Bruce Feldman: Jimbo Fisher's seat is 'getting hotter' as Texas A&M continues to struggle
If it were not for the record-breaking buyout, Jimbo Fisher would likely be out at Texas A&M. Not many coaches are able to survive a 5-7 record in their fifth season — let alone at a program as proud as Texas A&M. But because an insane amount of cash would be required, Fisher has kept his job through on-field struggles.
However, people in College Station are getting impatient. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic says Fisher’s seat is “getting hotter” as Texas A&M continues to struggle. The latest head-banging loss came in Knoxville on Saturday to Tennessee, just a week removed from dropping a completely winnable game against Alabama.
“They are paying him gobs of money with the expectation that this program will compete for national titles and he just lost his eighth consecutive road game,” Feldman said. “The Aggies have lost two in a row and have dropped nine of their last 12 games against Power 5 opponents.
“They didn’t even make a bowl game last season despite a roster loaded with five-star talent and what was regarded by the online recruiting services as the highest-ranked recruiting class of all time. He’s had one good season in College Station: 9-1 in the pandemic season of 2020. Since then, the Aggies have not finished a season ranked in the AP poll.”
Recruiting has been something potentially causing hesitancy in shelling out the huge buyout to Fisher. Feldman mentioned the 2022 class, ranked No. 1 per the On3 Industry Rankings. Even as Texas A&M continues to struggle this season, their 2024 class ranks No. 4 in the country with four five-star prospects and six top 100 players.
Bringing in talent only does so much for you, though. The historic 2022 class is in its second season and results are not showing up. Sure, a few of those players have transferred out of the program and some still with the team are producing. It’s likely they will one day be NFL Draft selections and enjoy nice careers.
However, getting wins is what’s important to the people involved with Texas A&M. South Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and LSU are the remaining SEC games on the schedule. If Fisher is not able to stack a few wins on top of each other, the money to cover the buyout will be found according to Feldman.
Especially with the soon-to-be SEC arch-rival program in Austin in great position to compete for a CFP spot this season.
“Texas A&M, I’m told, will find the money to get rid of him if he can’t get this thing going — and yes, it absolutely does matter to important folks down there that Texas has a chance to be a College Football Playoff team this year … and Steve Sarkisian has been on the job for half as long as Jimbo,” Feldman said.