How Texas A&M came to the decision to part ways with Jimbo Fisher

Texas A&M made the decision to fire Jimbo Fisher in his sixth year in charge of the program on Sunday, ending a tenure that had more promise than actual production.

But it certainly wasn’t an easy decision for the Aggies brass to make, not with a $77.6 million buyout attached to Fisher.

“I think there’s levels here. There’s the board, there’s athletic director/president,” explained Billy Liucci of TexAgs.com on the Andy Staples On3 show. “Here at A&M it’s unique to the 12th Man Foundation, because they’re the fundraising arm. I think there were probably a lot of conversations and then maybe Thursday was that one conversation where everybody at once was brought together and involved in it. Not an easy decision to come to.”

Texas A&M was actually coming off a blowout win over Mississippi State, so it was a decision that went beyond just the wins and losses the rest of the way.

The Aggies saw some fundamental issues with the program. Athletics director Ross Bjork described the program as stuck in neutral and thus his decision to pull the plug.

Liucci corroborated some of what went into the decision, and as much as anything the fear of slipping further back with the loss of momentum under Jimbo Fisher was a real driver.

“Say what you will, I said last year if it wasn’t for the contract — I think I told Dennis Dodd — I think A&M would have made a change,” Liucci said. “And I think doing it a year ago might have been a little premature. But now six years in, that’s how long Kevin Sumlin was here. It’s hard to see him turn it around especially in today’s day and age in the portal.”

The risk for Texas A&M was that its highly rated recruiting classes would continue to fall apart as frustration in the program set in.

As Liucci put it, there were rumblings of more than a few players growing discontent. Whether or not A&M can retain them with a new coaching staff remains to be seen, but continuing to build in the Jimbo Fisher era seemed like a foolhardy task to some in decision-making seats.

“I think people were looking at that thinking, ‘Man, this could get dicey in a hurry,’ because you had a lot of whispering going on,” Liucci said. “And you don’t want to do anything based on what you predict’s going to happen. I really don’t like that. I don’t like that form of leadership, per se. But I think what was actually happening in the here and now and how it will affect the future, I think that was something that you had to really study. And that statement aside, I do think that portal thing was lingering in a lot of people’s mind.”