It's Now Or Never For Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M

With a No. 1 recruting class, an established roster and a proven coaching staff, 2022 needs to be Jimbo Fisher's year with Texas A&M.

USA Today Sports

If there ever was a time for Texas A&M to prove it belongs among contenders in college football, Sept. 3 is the start date. Everything is in place for Jimbo Fisher and the No. 6 Aggies to contend for a national title for the first time since 1939.

Fisher, who enters his fifth season with A&M, hand-picked his starting quarterback for Week 1 against Sam Houston. The same goes for players added to No. 1 recruiting class of 2022. Not to mention, A&M has finished top-five in recruiting the past four seasons.

So, why is 2022 “the year” for A&M and Fisher? It has to be. Fans of the 12th Man have been patient in years past. The Aggies were stable in terms of talent in recruiting, but the surplus of top-tier recruits coming to College Station has drastically changed the expectations.

An 8-4 year worked under Mike Sherman. Fans were content with the 9-3 record under R.C. Slocum or Dennis Franchione. That’s not the case with Fisher, a proven winner who is set to earn over $9 million a year starting this fall.

Last season was a wake-up call for the Aggies. A 9-1 finish in 2020 meant the standard was raised in terms of national recognition. And while A&M pulled off the upset of the year against No. 1 Alabama in front of 103,000 screaming Ags, it broke even at 4-4 in SEC play.

“There were a couple of games last year we got overwhelmed in the beginning,” Fisher earlier this offseason. “We didn’t play (good enough) offensively and we gave up a lot of points defensively. You don’t ever win games in the first five minutes, but you can lose them (then).”

Even with regression in 2021, national voters haven’t wavered their stance on the Aggies’ potential entering the new season. In the preseason Coaches’ poll, A&M will enter the year ranked No. 7 in the country. In the Associated Press poll, the Aggies are No. 6 once more.

In a sense, there’s pressure on Fisher to come out swinging on offense. Despite coaching switching roles on offense entering the year, Fisher remains the play-caller. And while he’s been considered a QB guru for his work with Heisman winner Jameis Winston and former No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell, quarterback play has hampered the Aggies’ production.

Last season, A&M ranked 13th among 14 SEC schools in passer efficiency. In 2019, the Aggies ranked eighth in efficiency. In 2018, they ranked 10th.

Haynes King is A&M’s starter entering Week 1 against the Bearkats. After earning the starting nod over Zach Calzada in 2021, the Longview native once again nabbed the title of QB1 over LSU transfer Max Johnson and freshman Connor Weigman.

Fisher has preached for the past three years how he wants to establish a more vertical passing attack. A&M will have a chance to show what it's capable of downfield with the additions of freshman speedsters Evan Stewart and Chris Marshall.

Stewart, SI All-American’s No. 12 prospect, already has earned first-team reps. There’s also a plan in motion for Marshall, who averaged 31.1 yards per catch in final season at Fort Bend Marshall in Houston.

“We’ve got the weapons and we’ve got the skill and we’ve got the ability to be an outstanding offense,” A&M co-offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey said. “We’ve just got to figure out who’s going to be doing the bulk of it at each position.”

No one is expecting Fisher to be shown the door following the 2022 season. Even if the Aggies were to finish .500 in conference play again, boosters are too invested in what the future holds to hit the reset button on the staff.

But Fisher needs better results this fall for his seat to stay cool. After four seasons, the former Florida State coach owns a 34-14 record. That's fewer than Sumlin, who was fired after six seasons, and posted a 36-16 record during his first four years. 

Ultimately, Sumlin lost the locker room and fell out of favor with the boosters. 

Is that the case with Fisher? Not necessarily. The Aggies continue to dominate in terms of recruiting. They also are pumping out NFL talent on the regular, sending five players to pros from the 2021 roster.

Players are fully invested in Fisher as well. Senior receiver Anias Smith can see the team’s flaws entering his final year with the program.

“The mindset is totally different,” Smith said earlier this month. “Last year we came up short – we lost some games we feel like we shouldn’t have. We’re coming back for vengeance.”

There’s established talent in Aggieland. The same can be said for prospects on the rise. The coaching staff has been heralded by Fisher as “one of his best” since taking over in Tallahassee in 2010.

That’s all fine and dandy. Winning is all that truly matters in the long run. And for A&M, victories can’t just be over programs like Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss or Arkansas.

The Aggies have to be consistent regardless of the competition. Can they finally silence the critics? 

And if not now, when?

“I’m excited about it as much as I’ve ever been," said Fisher at SEC Media Days. Probably we’re in better position … right now for the future of our organization since I’ve been here." 

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