Jimbo Fisher Says Texas A&M Is Making Progress. But Is That Enough?

After losing 52-24 to Alabama, Aggies get another shot at a Top Five team in Florida

A couple of years ago I was taken on a tour of Texas A&M’s incomparable football complex.

The locker room looks like the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise with every possible bell and whistle and charging station for the players. Thanks to a state-of-the-art air filtration system, it neither looks like nor smells like any locker room I have ever visited.

Back in 2015 Texas A&M had completed a $450 million renovation to Kyle Field to make it the finest college football facility in the land. And with that renovation came the addition of 12 new luxury “Founders” suites that are the finest of the finest. To even get into the conversation to secure one of these suites requires a minimum contribution of $5 million. They sold out quickly.

“It’s amazing what you can do when oil is $91 a barrel,” said a Texas A&M friend.

Now all of this is all great for Texas A&M. Because the goal in recruiting is to bring young talented football players to your campus and show them something that will make them go “Wow!”

So Texas A&M checks off all the boxes. Its facilities are second to none and it is located in the great state of Texas, one of the recruiting hotbeds of the country.

There is just one problem. In order to maximize the “Wow” factor, you gotta win.

That’s where John James “Jimbo” Fisher comes into play.

On Dec. 1, 2017 Fisher, who won a national championship at Florida State in 2013, was named head coach of the Aggies. He signed an unprecedented 10-year, $75 million contract with all of the money guaranteed. At the introductory press conference Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp gave Fisher a plaque signifying his first future national championship for the Aggies. The year is left open.

Yeah, no pressure there.

Fisher’s first Texas A&M team was 9-4 and went to the Gator Bowl. His second team played one of the toughest schedules in the country (6 SEC West opponents, Clemson and Georgia on the road) and finished with back-to-back road games at Georgia and LSU. That team went 8-5.

Unfortunately for Fisher, he arrived at Texas A&M when the measuring stick for success in the SEC West is still Nick Saban and Alabama. And if beating Alabama is the standard, a lot of people are going to be disappointed.

Billy Luicci of TexAgs.com points out that Alabama’s record since the Aggies joined the SEC is 104-11.

Not bad.

And for those who would argue that Texas A&M is closing the gap with Alabama in the SEC West, it didn’t help that the Aggies were out of last Saturday’s game with Alabama at halftime (trailing 35-14) and eventually lost 52-24. In three meetings with Alabama, Fisher’s Texas A&M team has been outscored 144-75. In two seasons plus two games, Fisher is 10-8 in SEC games.

It’s not going out on a limb to suggest the Aggies fans want a little more for their $75 million.

Still, Fisher sees progress in the program. Recruiting is going well and, as he said in his weekly press conference, Texas A&M now enters these big games EXPECTING to win. That wasn’t the case when Fisher first arrived in College Station.

“We expect to win those games with Alabama,” said Fisher, who went on to list a number of incremental things that happened in the game that measures progress. “When we got here we didn’t expect to win those games. I think our physicality up front on the defensive line has become good. We’re making good progress.”

Progress is good.  But winning is better.

And it should be noted before COVID-19 scheduling shuffle, Texas A&M had a very manageable schedule. But the Aggies got Florida and improving Tennessee added to their slate.

Now let’s get this straight. Regardless of what happens in this crazy COVID-19 season, Jimbo Fisher is not going to be on the hot seat. But Texas A&M fans do want some sign—and soon—that the Aggies are capable of beating a good team at home.

The No. 3 Florida Gators come to College Station on Saturday. Then the Aggies go to Mississippi State on Oct. 17.

This is a pivotal couple of weeks for Fisher to recover from Alabama and get his team pointed in the right direction. Playing a 10-game SEC schedule makes it exponentially harder to keep a season from going into the ditch.

Fisher was asked this week if, wins and losses aside, he felt his team was heading in the right direction. His answer, of course, was yes.

“At the end of year three we will look at where we are and what changes we need to make,” he said. “We feel like we have a great recruiting class coming in. We have great players here.

“Until you win them all you’re never satisfied. Even then (you’re not) I won 29 in a row at Florida State and I still wasn’t happy. I’m never satisfied with what’s going on and it’s going to be that way until we win them all.”