Texas A&M Aggies Jimbo Fisher Named No. 1 'Coach On The Hot Seat'
Through 10 weeks of the college football season, there are programs that are exceeding expectations and also teams that are underperforming. The Texas A&M Aggies would fall under the latter category as they sit at 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the SEC.
This falls just a season after a 5-7 finish overall and just 2-6 in league play. Expectations were high when current coach Jimbo Fisher was hired away from Florida State in late 2017.
Since Fisher's arrival in College Station for the 2018 season, he's registered a 44-25 record. His first four seasons were his best when he accumulated a 34-14 record and invitations to bowl games in each season. But the last season and a half have been disappointing at 10-11 (5-9 SEC), especially considering the program's "greatest recruiting class of all time" in 2022.
Jimbo Fisher
© Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
And now, one media outlet has Fisher's seat as the No. 1 "hottest" in college football.
"The Texas A&M Aggies boosters and fan base have expectations even grander than the size of the state. Mike Sherman (25-25) never came close to reaching expectations, delivering one nine-win season and three sub-par years outside of that. His replacement, Kevin Sumlin, then took the Aggies to better weights with a 20-6 record in his first two years. After providing alumni with that taste of greatness, though, Sumlin was fired after never winning more than eight games in each of his last four seasons.
"That’s why Teas A&M made Jimbo Fisher one of the highest-paid coaches in NCAA history. He won with the Florida State Seminoles and the belief was recruiting in Texas would make him even better. Except, the Aggies are on track to have a worse winning percentage with Fisher (.638) than they did Sumlin (.662)."
Sportsnaut also mentions Fisher's buyout of roughly $70 million as a major roadblock if Fisher is let go.
"It’s going to take biting a massive financial bullet to cut ties with Fisher, but Texas A&M has little choice at this point," Sportsnaut noted.
After winning a national title in 2013, Fisher came with a winning pedigree. And that's what made him attractive to former Aggies athletic director Scott Woodward.
But things haven't worked out in College Station the way they did in Tallahassee, and Fisher's lack of success has now put his tenure in jeopardy - a full eight seasons before his contract is up.
