bob Stoops arrived on the scene and R.C. lost his way. I’ll get to that in more detail in a bit. I finally feel confident we have a coach with no question marks when it comes to being a college head football coach.
I won’t get into the details of what he said as it’s the same thing he’s said repeatedly in other press conferences but it’s crystal clear Jimbo Fisher knows and loves coaching football. Jimbo carried a small piece of paper to the podium with a few notes but for 45 minutes he spoke completely from his brain. His brain is filled with football knowledge. Players, schemes, technique, coaches, and motivation he covered it all. He knows football is a complex sport that combines all those things. His brain is constantly thinking about all those things combined. He’s very focused and he’s very driven. That much is clear. He wasn’t up there speaking to speak. He was speaking about his knowledge and his expectations. He constantly thinks and works to win football games. He understands it’s not just plays and players that matters. It’s every drill about technique in practice that matters. It’s about his staff. It starts with a bunch of individual things that must be combined to work in unison. He knows he’s the leader and it starts with him. He’s going to set the example for work and knowledge.
In addition to his football knowledge he’s quickly learned his A&M knowledge. It was impressive the things he’s already realized about Aggieland. He’s not learning about Aggieland to just speak about it. He’s doing it because he’s figuring it out how it will help him win football games. He’s using it to help recruit and he’s doing it to garner support from Aggies all over. It is good though that Jimbo does seem to get Aggieland. It’s a special place and he truly seems to understand that now more than ever. Understanding Aggieland will only help him win games. Plus, if he does win it all he’ll sell the school as much as the football program. He’s going to take that next step we’ve yet to realize since joining the SEC.
I’ve never spoken with Jimbo personally but I don’t think he’d be any different than what you see on stage and in interviews. He’s real and he’s raw. He speaks from the brain more than the heart. He’s not covering up any deficiencies. Having helped put on Coach’s Nights in Houston and Fort Worth I’ve been able to be around every head coach since Jackie Sherrill. Jimbo seems different than all of them.
Jackie is by far the most personable of all of them. He knows football but Jackie is a natural salesman. There’s no doubt why Jackie recruited like he did. Make the paying the players joke if you want but it was the nature of the beast at the time. Jackie could recruit for a reason beyond what was going on at the time. He’s extremely personable.
R.C. Slocum is a fine person but he was stubborn as a coach. He didn’t want to adapt to how football was changing and what other schools were doing. Both on the field and in recruiting. He thought showing up as R.C. Slocum wearing Aggie gear would be enough. He won a lot but it wasn’t enough. R.C. was a great coach when he took over from Jackie but he couldn’t sustain it. Mack Brown, Bob Stoops, and Nick Saban exposed his deficiencies as a coach in my mind. He’s a fine person but he was put in an outstanding situation and didn’t adapt to keep it going long term.
Dennis Franchione was an arrogant punk. He felt he was better and smarter than everyone else. He didn’t like being bothered by regular people. He was a fraud as a coach as he rode some good luck with Gary Patterson and Ladinian Tomlinson at TCU. He then inherited a loaded Alabama team before he headed to Texas A&M. He had his work cut out for him at A&M but he was in over his head. He masked it with arrogance until he couldn’t win enough.
Mike Sherman is as fine of a person as you’ll meet but he has no charisma and the big picture is not his strength. He’s a very intelligent man at certain things. Mainly offensive play calling. He makes for an outstanding Executive Vice President but he’s not cut out to be a Chief Executive Officer. His hiring as Head Coach at Texas A&M is still the most confusing thing I’ve ever seen. I never got it then and I still to this day don’t get it.
Kevin Sumlin just wants to be a celebrity. He doesn’t want to work because he’s not all that smart. He caught lightening in a bottle with that 2012 team (and Case Keenum at UH) but the reality he’s not interested in being a great football coach. He wants to give rah rah speeches and never look at film or work drills with a player. He’s a great public speaker and a funny guy but he’s horrible as a head coach. He’s made for a television headset and not a coach’s headset.
Jimbo seems different than all of them. He has the raw mental horsepower to understand complexities and not be overwhelmed. He has the curiosity to learn from others and change for the better. He’s funny and charming enough that he can sell recruits. He has the work ethic to set the example if you’re not willing to work for it you’ll never achieve it. He seems humble enough that when assembling a staff he wants people to challenge him and not just compliment him. He’s the leader but he wants independent thinkers offering feedback. While he clearly knows a lot and likely knows more than any one person in the room he knows he doesn’t know it all. Others can still offer him knowledge.
Jimbo referenced Scott Woodward several times last night. It’s clear Jimbo wasn’t completely sure what he was getting into at Texas A&M and it wasn’t just about money. He came to Texas A&M because of one person. Jimbo believed that person when he was told he’d have more resources to win a National Championship than at Florida State. That person is Scott Woodward. Let’s never forget what Woodward means for the Jimbo hire. He’s the man that made it happen.
I loved the Jimbo Fisher hire from the first day. I didn’t have any reservations about him like I did with Fran, Sherman, and Sumlin. From what I’ve seen from Jimbo since that day nothing has changed. Seeing him speak in person I haven’t had faith in the Aggie Football program like this since the early 90s.
Maybe Jimbo never wins that National Championship. Something tells me he will. He’s done it once at Florida State and I think the timing is right for him to do it at Texas A&M. I don’t think Tom Herman will be super successful at Texas so our main in state competitor for talent is susceptible. I think in the next 2-3 years Nick Saban will step down as Bama coach. I think LSU will wander aimlessly for a spell like before Saban got there. I think Georgia and Florida are poised to rise in the East which hill hurt Auburn for recruiting. You have to win the SEC West before worrying about a National Championship and it could get easier for A&M to do so.
I think everything is lining up for Jimbo to have one hellacious decade at Texas A&M. It won’t happen this year as our offensive line is too weak. I think by the third year Jimbo is going to have Texas A&M poised for a run at the National Championship. I really do. I don’t feel like I’m drinking the maroon Kool-Aid. I really feel I’m looking at it objectively. A part of success takes timing. I think the timing is finally lining up for Texas A&M. It’s about damn time.
If you’re an Aggie get ready to enjoy this next decade of Aggie Football. It’s going to be like that period from 1985 to 1995 where there’s a realistic expectation win every game. I’ve been behind the phrase Make Aggie Football Great Again for over a year now. It’s about to happen. When it’s all said and done Jimbo Fisher will have changed it to Made Aggie Football Great Again.
Get ready to #MAFGA
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Some Aggies are hoping Jimbo’s first year will be like Kevin Sumlin’s first year where we catch everyone by surprise. The main reason Jimbo won’t replicate Sumlin’s first season in the record department is because of our offense. Our offense simply won’t supply the firepower our 2012 offense did for a “breakthrough” first year for Jimbo. Let’s breakdown the challenges facing the Aggie offense in 2018 compared to 2012:
Quarterback – Saying there’s no Johnny Manziel on this roster is an understatement. There’s not a quarterback on this roster that’s even close to what Johnny brought to the table in 2012. Johnny’s ability to run along with his pocket awareness made so much happen. He’s a once in a lifetime player. Starkel and Mond aren’t horrible QBs but they’re not outstanding QBs either. They both have skill sets that are one dimensional for the most part. Starkel is a pure pocket guy but doesn’t possess a cannon for an arm. He’s what one would call a game manager. That’s not a bad thing but Nick Starkel is not going to put a team on his shoulders and win a game we shouldn’t. His job is to simply move the team up and down the field as much as possible without turning the ball over. We won’t be lighting up any defense under Starkel.
Mond could still develop into a dual threat quarterback but nothing I saw in his first season leads me to believe that. I know he was a true freshman but he’s not as quick as I hoped he’d be. He certainly didn’t appear to have the burst of Manziel or Kyler Murray. I think Trevor Knight was a better runner than Mond is. I was shocked when Mond got walked down in the Arkansas game last year. He had a wide-open sideline and a defender caught him from behind. Guys with true elite speed don’t have that happen to them. Think of all the times Trevor Knight ran away from people in the open field. I haven’t seen that from Mond. In addition, Mond is erratic as a passer. I think he’ll improve under Jimbo but I’m not sure it’ll be enough for this team to take a major step forward from last season.
Step 1 one of eliminating hopes for a 2012 repeat in 2018 is the quarterback position.
Wide Receiver:
People forget how amazing the 2012 receiving corps was. Everyone points to Mike Evans but there was quite a bit more in 2012 than most people realize. That team also had Ryan Swope, Uzoma Nwachukwu, and Malcome Kennedy. It’s sad to think about what happened with him but Thomas Johnson had a couple decent games including Alabama. That was a REALLY good receiving corps.
For 2018 there’s no telling what we have. Outside of Christian Kirk last season nobody really produced game in and game out. Jhamon Ausbon appears to be the best receiver we have and we’re not sure how good he is. He’s certainly no Mike Evans or even Josh Reynolds/Ryan Swope level at this point. Other than Ausbon I’m not sure what else to expect from anyone. Certainly Jalen Preston has a lot of promise but he’ll still be a true freshman in the SEC. I think he could be a complete stud by the time he leaves A&M but in 2018 he won’t be a dominate receiver. 2012 had a complete stud in Mike Evans, a great receiver in Ryan Swope, and then two really solid guys in Nwachukwu and Kennedy. I’m not sure the 2018 will have one great receiver unless Ausbon takes a major step forward. He has the talent but it remains to be seen if he actually does it. There is some other receiving talent on the roster but it must take some major strides and I’m not sure if it’s quite there yet.
Offensive Line:
This is where the 2012 and 2018 teams will have the biggest difference. Even bigger than quarterback. Everyone talks about Manziel, Evans, and even Swope from 2012 but most people forget about that offensive line. That offensive line was one of the greatest college offensive lines ever assembled. Every starter on that offensive line started in the NFL at one point. Four guys were taken in the first round but all five guys not only made an NFL roster but actually started an NFL game at one point in their career. I don’t know how many collegiate lines can lay claim to that. It can’t be many. The 2012 offensive line was one for the ages. Maybe more than Johnny Manziel if you want to truly dissect it. It’ll be easier to get a game changing quarterback than it will be to get five guys that will start together in college and then each start in the NFL. It doesn’t happen often.
As for the 2018 Aggie offensive line nobody knows what to make of it. The only guaranteed starter is Erik McCoy and right now it’s not certain where he starts. He’ll either be center or guard simply because the staff must figure out the four best guys to go with him and what positions they play. It’s great McCoy is that good and has the versatility but it’s not good the staff is waiting to see where he’ll plug best along the line because the other four guys are such unknowns.
It looked like someone was taking Koda Martin’s job even if he came back fully healthy. I think that’s partially why he transfered. We’ll be starting someone at left tackle with little experience and have no depth at the position. That’s not a good thing for a very important position on the offensive line. We just don’t have any talent or depth on the offensive line outside of Erik McCoy. I think McCoy might be the only guy that would be in the two deep at Bama or start for schools like Auburn and LSU. Everybody else would just be fighting for a roster spots on the better teams in the conference. We have some solid true freshman coming in but I always tell people the SEC is not a league that favors true freshman. Especially at offensive line.
I know everybody loves Jim Turner and I do as well but I’ve taken a step back from him over the last two seasons. I think he has a LOT to prove over the next two seasons. Some people like to blame Sumlin and Mazzone for the shortcomings of the line but he’s still the OLine coach. He holds a lot of responsibility for the overall results. He signs off on the recruits and coaches them individual technique, fight, and teamwork. We’ve missed a lot of assignments or calls over the last two seasons. We’ve also had lineman get their ass whipped at the line of scrimmage. I’m talking not even getting any engagement on certain plays.
Our recruiting under Turner his first two seasons has been less than stellar and our play has matched that as well. I’m not saying he’s on the hot seat by any stretch but if you measure his results based solely on the roster and performance on the field it certainly doesn’t match up with the perception he’s one of the best offensive line coaches in the country. Sometimes perception and reality don’t match when you judge things objectively. If you were to objectively grade Turner’s second stint in Aggieland the performance and talent of his unit certainly doesn’t match up with the perception for what kind of offensive line coach he supposedly is. Turner has a lot to prove this season in my eyes.
Offensive line recruiting has been amazing of recent so something has apparently changed. Maybe it’s the Jimbo effect or maybe it’s true Sumlin was an albatross around Turner’s neck in recruiting. I’m glad for the recruits that have committed for future classes but the success of the 2018 team centers around the performance of the offensive line more than any unit. Right now, it doesn’t look good for our offensive line in 2018. No doubt having a tight end will provide a huge help but the reality is the talent level is not where it should be for a program like Texas A&M. Turner and Jimbo are working on that but it’s not going to be enough for 2018.
Maybe the Aggie offense surprises me in 2018 but I think Jimbo has a couple of years of work ahead of him to get the offense to championship caliber level. If Aggies are expecting Jimbo to have the same success record wise as Sumlin in his first year it’s likely not happening. There’s a MAJOR talent difference between the 2012 Aggie offense and the 2018 Aggie offense that coaching and scheme won’t be able to overcome.
I do believe Jimbo needs to go 8-4 this season but he won’t go 10-2 during the regular season like Sumlin’s first year. Bama and Clemson are certain loses and there will be at least one more if not two more loses on the schedule. It’s possible we go worse than 8-4 but 8-4 should be Jimbo’s baseline for his first season. He needs to do some building to win the SEC and that means winning 8 games in the regular season.
The dream scenario is likely going 9-3 with a win over LSU and then win our bowl game ending the season at 10-3. If that happens it won’t appear to be as good as Sumlin going 11-2 with wins over Alabama and Oklahoma. However, 10-3 with wins over LSU and a bowl win in 2018 will be MUCH better than Sumlin’s 2012 season.
With Spring Practice hitting its full stride it’s time to talk a little football. I take Spring Practice reports with a grain of salt. Everything I’ve read is pretty much what I’ve expected. Jimbo Fisher actually coaches football and coaches more than anyone on his staff. Anyone that’s paid attention to Fisher in the past knows this. He doesn’t stand around clapping and offering encouragement with hollow words. Fisher gets in player’s faces offering ways to improve as a player. Jimbo Fisher is an actual football coach that understands the game and works directly with his players.
Some people say Jimbo is not a “CEO Coach” like Sumlin. Actually, he is a “CEO Coach.” He just happens to be the type of CEO that happily goes on sales calls looking to close more deals, meets regularly with the R&D team to see what’s being worked on digging into any issues with the team, understands the current HR issues to see how he can improve things, and a host of other activities related to his organization. He’s more interested than just earnings calls and going to conferences to talk on panels. CEO’s can get involved in the details and Jimbo is one of them. One coach loves to coach football along with handling everything else a head coach must do. The previous coach just liked to be the figurehead of a major organization hoping his assistants and players figure it out while he claps and says words. So yeah, things are different. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that’s been paying attention.
I won’t take much stock in practice reports until bullets start flying in September. Starkel will likely remain as the starting QB throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall. It’s his position to lose although I’m sure Mond and Blumrik will get a chance to unseat him. There’s no Johnny Manziel on this team so get that out of your mind. Our offensive line continues to be a major work in progress lacking overall talent and depth. We’re converting from a spread offense to a more traditional pro-style offense. That presents a challenge we won’t know the reality until live action. Defensively we have starting talent but are still lacking overall depth. You just hope that Jimbo’s overall ability to actually be a coach is an improvement from the last coach.
From this point forward Jimbo must win and recruit in consecutive steps. This is what doomed the last four coaching regimes. You must continually both win on the field and in recruiting. R.C. stopped wining and his recruiting fell off which only made winning harder. Fran had the Cotton Bowl his second season and some decent recruiting classes with star talent but he could never do it consecutively. Same thing with Sherman. He had the 9-4 season but then went 6-6 blowing multiple first half leads. Sumlin had the 2012 season but then went 9-4 and never improved from there where his recruiting also fell off.
You can recruit all you want but if you don’t win your recruiting will fall off. The best recruiting tool is to win and continually win. The top recruits want to play for winners because winning on the field is all that matters. Jimbo was brought here to win football games on the field and nothing else. The belief is A&M just made a $75 million investment for a national championship. Anything less than that will be a disappointment. Winning a national championship is EXTREMELY difficult with the new playoff system but that’s what Jimbo was brought here to do.
Ideally Jimbo wins a championship in his first five years at A&M but that seems difficult considering the state of the program. I’ve come up with what I think are eight achievable steps based on the current state of A&M football, his pedigree, and the potential for the football program at Texas A&M. He can certainly improve on any of these steps and I hope he does but at minimum I think he needs to do the following 8 things to put Texas A&M in contention for the national championship over the next 10 years. To me these are reasonable steps and can be exceeded for a coach like Jimbo Fisher.
Step 1 – Close 2018 Recruiting Class:
This is done and Jimbo did a fine job. The class only ranked #17 nationally but the way Jimbo closed it was solid. The recruiting momentum was dead upon Sumlin’s departure. Not because Sumlin left but because there was just nothing to sell at Texas A&M. I’m convinced Leon O’Neal would have left A&M for good had it not been for Jimbo Fisher. Most people don’t realize it but Bobby Bowden’s last 4 years included Top 10 classes in 3 of those and the other was still Top 20. Florida State was struggling on the field but Bowden was still recruiting talent. Jimbo just had to keep it going at Florida State. At A&M he’s having to build it but he got off to a good solid start. Now he must win on the field to keep it going.
Step 2 – 8 regular season wins in 2018 Season:
I believe 8 regular season wins is the minimum for 2018. The West will take a step back in 2018 due to coaching changes except for Arkansas who should improve but we still have enough to beat them. The only acceptable losses I see for 2018 are Clemson, Bama, Auburn, and LSU. Clemson, Auburn, and LSU are all winnable games but I’m not sure we have the talent on the offensive line, at QB, and depth on defense to win those games. Don’t forget we’re going from a spread team to a pro-style offense so there’s going to be an adjustment. Even with that adjustment we must win 8 games. The learning curve isn’t that big and there’s enough talent to beat everyone else on our schedule. We get Kentucky at home from the East so the schedule is setup well.
The ideal realistic scenario is we beat LSU and win our bowl game winding up at 10-3 with a TON of momentum going into the off season. I’m all for doing better than that but if Jimbo pulls off 10-3 winning our last two games against LSU and the bowl game he’s going to have A&M sitting pretty. At minimum though he must go 8-4 and ideally win a bowl game putting us at 9-4.
Step 3 – Top 10 Recruiting Class in 2019:
It’s early but Jimbo currently has a Top 10 recruiting class. Lots of things can change but if Jimbo keeps doing what he’s doing and wins on the field he should have a Top 10 recruiting class for 2019. Most importantly though he must sign kids he can develop. I think he will based on how he’s been recruiting so far. He looks for football guys and not just numbers guys that look the part.
Step 4 – 10 regular season wins in 2019 Season:
10 regular season wins likely puts us second in the SEC West which should be the main goal for 2019. I’ll give Jimbo a little rope here just in case Stidham stays at Auburn for his final year or Eddie O pulls off something amazing in Baton Rouge. I don’t think either of those things happens so 10 wins puts us behind Alabama in the SEC West which would be perfect for Jimbo’s second year. We go to Clemson so that’s a wildcard right now but either way 10 regular season wins should be the minimum goal here building on the 2018 season.
Step 5 – Top 6 Recruiting Class in 2020:
At some point just being in the Top 10 won’t be good enough. To win a national championship you must recruit at the highest level. Jimbo needs to be knocking on the Top 5 at this point. Even better if he’s there.
Step 6 – Second in the SEC West in 2020:
Ideally we’re already second in the SEC West in 2019 and focused on winning the SEC West in 2020. If not, the 2020 season needs to be about being the clear second-best team in the SEC West. Nick Saban could be gone by 2020 making wining the SEC West easier but I’m not going to assume that. Saban will outlive us all and still be coaching Bama at 120 years of age. Seriously. Until he’s gone from the game I’m assuming nothing because he’s the king of college football. To think otherwise is foolish. If Saban is in Alabama you’re chasing second place.
Step 7 – Top 5 Recruiting Class in 2021:
Jimbo continues to build an elite recruiting school. Coaches can say all they want about getting “our guys” in a recruiting class but if you’re not consistently getting a Top 10 class you won’t win a national championship. “Our guys” means you’re picking from the second tier of athletes and not the true elite. The higher the ranking the better as it’s about being elite. It’s easier to coach when you have talent. That’s the difference between Nick Saban and Bill Snyder. Jimbo needs to be Top 5 at this point.
Step 8 – Win the SEC West in 2021:
Ideally we’re repeating as SEC West champions and poised for a national title run here. If Saban is still at Bama Jimbo needs to beat him for the SEC West in his fourth season. A&M isn’t chasing anyone else but a Saban lead Bama team at this point. Ideally Saban is gone and Jimbo has replaced him as the class of the SEC West. If that happens we’ll be on track to maintaining a status of an elite national football program. Once that happens every year will bring about a chance for a national championship. That’s what we’re paying Jimbo $75 million to do. It could take 4 seasons to get there and that’s okay. We just need to get there.
I have no clue if Jimbo gets there. Anybody that pretends they know is being a fool. Based on his pedigree and short time at A&M all of that looks VERY attainable. He wasn’t brought here to build ever so slightly on what R.C., Fran, Sherman, and Sumlin left. He was brought here to elevate A&M to a level we haven’t seen since the early 90s. Actually even better as we never really sniffed a national title from 85-95 which were the prime years of Aggie football. I hope he does better than those 8 steps above. I think it’s very possible but at minimum those are the steps I’d like to see over the next four years.
Let’s hope Jimbo Makes Aggie Football Great Again.
#MAFGA
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When Jimbo Fisher was hired by Texas A&M I had no doubt he could coach on the field. I personally think Jimbo is a Top 5 on the field coach. He’s as good as Saban when it comes to game planning, in game adjustments, and seeing the big picture of an opponent week to week. The other coaches I put in this category are coaches like Gary Patterson, David Cutcliffe, and Bill Snyder. These are coaches that have great football minds and there’s no doubt Jimbo has a great football mind. The guys just win with whatever talent is given to them. The guys understand how every play in a game fits into the big picture.
I don’t think coaches like Urban Meyer, Dabo Swinney, Jim Harbaugh, and Chris Petersen are in that category of being an elite football mind. They’re great head coaches no doubt but they rely on their school, competition, staff, recruiting, and a host of other variables for their success. Urban Meyer is on the cusp but the more I watch him I realize he’s only as good as his staff and talent. Those 3 national titles were won with amazing talent. Technically he’s the second-best coach in college football and I’ll agree with that but I don’t think he’s an elite football mind understanding the component of every play to the entire game. I do think Jimbo is in that elite football mind group because Jimbo has an amazing football mind. Some will argue with that based on his last season at FSU but all I know is the guy won more than 10 games in 6 of 8 seasons and his record in bowl games was 5-2. Listen to him talk. He ALWAYS talks football and not consultant speak. He THINKS football all the time and understands it.
My question for Jimbo Fisher coming to A&M is if he could recruit. That question was based on two things. FSU had recruiting momentum when Jimbo took over and at Texas A&M when he took over it did not. At Florida State Jimbo took over the reins from Bobby Bowden who had placed FSU as a top national program in a talent rich state. Before Jimbo got to FSU the perception was that FSU was an elite national school. Combine it with the location in a talent rich area and Jimbo just had to keep the machine Bobby Bowden built rolling. In 7 seasons Jimbo’s lowest class at FSU was ranked 11th. His last four classes were ranked Top 6 or better. That’s consistent elite level recruiting.
At Texas A&M there hasn’t been elite level recruiting since the early 90’s. Sumlin had a couple really good classes but I’m talking about truly consistent elite level recruiting where your program is Top 6 four consecutive years in a row. A&M has never seen that. A lot of that recruiting comes from winning as nothing helps recruiting more than winning. A&M hasn’t had that so it’s been behind the ball in some time. Getting to that level is kind of a chicken or egg thing. You can’t win big without recruiting well and you can’t recruit well without winning. Despite the 2012 season Texas A&M has been in this cycle of not winning enough to recruit well enough and not recruiting well to win enough. There’s certainly some pieces in place to get there but in the last three decades we seem to be missing consecutive steps combining wins and recruiting more than one season to really get our football stride going as an elite program.
Every Aggie thinks A&M belongs in the discussion of top programs in the country. A&M doesn’t have the history of winning like other programs but when it comes to money, location, facilities, resources, and passion there’s not many schools in this country that can match A&M. For some reason Aggie football has been in a quagmire since the early 90’s. I’ve always felt A&M simply made bad coaching decisions holding on to RC too long, hiring Fran without fully vetting him, hiring Sherman without checking other options, and letting Sumlin control A&M instead of controlling him. A&M made some bad coaching decisions and college football is ALL about hiring the right coach. Then again maybe it hasn’t been coaching and it’s just that A&M will never be an elite level program. I tend to think it’s coaching but with Jimbo Fisher we’re about to find out.
My question since the day Jimbo Fisher was hired is if he could recruit at an elite level and get those steps going over multiple seasons. It’s time for A&M to hit its football stride. Jimbo still has a long way to go but his first step with his first recruiting class looks like he’s on his way to getting that stride going. Don’t get me wrong steps 2-4 are the hardest but he put a damn good foot forward on step 1 which should help steps 2-4. I think steps 2-4 are the hardest but step 1 is important as you need something to build off. Unlike what Jimbo inherited from Bobby Bowden at FSU Kevin Sumlin did not leave Jimbo much at A&M in terms of recruiting momentum. There’s certainly some key pieces in place so Jimbo isn’t starting from nothing but his work at A&M will be MUCH tougher than what he had to do at FSU when taking over. Jimbo needed to nail step 1 to build to steps 2-4 and I think he did that.
Texas A&M only finished ranked 17th with it’s signing class but it’s the way Jimbo closed that class that should give Aggies hope. If Jimbo can stride out steps 2-4 he’ll build Texas A&M into an elite level program. In the days leading up to Signing Day Jimbo and his staff absolutely did work. It started with getting Leon O’Neal back into the mix. The one-time Aggie commit had wandering eyes once Sumlin was let go. He was looking at programs like Clemson, OU, and Georgia. Those are three schools that were in the College Football Playoff. In the past, A&M loses a guy like him coming off a 7-5 season once they start looking at schools of that caliber. It seems like Jimbo just had to reassure him Texas A&M was the place he belonged. I don’t think that’s the case so don’t discount the amount of work Jimbo and his staff had to do to fend off schools like Clemson, OU, and Georgia. People like winners and no schools are winning bigger than those three other than Bama obviously. Pre-Jimbo Texas A&M loses Leon O’Neal. Signing O’Neal is a MAJOR feather in Jimbo and his staff’s hat.
Leading up to signing day how A&M would finish was in big question. A&M was in on lots of guys but most recruiting services were uncertain where a lot of these guys would go. Some were leaning one way depending on who the recruit talked to but there seemed to be a ton of uncertainty overall. I don’t think any recruiting service saw it playing out like it did for A&M. Some experts had hunches but nobody knew for sure. It was certainly possible but it wasn’t certain. Pre-Jimbo the signing class finishes with a dud but with Jimbo it finished with a flourish.
On signing day Jimbo signed Texas guys that were committed Bama or were non-Texas guys looking at elite programs across the country. Even though Vernon Jackson and Bobby Brown are Texas guys they still were technically verbal commitments to Alabama. Jimbo and staff convinced them to flip to A&M on signing day. A&M doesn’t do that Pre-Jimbo. Charles Strong (a FL guy) looked like a sure thing to Ole Miss and Jimbo flipped him. At one-point James Foster and Marcus “Tank” Jenkins seemed like a package deal out of Montgomery, AL. As signing day closed it looked like Foster was going to Bama or FSU. Jenkins looked destined to OU. On signing day Jimbo convinced them to package to “The Station” as the kids are calling it these days. Glenn Beal out of New Orleans was looking at Bama, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Jimbo convinced him if he was heading west of the Mississippi The Station was the place for him.
Jashaun Corbin out of Florida was looking at Tennessee, TCU and even Florida State to a degree. Jimbo convinced him to sign with A&M. Jeremiah Martin out of California was looking at Washington and Oklahoma but Jimbo convinced him to come to Aggieland aka The Station. That’s 9 guys that Jimbo and staff convinced to sign with Texas A&M despite competition from MAJOR programs. That’s an impressive crop of guys Jimbo closed on. Jimbo and staff deserve a ton of coffee. Coffee is for closers after all.
This class wasn’t perfect as there were some misses A&M could have had. Jaylen Waddle wound up at Bama after looking like a heavy A&M lean. The Aggies got in late on Javontae Jean-Baptiste but couldn’t get him and he signed with Ohio St. Isaac Taylor-Stuart was a longshot to get out of California and USC and in the end he signed with USC. He flirted with A&M but Jimbo couldn’t close. Dorian Gerald seemed like a lock to Florida but evidently they didn’t send him a letter of intent to sign so he seemed like a get for A&M. He wound up in Arkansas thanks to his relationship with John Chavis it seems. Those guys would have been welcomed additions to the Aggie class due to position or talent but Jimbo and staff weren’t able to convince them to sign. That’s not a negative just saying there were some misses as well.
It’s hard to fault Jimbo at all for this class as he was working behind the eight ball. The 7-6 record and early signing period really limited what he could do. He focused on key recruits and did a damn fine job landing key guys for Texas A&M. It’s been three decades since we’ve seen A&M have something like that the week of Signing Day. Usually it’s hoping just to hold the guys we had committed as the top programs made a run at them. Jimbo’s Step 1 makes it seem like A&M will be closing guys down the stretch rather than hoping to hold on. Signing Day was a damn good sign for the Jimbo Fisher era at Texas A&M.
Step 2 will be the 2018 season. I will write about expectations for that in the next few weeks. Step 3 will be the 2019 recruiting class. So far things for the 2019 class look even better than 2018 and it must be. 17th ranked recruiting classes will not get you to the elite national level in college football. If you listen to Jimbo’s signing day press conference it’s clear he knows that. He’s happy with who he signed but he knows there is still lots of work to do.
That press conference gives great insight into Jimbo as a coach. He is a coach that drills into the details himself. He said when he got to Aggieland he immediately started watching film of every guy to evaluate himself. He’s not a guy that leaves things up to his staff. His staff is there to support him and not vice versa. Jimbo makes the decisions because he has the grand vision for where Aggie Football needs to go and how to get there. In addition it also sounds like he knows how to evaluate prospects from a technical and ability standpoint. He’s not just watching film for the “wow” factor. He watches film for ability and from a technical standpoint in isolation of teammates and competition. He’s trying to project them to the next level. If you didn’t watch that press conference and you’re a football nerd you’ll love it:
Jimbo still has lots of steps to take for A&M to hit its full footballs stride but all things considered his Step 1 was DAMN good. He’s shown he can sell Texas A&M in short order. He’s got to win on the field next while building the recruiting class of 2019. Those next two steps are going to be crucial. At this point there’s no reason to think Jimbo won’t be successful at Texas A&M but there’s still plenty of steps to take. For now though Jimbo and his staff should enjoy their coffee because they flat out closed on the 2018 recruiting class. It’s been a long time since A&M has since a close on Signing Day like this. I like where these steps are going. Things are trending to Make Aggie Football Great Again.
Before getting to the hire of Mike Elko let’s touch on the Belk Bowl. It seemed like the perfect summary of the Kevin Sumlin era. The Aggies jumped out to a convincing 14-0 lead thanks to two blocked punts deep in Wake Forest’s territory. It seemed like it would be an easy win for Texas A&M with an early 14-0 lead and equally matched teams. Wake Forest then rips off 31 UNANSWERED points in basically a quarter of football. Seriously. In around 15 minutes of football Wake Forest scored THIRTY ONE points and the Aggies scored ZERO. On A&M’s first 6 possessions that didn’t involve a blocked punt they punted 5 times and fumbled on the 6th possession. Meanwhile the Aggie defense is handing out points like candy on Halloween to let Wake Forest have a 31-14 lead. The Aggies clawed back and went into halftime down 38-28 which is pretty remarkable.
The Aggies came out in the second half looking much better as the Aggie defense held Wake Forest to only a field goal in their first five possessions. The defense forced two turnovers on five of those possessions and the offense continued moving the ball. This allowed the Aggies to take a 45-41 lead early in the 4th quarter despite giving back one of those turnovers with an interception. As would be typical of many Aggie games, the defense couldn’t hold as Wake Forest scored two touchdowns on their last two possessions. The Aggie offense couldn’t respond to both scores and Wake Forest wound up with a 55-52 win. It seems like the perfect ending to the Sumlin era where things looked great early on, then looked really bad, then clawed back making things look respectful by even taking the lead. In the end the Aggies couldn’t hold on to a lead running out of time one final game with the Sumlin regime.
Someone asked me what I expected before the bowl game. My response was that I didn’t expect anything different from the last four seasons other than Kevin Sumlin wouldn’t be on the sidelines chewing gum. That’s the way it turned out. The Belk Bowl was pretty much the mirror of Sumlin’s time at A&M.
Now we can truly begin the Jimbo Fisher Era.
Before bowl season there was a lot of speculation on who A&M might hire as it’s defensive coordinator. Early on there was talk of Bud Foster, Alex Grinch, and Travaris Robinson. They seemed like likely candidates given their current positions and A&M’s resources. As bowl season cranked up the speculation started dying down as it seemed A&M wouldn’t be making a hire until after everyone played their bowl game. During this time bigger names started getting whispered about with the biggest name being Dave Aranda of LSU. It seemed like a long shot but the rumors got stronger and stronger that he was Jimbo’s main target. Along with the way names like Manny Diaz of Miami, Mike Elko of Notre Dame, and Don Brown of Michigan were also speculated.
It was very much like the Jimbo Fisher hire where nobody knew for sure but there seemed to be a clear target and it was Aranda. After the New Year’s Day games the smoke around Aranda really started to thicken. Of all the names being speculated Aranda’s name seemed to be the most consistent. There was speculation on the LSU side that it was pretty apparent A&M was coming after him. At one point it sounded like he might have turned A&M down but nobody knew for sure. Brent Zwerneman then tweeted A&M was in fact going after Aranda and a pretty wild afternoon/evening ensued with no one publicly knowing what was going on. It was clear though that A&M had in fact zeroed in on Aranda. Later that evening it became pretty clear that Aranda was not going to leave LSU. It appeared LSU had given Aranda the exclusive keys to the LSU defense and a new contract for four years worth $10 million in total compensation. Hard for Aranda to turn that down.
Aggies everywhere seemed pretty dejected Jimbo didn’t land Aranda. They lamented all the momentum A&M had built with the Jimbo hire was gone. The Aggies would be stuck with some average defensive coordinator that even his current school didn’t want. A lot of Aggies went back to their “woe is us” mentality as it seemed like Aranda or bust.
Fortunately for A&M Jimbo Fisher didn’t see it that way. Less than 24 hours after being publicly turned down by Aranda the Aggies hired Mike Elko away from Notre Dame. It was a major get by A&M to hire an up and coming defensive coordinator away from a major program. The momentum A&M created by hiring Jimbo seemed to be back. All was good in Aggieland for football.
While Jimbo didn’t land his top target in Aranda I love the way this hire played out. It was clear Jimbo had his top target and A&M threw everything they could at him. When he didn’t bite A&M didn’t get phased and simply went after the next major hire they had on their list. In less than 24 hours they had their defensive coordinator. Nobody likes getting rejected but rejection is a lot easier to swallow when you immediately rebound with something just as good. That’s what A&M did and shows this is a different day for A&M football. There seems to be a plan with targeting, approaching, and hiring the football staff. It certainly feels different.
As for Elko it seems like a really solid hire. I’ll admit I haven’t watched a lot of Notre Dame football this year but it’s pretty clear the biggest difference from Notre Dame in 2016 to 2017 is the improvement of their defense. Notre Dame went from 4-8 to 9-3. That’s pretty remarkable. What I’ve read and watched about him he seems like a guy that coaches fundamentals and adapts each week to the offense his defense is facing. I don’t think fundamentals and adaptability are understood enough by coaches. It seems at times a lot of coaches want to out scheme everyone but if you don’t have fundamentals and adapt each week there is no “schematic advantage” as Charlie Weiss likes to say. Elko seems like a guy that focuses on fundamentals and changing his approach each week based on the opponent. The one common comparison that can be made is Notre Dame held LSU to 17 points in their bowl game while A&M allowed LSU 45 points this past season. I would bet the talent level on the Notre Dame and Aggie defense isn’t far apart so that’s a feather in Elko’s hat.
The thing I like most about this hire is Jimbo Fisher appears to be doing his due diligence and hiring competent people he doesn’t have a relationship with. I think the worst thing a head coach can do is only hire people they’re familiar with rather than look for the most competent person no matter their relationship. It appears Fisher targeted people he has no relationship with but through due diligence identified people he thinks are great coaches at their respective positions. I absolutely love that because it seemed Kevin Sumlin only hired people he had a prior relationship with. The only time he hired someone he didn’t have a relationship with was Dave Christensen and that was a disaster. I don’t think that’s happening with Fisher as he seems to be targeting coaches on their way up instead of their way down when Sumlin hired Christensen.
For those disappointed by the failure to get Aranda there’s no reason to be concerned. I think Elko is likely just as good as Aranda. I think a lot of coordinators get over-rated based on the school they coach because of their talent. I think in college football there’s a group of 10-15 coordinators that are all interchangeable. For the most part they’re excellent coaches but none of them are perfect and they have bad games. There’s no coordinator that’s head and shoulders above anyone else. Even Aranda who’s deemed as one of the best defensive coordinators in college football had games this past season where they gave up 37 to Mississippi State, 26 to Syracuse, 24 to Troy, 24 to Ole Miss, and 24 to Bama. That’s 5 of 12 games where his defense gave up over 20 points. That’s certainly not dominating by any stretch.
We’ll find out in 2018 how good Elko is as he has some decent components to work with on the Aggie defense. I think Elko has a much easier job than Jimbo Fisher on the offensive side of the ball. I think there’s more talent across the board on the defense compared to the offense mainly because the offensive line is so bad. There’s no reason to think that Elko can’t improve on what John Chavis did as defensive coordinator. It won’t be a major improvement but the goal should be a more consistent defensive effort from game to game. Based on Elko’s history as a defensive coordinator there’s no reason to think he can’t do that. It won’t be the true return of the Wrecking Crew but those days are likely never coming back. Football has changed to an offensive game for the most part. What the Aggies need is a defensive coordinator that preaches fundamentals and adapts to the opponent each week. In Elko it seems that Fisher has found someone that can do exactly that.
Scott Woodward is a bona fide sniper athletic director. He’s been on the job since January of 2016. That’s about 23 months of service and most Aggie fans don’t know much about him other than he previously served as Washington’s Athletic Director before coming to Texas A&M. Well, Aggie fans know all about him now with the hire of Jimbo Fisher. The media can grade out the Jimbo Fisher hire however they want but the fact of the matter is Scott Woodward pulled off the hire of the year and maybe even the past decade. He convinced a coach with a national championship and a program that by many accounts was established as a Top 10 program to move to Texas A&M. I can’t think of another time that’s happened in recent memory.
Nick Saban was looking to leave Miami and get back to the college game. Urban Meyer was sitting on the sidelines. Chip Kelly was also on the sidelines and was familiar with the West Coast along with being able to hide in Los Angeles. I don’t think the Chip Kelly is a bigger hire than Jimbo Fisher this year. It took a lot more to convince Jimbo Fisher to leave Florida State and come to Texas A&M than it took UCLA to convince Chip Kelly UCLA was the right school for him. Going back to recent big hires there was Jim Harbaugh but he’s a Michigan alum and was looking to leave the NFL. It certainly wasn’t Charlie Strong, Tom Herman, Kevin Sumlin, Art Briles, Chris Petersen, or any other mid-major to major hire. Maybe I’m missing a hire in the last decade but I can’t think of a hire where a coach left a program like Florida State for Texas A&M. The most recent might have been Dennis Franchione when he left Alabama for Texas A&M but that was way back in 2002. That’s been almost 15 years ago.
If you listen to the Jimbo Fisher press conference there’s one reason why Jimbo Fisher is at Texas A&M – Scott Woodward. Scott Woodward’s friendship was the main reason but there’s no doubt it took some serious convincing to get Jimbo Fisher to make the move. Bill Byrne nor Eric Hyman could have made this hire. I’m not convinced any other athletic director in the country could have made this hire. LSU tried twice and I’m pretty sure Texas asked as well last season. Jimbo Fisher is a bigger higher than Tom Herman. There’s no denying that. I’m sure there’s also been other programs that expressed an interest in Jimbo Fisher but he’s never made the move from Florida State to anywhere but Texas A&M. Texas A&M has Scott Woodward to thank for that. There’s no doubt Woodward got plenty of support from those in charge of Texas A&M but this hire is solely Scott Woodward’s.
The interesting thing about Scott Woodward if you pay attention to conversation about athletic directors across the country you never hear his name mentioned. At all. Scott Woodward’s name never comes up with the “big named” athletic directors. The only thing anyone knows about Scott Woodward at Texas A&M other than this hire is when he went on the record saying Kevin Sumlin needed to win more at SEC media days. Outside of that comment you’ve never heard about Scott Woodward. People have heard of Joe Castiglione at OU, Scott Stricklin at Florida, Jeff Long formerly of Arkansas, Chris Del Conte now of Texas, Greg Byrne at Alabama, and others but you NEVER have heard of Scott Woodward with those names. You likely won’t hear Scott Woodward’s name much despite pulling off the biggest hire in college football in the last 10-15 years. He just sits in the weeds and does his job with no self-promotion which is why you don’t see his name thrown out there.
No matter what anyone says the MOST important thing an AD in college athletics can do is hire a winning football coach. You win in football and everything else falls in place. Athletic Director’s careers are made based on the success of the football coach. Everything else is a distant second. If you’ve got a winning football coach and have the ability to string complete sentences together in a crowd you’re going to be crowned a “successful” athletic director. There’s no doubt Jeff Long got ran off from Arkansas because he hired Brett Bielema. The man had done really well with the Arkansas athletic department but got fired because he hired Brett Bielema. Joe Castiglione, Chris Del Conte, and Greg Byrne are all considered elite athletic directors because of the football program. There’s no doubt those guys are competent athletic directors but the success of the football program lifts the perception of the rest of the athletic department. It’s that plain and simple.
Scott Woodward is a Sniper Athletic Director because you haven’t heard a peep from him other than his introductory press conference in January 2016 and his comments this year at SEC Media Days. On December 1, 2017 he fired a shot that made everyone stand up and take notice. At least those with half a brain took notice. Scott Woodward without any fanfare brought Jimbo Fisher to Texas A&M. He made his comment during SEC Media Days stating expectations and that had been it from him. When it came time to pull the cord on Sumlin he quietly and calmly pulled the trigger bagging his mark. Everybody knew he was around but nobody was really sure what was going on. There was lots of speculation but nobody knew for sure. Woodward didn’t say anything during the whole process other than when it was announced Sumlin would no longer be the head coach. Woodward simply said the next time you would hear from him is when the new coach was named. That was it. That’s operating like a sniper rather than an infantry person spraying bullets hoping something big falls. See Tennessee for an example of that later. Woodward had his mark, his perch, and fired a clean shot. That’s the way snipers work.
His use of the media was very well done. Rather than let some wild speculation happen there was just enough leaks to keep any media person specifically covering Texas A&M on the Jimbo Fisher trail. Some media people were speculating other names but those that cover Texas A&M closest always pointed to Jimbo Fisher. It wasn’t just one media person either. Brent Zwerneman, Billy Liucci, and Mark Passwaters who cover A&M the most were consistent in their updates it was Jimbo Fisher. I’m hoping that was by design to get just enough information out there but not too much if Jimbo Fisher couldn’t be landed. On the day Sumlin was let go, Randy McIlvoy of KPRC in Houston was brought into the mix to announce “according to sources” Jimbo Fisher would be the next head coach at Texas A&M. Jimbo Fisher had one more game to go but something tells me McIlvoy’s source was the Athletic Director at Texas A&M. At least whoever told McIlvoy had the blessing of the Athletic Director to go ahead and get the name out there. This way when the hiring was made official it wasn’t a total shock and the media was ready cover it from different aspects. Woodward proved the doubters wrong but he left enough crumbs out there for those truly paying attention with an objective lens.
The hiring process really reminded of the move to the SEC. Dr. Loftin spoke just enough to control the message but never overpromised anything. There was denial and speculation early on by a lot of the media people just like with the Jimbo Fisher. Through it all A&M kept quiet making sure everything was lined up. As things appeared to be happening enough news was leaked so people were prepared for the official announcement and it wouldn’t be complete shock and awe. I thought Texas A&M handled the move to the SEC and hiring of Jimbo Fisher with almost perfect execution. They spoke less and executed more. As Jimbo Fisher said in his opening press conference, “Your actions speak so loud I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Texas A&M’s actions said exactly what Texas A&M is about. Doubt us and we’ll prove you wrong.
With a 10 year, $75 million contract Scott Woodward’s entire legacy is likely tied to the success or failure of Jimbo Fisher. It seems he knows that which is why you don’t hear much from him. I suspect Woodward will stay behind the scenes and let the football program speak for his acumen. This was his hire and he knows this will be his legacy. He knows ultimately the actions of the football program will speak so loudly nobody will hear what he’s saying. There’s no point in saying anything. Just sit back like a sniper hoping his job is done.
If you want to know a little more about Scott Woodward he’s a graduate of LSU which makes the hire of Jimbo Fisher ironic because his alma mater couldn’t do it in two previous attempts. He graduated in 1985 and worked in politics working mainly on campaigns for state and national elections. In 2000 he was hired by LSU as director of external affairs also serving as the liaison between the chancellor and athletics. In 2004 he left LSU for Washington working in the same role. In 2008 he was named the athletic director at Washington where he served in that role before taking the same role at Texas A&M in January of 2016.
When Texas A&M made the hire of Jimbo Fisher official it sent a clear message. Underestimate Texas A&M all you want but Texas A&M doesn’t hold the same belief. Many national and regional “experts” believe Texas A&M is a second tier program in college football. They don’t think A&M can compete with the “bluebloods” of college football. They haven’t been to College Station in 10 years and they still hold their stock in IBM having never invested in Apple, Amazon, or Microsoft. You know, because nothing ever changes.
7 years ago these “experts” that make a living talking college football said Texas A&M wouldn’t get an invite to the SEC. Well, Texas A&M got the invite to the SEC and made the move in 2012. They said it was a stupid move. The first season in the SEC Texas A&M won 11 games and finished in the Top 5 while Johnny Manziel won a Heisman. That was only six seasons ago where Texas A&M competed at the highest level. Sure, it turned out to be a blip but the reality is Texas A&M competed at the highest level and built the most expensive stadium in college football over the last six seasons. Texas A&M can compete at the highest level.
When chatter of Jimbo Fisher getting hired by A&M recently surfaced these “experts” said there was no way Jimbo Fisher would leave FSU. They said it was a second tier program under Florida State. They’re talking about the school that finished in the Top 5 only six seasons previously and had the most expensive college football stadium ever built. No stadium even comes close to the amenities of modern day Kyle Field. These “experts” couldn’t think past the last 12 months. They were convinced Texas A&M despite the 2012 season, it’s location, it’s facilities, and it’s resources couldn’t attract a coach of Jimbo Fisher’s caliber because it was a second tier program. On December 1, 2017, Jimbo Fisher made it official he was leaving Florida State for Texas A&M.
Sadly for these “experts” if they have any historical context their historical context is that of Dennis Franchione, Mike Sherman, and recently Kevin Sumlin. They forget Texas is a hotbed of football recruits and economic development. And I mean a hotbed of football recruits and money. They forget the years from 1985 to 1995 when Texas A&M finished in the final Top 20 for 10 of those 11 seasons. The overall record over those 11 seasons was 104-27-2. That’s a winning percentage of 78 percent. The record at Kyle Field was 63-5-1. That’s a winning percentage of 91 percent. That’s a flat out decade of dominance at home. 1985 was 32 years ago which seems like a long time but it’s not forever ago. For whatever reason these “experts” assumed Texas A&M was just a second tier football program that didn’t belong in the discussions of the upper tier programs.
They believe despite the brand new $450 million stadium and facilities that rival anybody in the country along with a hotbed of recruiting Texas A&M can never compete at the highest level of college football. These people get paid to be “experts” about college football. The truth is these people are idiots and lazy. They sit in their studios watching the games never visiting any campus. Their sole basis for being an “expert” is the most recent decade of success. They’re judging Texas A&M based solely on the jobs done by Mike Sherman and Kevin Sumlin. Mike Sherman and Kevin Sumlin are outstanding people but they didn’t prove to be great college football coaches. College football more than any other sport is about the head coach. In college football the head coach has the highest input of 85 scholarship players including their recruiting, the walk-ons, and the largest staff of any college sport. The sport requires 22 different starters with 11 of those having to work in perfect unison on every play. No other sport comes close to the overall volume and detail the head coach must think about. Because of that the head coach has to be something special. The greats are few and far between. A&M has simply failed on having a great head coach since R.C. Slocum around 1995 with a couple blips in 1998 and 2012. We’ve been in a coach drought. Simple as that. It hasn’t been a resource problem.
The hire of Jimbo Fisher changes that perception. At least it should. The hire of Jimbo Fisher makes these “experts” wake up and pay attention. They can deny it but they’re paying attention. The hire of Jimbo Fisher changes the national perception of Texas A&M’s willingness and ability to compete at the highest level in college football. The hire of Jimbo Fisher says A&M is capable of things people have forgotten about. The hire of Jimbo Fisher tells the “experts” you can think what you want about Texas A&M but Texas A&M thinks differently about itself.
A lot of these “experts” will continue questioning if A&M is a better job than FSU when a man just staked his career to it. Sure, Jimbo Fisher left for more money but he was already a Top 5 paid coach in college football. The dude is as driven by anyone to win college football games. It’s not like he’s coming to College Station for more money and ride out his career for a decade. That makes no sense at all if you think about it logically. A man who seemingly had it all at FSU left for another program. Why would that be? The only real logical explanation is the person himself who has more vested than anyone feels that Texas A&M offers a better chance to win a national championship than Florida State. It really is as simple as that. Sadly the “experts” will go on and on this is about money and Jimbo Fisher is an idiot. I don’t think it’s about money as Jimbo already has plenty and FSU wasn’t firing him anytime soon. Jimbo Fisher may be wrong in the end but the reason he made the move is he feels Texas A&M offers a better chance to win a national championship. It’s the only reason an established coach at a proven Power 5 program would leave for another one. It doesn’t happen very often. I don’t think Jimbo left because of the FSU fans being critical over this season. That seems awful petty. Jimbo seems to have more confidence and pride to let a few fans piss him off and leave. Jimbo left because he thinks Texas A&M offers more resources to win a national championship than Florida State.
Some of the “experts” will also say Dennis Franchione left Alabama for Texas A&M and look how that turned out. They won’t look under the hood and realize Dennis Franchione was a fraud because he was built up by Gary Patterson much the same way Dan Hawkins was at Boise St. Dennis Franchione jumped because of the pending scholarship restrictions coming Alabama’s way. He too at the time believed Texas A&M offered a better chance to win a national championship than his current situation like any coach that decides to move. Alabama was pretty bad after Fran left until Saban showed up. The problem with Fran was he wasn’t actually a good football coach. This is why he struggled at Texas State when he did get another job. Winners win at any level they coach if given enough time. Comparing Jimbo Fisher and Dennis Franchione is an exercise in being lazy. Much different circumstances. Still, those with the inability to have logical thoughts will use that as an argument because they sit in a studio having never been to the campus and regions around Texas A&M and Florida State football. Just because the wins and losses over the last two decades are different doesn’t mean the resources and potential are different.
Ironically enough I’ve been saying for two decades if Florida State, Miami, and Florida can all be seen as equals on the football field why can’t Texas and Texas A&M? Texas has access to great football talent just like Florida does. How is Florida allowed/able to have three marquee programs in their state but Texas which is a bigger state than Florida can only have one? Spare me the argument there’s more bigger schools in Texas because Florida has a boat load of schools as well. Also spare me the argument Oklahoma steals recruits out of Texas. There are PLENTY of great Texas high school football players to build a championship team at A&M. The problem has been and always will be coaching. Texas A&M since R.C. Slocum started declining in the late 90s has failed to hire a competent coach. Dennis Franchione, Mike Sherman, and Kevin Sumlin were simply not great football coaches. Texas A&M for two decades had the wrong person under the headset.
For most, the perception of Texas A&M football will change but some people will keep their head in the sand even though a man staked his career to the move. He burned his legacy on the way out of Tallahassee so he obviously sees something beyond the money. At least I think he does. Most will understand and watch with curiosity if he’s right while the truly moronic people will continue to question why he’d make the move. Those people need to shut up and save the world’s oxygen for something else.
The ultimate perception shift will only occur if Jimbo actually wins and competes with the team in Tuscaloosa. If he mimics Sumlin’s regular 8-4 record and third to fourth place in the SEC West the “experts” will be proven right. If at minimum Jimbo replaces LSU as the second best program in the SEC West while Saban is at Alabama then he’ll prove it was the right move. If Jimbo actually wins a national championship at Texas A&M I’ll start a Go Fund Me page to send every person that questioned why Jimbo would leave FSU for A&M an actual plate of crow. I’m dead serious. Keep those Tweets. I’ve got two from Mike Greenberg and Richard Justice even though Richard Justice deleted his.
Will Jimbo prove the critics right or wrong? Nobody has any idea. That includes Jimbo and the people that made the decision to bring him in. Only time will tell but Texas A&M on December 1, 2017 put their proverbial nuts on the table. Those in charge of hiring a football coach for Texas A&M believe completely different than the “experts” that say Jimbo Fisher is an idiot. Jimbo Fisher has to win to fully change the perception. If that happens those “experts” that questioned the move will be proven the idiots. I can’t wait.
The Mechanics of the Hire and the Contract:
Kudos to Scott Woodward on this hire. Much like when Dr. Loftin took us to the SEC he spoke very minimally and executed like an assassin. With assassins you never know what’s going on but the results are crystal clear. The hire of Jimbo Fisher is crystal clear. Scott Woodward is an assassin and that’s a good thing. While everyone else was out creating wasted noise Woodward was doing his work and when it mattered most pulled the trigger with clear results. No fanfare and no hype. Just the clear result for the main target all along. You love an assassin when they’re on your side.
In the end it sort of seems like a simple hire because there was no fanfare. It wasn’t. LSU tried to do it the previous two seasons and failed. There’s speculation of how long Woodward has been working on this but it doesn’t matter. He got the best coach that would come to Texas A&M. Texas A&M was not getting Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Dabo Swinney, or Jim Harbaugh. I suppose there’s a possibility of getting Chris Petersen but I like the Jimbo Fisher hire more than Chris Petersen which I’ll get to in a little bit. I don’t know the full mechanics of this hire but Woodward executed them perfectly. He zeroed in on Fisher as the biggest attainable fish and reeled him in with flawless execution.
Despite what the “experts” say this wasn’t simply a money whip either. Like I referenced above Jimbo didn’t leave just for money. His situation at Florida State wasn’t bad at all. It took Woodward convincing Jimbo he would be better served at Texas A&M. That’s one hell of a sales job and Woodward should get more credit by the “experts” for pulling this off. LSU has been perceived as the better program but yet Texas A&M is the one that could pull off the hire in one try. Give credit where credit is due and that appears to be the work of Scott Woodward and those at Texas A&M that supported Woodward. Thank goodness we’re not Tennessee. Plus, we’re about to find out what’s going on at FSU as it seems Willie Taggart has turned them down. Scott Frost is also going to Nebraska so he’s not a candidate. This hire couldn’t have been cleaner. Great job by Woodward.
As for the magnitude of the reported $75 million contract over 10 years let’s break it down a bit. Had Sumlin stayed at A&M for 10 years we would have paid him $50 million. That’s assuming he never got a raise. That’s $2.5 million a year difference. If Sumlin had more repeated success there’s no doubt we would have paid Sumlin more than $5 million a year through a raise. On a per year basis it’s really not that much difference because in big time college football $2.5 million isn’t much. We’ll make it up in Double Dave’s pizza rolls sales each season. That is if Double Dave’s can get their act together and have enough on hand where there’s no line and they never run out. Double Dave’s with better execution can make up the difference if they’ll execute like Woodward. There’s always a line for pizza rolls and they always run out. Talk about missed opportunity. Although I’m more of a Gumby’s pizza roll guy because they add garlic or something giving it more flavor. Never understood why Double Dave’s got all the pizza roll love when Gumby’s pizza rolls are better. All marketing and not product in my mind but that’s a blog post for another day.
As for the length of the contract these “experts” and “critics” are some of the same people that said we didn’t give Kevin Sumlin enough time with 6 years. We’re committing to Fisher for a decade so that’s only 4 years more than what Sumlin got. That should be a positive. Fisher is only 52 which at the end of his contract he’ll be younger than Nick Saban is now. Arizona State just hired a 62 year old to run their football program. It’s not unexpected that Fisher can coach 10 more years. Maybe he doesn’t win a national championship but his track record says A&M will be better off than the previous three coaches we hired. Winners win and history indicates Jimbo Fisher is a winner.
Winners don’t come cheap so committing $75 million over 10 years for a coach with Jimbo’s track record seems reasonable to me. It’s steep but it’s a cost of doing business. Attempting to win a national championship requires money or luck. We’ve run out of luck at Texas A&M so time to throw money at winning it all. Mike Gundy was offered 6 years at $7 million by Tennessee and Gus Malzahn has apparently received a raise to $7 million by Auburn. Jimbo at $7.5 million doesn’t seem out of line at all compared to the numbers that have come out this past week.
If in 10 years Jimbo Fisher has not won more than the coaches that came before him then Texas A&M needs to do a serious internal analysis. Stop wasting money on football and turn Kyle Field into a bullfighting arena or something. If Jimbo is worse than or even equal to Kevin Sumlin then we need to stop wasting money on football all together at Texas A&M. This is an experiment at the highest level to see where Aggie Football can go. It’s time to step up to find the ceiling. Finding that ceiling costs money.
I’ve seen Mike Leach’s name get thrown out there for saving money and getting similar results. Nobody loves Mike Leach more than me since he’s no longer at Tech clowning Franchione and Sherman. I don’t really get it though. Mike Leach is a fine coach but he’s never won a division. Sure, he tied for it once at Tech but after beating Texas to have the inside track to win the division his team got clowned by OU. He had the division in front of him and he couldn’t get it done. Then he lost the Cotton Bowl to Ole Miss that season. That’s the closest he’s ever come to winning a division and a major bowl. Mike Leach will do more with less but he has a ceiling in my mind. Mike Leach has won 10 games in ONE season of 16 seasons as head coach. I know Texas Tech and Washington State aren’t perennial winners but you would think he’d have at least one more season where he won at least 10 games. He’s only had one.
I don’t think rolling the dice and saving money would have been a good move with Leach. I don’t see the “great” switch going off for Mike Leach at Texas A&M or any major program. He’ll be a thorn to opponents but he’ll never win it all. It’s not worth saving money to not have a chance to win it all. That goes for any other similar unproven coach. It wouldn’t have been worth it to save some money and “hope” that coach becomes great at Texas A&M. We tried it with Franchione and Sumlin and it didn’t work. Like I said earlier we’re out of time for “hope” so it’s time to spend money.
$75 million for ten years seems like a risky investment but let’s take a look at Jimbo the coach and see how risky it is. Everybody said the Red Sox and Cubs couldn’t win it all until they finally hired someone competent enough to lead the team. It’s always about leadership and that costs money.
Jimbo the Head Coach:
I believe a coach’s record matters more than anything else. You can play ifs and buts all you want but over a period of time a coach’s record no matter where they coach will reflect their ability. If he’s at a horrible program he’ll improve the record he took over if he’s a good coach. Let’s look at Jimbo’s record and the four seasons at Florida State before he took over from Bowden.
The first four years are Bobby Bowden and the final eight years that are bolded are Jimbo Fisher.
Year
Record
Conference
Bowl (W/L)
Final Rank
Title
Bowden – 2006
7-6
3-5
Emerald – W
NR
2007
7-6
4-4
Music City – L
NR
2008
9-4
5-3
Champs Sports – W
23
Division
2009
7-6
4-4
Gator – W
NR
Jimbo- 2010
10-4
6-3
ChickFilA – W
16
Division
2011
9-4
5-3
Champs Sports – W
23
2012
12-2
7-1
Orange – W
8
Conference
2013
14-0
8-0
BCS NCG – W
1
National Champ
2014
13-1
8-0
Rose – L
6
Conference
2015
10-3
6-2
Peach – L
14
2016
10-3
5-3
Orange -W
8
2017
5-5
3-5
As you can see, the four seasons before Jimbo took over Florida State was not exactly a dominant program. Florida State only finished once in the Top 25 those four seasons. Their best record was 9-4 with an ACC division championship. Other than that Florida State had a 7-6 record each season prior to Jimbo Fisher taking over.
The first season Jimbo took over he lead Florida State to a 9-3 regular season record winning the Atlantic Division. They lost to Va. Tech in the ACC Title game but beat South Carolina in the ChickFilA Bowl. That’s a pretty quick turnaround from the previous season at Florida State where they went 7-6.
Overall, including bowl games, Jimbo Fisher won 10 games or more in 6 of 8 seasons. He was 6-2 in bowl games including 2 Orange Bowl wins and a national championship in the Rose Bowl. That’s three marquee bowl game wins which is damn impressive in 8 seasons. He went to 5 marquee bowl games from 2012 to 2016.
He lost the Rose Bowl in 2014 in the first year of the College Football Playoff to Oregon and Marcus Mariota. In 2015 FSU lost to UH in the ChickFilA Peach Bowl. I believe FSU was on their third string quarterback that game. That can be considered a bad loss but that UH team was hitting on all cylinders and Tom Herman at UH was 5-0 against Top 25 teams at UH. I’m not going to completely ding Jimbo for that loss even though it looks pretty bad. In 2016 Jimbo beat Jim Harbaugh’s vaunted Michigan team in the Orange Bowl. He’s played in big bowl games and done pretty well.
A lot of people like to point out Jimbo’s greatest success came with Jameis Winston under center. That can be considered true but the fact of the matter is Florida State went 27-1 those two seasons. Say what you want to about Jameis but Jimbo harnessed his talent to only lose 1 game in 2 seasons. That’s remarkable. Jameis was a great college quarterback but Jimbo deserves credit for going 27-1 in those two seasons. How many coaches have gone 27-1 over two seasons? Not many at all. It still takes coaching to win like that even if you have talent. Ask Mack Brown, Les Miles, and Ron Zook.
Outside of Jameis, Jimbo has lead Florida State to a 56-21 record which is a 73 percent winning rate. That includes the 5-5 record this season which has brought it down some. Even without Jameis Winston and a .500 season he’s basically winning every 3 of 4 games. Add in the Jameis Winston years and Jimbo has an overall record of 83-22 which is an almost 80 percent winning rate. That’s winning every 4 of 5 games over 8 years as the head man at Florida State. That’s damn good no matter how you want to spin his time there. I firmly believe winners win and there’s no denying Jimbo Fisher won a lot of football games at FSU.
Based on the last 12 years of Florida State football there’s no reason to think Jimbo Fisher won’t improve the number of wins the Aggies have going forward. His 8 seasons of football at Florida State speak for themselves compared to the previous 4 seasons. He wins football games plain and simple. There’s plenty of talent on the A&M football roster to win more games in 2018 than in 2017. His biggest issue is going to be improving the A&M offensive line along with deciding pretty early if he wants to have a dual threat attack with Kellen Mond or a straight passing attack with Nick Starkel. He may also bring in another quarterback but my guess is he’ll roll with either Mond or Starkel.
The schedule is pretty tough playing Clemson and Alabama in 2 of the first 4 games so we’ll find out pretty quickly if Jimbo can make improvements to Aggie football. I don’t expect A&M to win those games but I do expect them to be competitive in those games. The rest of the schedule should be pretty manageable with Auburn and LSU posing the toughest tests for the remaining 8 games. I don’t think it’s out of the question for A&M to go 8-4 next season at minimum but if Jimbo is worth his $7.5 million a year we should win at least 9 games and potentially 10. I do expect to see immediate improvement when it comes to wins and losses next season. We didn’t hire Jimbo to “build” a program. We hired him to come in and start winning more games right away. He’s got a 10 year contract but he’s being paid to win more in Year 1. No excuses. There’s no “building” with his pedigree and what he’s being paid.
In addition to his coaching record Jimbo is known as an elite recruiter. He had a head start on Kevin Sumlin’s time in Aggieland having already been at Florida State for 2 seasons but Florida State out-recruited Texas A&M in each of Sumlin’s six seasons. Sumlin was seen as a strong recruiter but Jimbo proved better. In 8 seasons of signing recruits Florida State was ranked in the Top 10 every season except for one where they came in at number 11 so almost in the Top 10. In those 8 seasons Florida State was ranked in the Top 5 for 5 of those signing classes. That’s an elite level of recruiting for sure. There’s no reason to think Jimbo Fisher can’t do the same at Texas A&M. He’ll be leading the only SEC team in the state of Texas and the other flagship school struggling right now so he shouldn’t have issues recruiting. He’s an offensive coach but Jimbo recruited elite talent on both sides of the ball at Florida State.
Jimbo and his staff appear to do a pretty good job developing that talent. Florida State has had 35 players drafted in the last 5 years. That’s averaging 7 players each year of the last 5 NFL drafts. There’s been 35 rounds in the last 5 NFL drafts so Florida State basically had a player for every round. It didn’t break down that way but you get the point. It certainly appears that Jimbo can not only recruit elite level talent but he and his staff can also develop it. There are lots of coaches that can recruit but can’t develop talent and Jimbo seems to develop talent.
The data basically speak for itself in Jimbo’s time at Florida State. If you look at record, recruiting, and drafting Jimbo Fisher is a Top 5 coach in the country. That’s pretty hard to argue. There’s no guarantee those things will carry over at Texas A&M but at least he’s proven he can do it. I don’t think he would have taken the job if he didn’t feel he can replicate his success. Maybe he just cashed a huge lottery check but I really think he believes he can do at Texas A&M what he did at Florida State. He wouldn’t have made the move if he didn’t because his situation at Florida State was really damn good. I mean the “experts” say that Florida State is the better job. Jimbo Fisher made a calculated decision he can do at Texas A&M what he did at Florida State. I’ll trust the man with the skins on the wall over the “experts” that sit in a studio or behind a keyboard. One man has done it. The others haven’t.
Make no mistake Jimbo Fisher was hired to Make Aggie Football Great Again. Only time will tell if he actually can. Based on his time at Florida State there’s no reason think in 5 years he won’t change the phrase Make Aggie Football Great Again to Made Aggie Football Great Again. For $7.5 million a year he better change the “k” in Make to a “d” for Made. When that happens it will prove every single dollar we signed Jimbo for was worth it and the “experts” are idiots. We’ll be shipping plates of crow all over the country.
R.C. Would Have Gone For 2 