Jimbo Fisher Receives Six-Month Show-Cause Order for Texas A&M Recruiting Violations

The NCAA announced Thursday that Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher received a six-month show-case order after he and an assistant coach had impermissible contact with a high school recruit.

The violations outlined by the NCAA occurred between January 2018 and February 2019. The impermissible conversation occurred before the prospect completed his junior year of high school. 

According to the NCAA, Fisher "failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance because of his personal involvement in the recruiting violation."

The investigation also revealed that the program unintentionally caused players to exceed the allowable number of countable athletically related activity hours by seven. The NCAA said Fisher "failed to monitor his staff" and did not ensure they were staying within the allowable hours.

Under his show-cause order, Fisher is banned from all off-campus recruiting activities for the fall 2020 contact period.

Fisher released a statement through the school on the violations.

"As Texas A&M's Head Football Coach, I am responsible for promoting and monitoring for NCAA compliance in our program. While I am disappointed in the violations, including an unintended one that resulted from a conversation with a high school athlete, it is still my responsibility to ensure we are adhering to each and every rule," Fisher said. "I am pleased to have this matter completely behind our program and look forward to continuing our efforts to make every aspect of our program one all Aggies can continue to be proud of."

The Aggies' penalties include one year of probation, a $5,000 fine and the school was forced to end its recruitment with the prospect. The program also received an off-campus recruiting ban for the coaching staff that took place in November 2019 and will not be allowed to recruit any players from the recruit's high school through the end of the 2021-22 school year.

Fisher's show-cause order includes: a previously served nine-day ban on phone calls, emails or texts with prospects in January 2020, a reduction in off-campus recruiting contact days by three for December 2019–January 2020 contact period, a ban on all off-campus recruiting activities for the fall 2020 contact period and additional one-on-one rules education.

In two seasons with the Aggies, Fisher has gone 17–9 overall and 9–7 in conference play.