Texas A&M’s victory over LSU ended talk of buying out Jimbo Fisher, which was a reach since it would cost approximately $86 million. Add in the buyouts for his assistants along with hiring a new coach and staff, and the final cost would be at least $150 million.
That wasn’t going to happen. That would be too much for even Auburn. But getting rid of Fisher was a trending conversation as A&M lost six straight games for the first time in five decades. Heck, A&M fired its volleyball coach last week after she finished 11th in the Southeastern Conference. At that time, the football team was dead last in the league at 1-6. Talk of firing Fisher faded with the 38-23 win over LSU, but now the focus turns to staff changes, particularly Fisher giving up play-calling.
A&M’s offense has floundered for two seasons.
This year A&M averaged 360.9 yards per game to rank 12th in the SEC and 94th in the nation. The Aggies rank next to last in the league in scoring at 22.8 points per game which also ranks 101st in the country. Last year was less than satisfactory as A&M averaged 29.3 points to rank eighth in the SEC and 56th in the nation along with averaging 391.6 yards to rank 11th in the league and 71st in the country.
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The 2021 offense took a significant drop from 2020 when A&M ranked fourth in the SEC in both scoring (32.6) and yards (439.2), ranking in the top 40 nationally in both. That was playing only SEC teams in the COVID-19 season as A&M went 9-1. That was a great year.
Many believed A&M had turned the corner and the double-digit winning seasons were coming like they did during Fisher’s tenure at Florida State where he won at least 10 games in six of eight seasons.
Fisher initially got a pass for last year because he lost starting quarterback Haynes King in the second game. A&M also had injuries at wide receiver along with five-star recruit Demond Demas being a bust, and tight end Jalen Wydermyer failing to live up to preseason All-America status. A sputtering offense wasted a defense that ranked third in the country in scoring and 14th in yards allowed. A&M, ranked sixth in the preseason, finished a disappointing 8-4 and didn’t play in a bowl game because of COVID-19, injuries, transfers and opt-outs.
There was no doubt this season would be better, but there’s been virtually nothing but doubt until the season-ending 38-23 victory over sixth-ranked LSU. A&M played like a top 10 team, especially on offense, but it was an anomaly compared to the rest of the season. How does that become the norm?
If you look at just numbers, you’d say fire the play-caller. Fisher’s best season at A&M was his first. In 2018 the Aggies averaged 36 points per game to rank 19th in the country and 471.6 yards per game to rank 15th. He did that with former coach Kevin Sumlin’s recruits.
Sumlin’s recruiting classes from 2014-17 were ranked fifth, 11th, 18th and 13th. Fisher’s last four recruiting classes have been ranked fourth, sixth, eighth and first. He’s signed better talent, but the record doesn’t show it. He’s 39-21. Sumlin after five years was 44-21. The knock on Sumlin was he had too many assistants who were great recruiters but couldn’t coach. Now the knock is Fisher’s offense is outdated, too predictable. He was hampered by injuries and suspensions this year, but that’s become a broken record.
Fisher came to A&M with a reputation of being a great recruiter, play-caller and quarterback coach. He’s certainly recruited well, but he hasn’t had a quarterback or wide receiver earn first- or second-team All-SEC honors. Three of his quarterback signees — James Foster, Calzada and King — have underwhelmed. True freshman Conner Weigman, a former five-star recruit, showed flashes as he started the last five games. He’s the face of the program now, but will Fisher be calling plays for him?
Fisher said during the losing streak he’d be open to giving up play-calling duties. Saying and doing are different things. Fisher, an overachieving quarterback in college who was the Division III National Player of the Year at Samford, has basically been calling plays since becoming the offensive coordinator at his alma mater three decades ago. He was LSU’s OC under Nick Saban in 2003 when the Tigers won the national championship. Saban calls Fisher a great play-caller. Fisher also called plays for the Seminoles in 2013 when they went 14-0 and won the national championship averaging 51.6 points and 519.1 yards per game.
What he did at Florida State is the reason A&M originally gave him a guaranteed 10-year, $75-million contract. And when the Aggies were fearful he might be wooed by LSU, they gave him an extension. He was their man not once but twice. Now some want Fisher to give up what he believes he does best. It would be like buying a car buff a Rolls Royce, then a Bentley only to tell him to hire a younger driver, move to the passenger’s seat and enjoy the ride.
Fisher fired co-offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey on Monday, paving the way for him to hand over the keys to the offense or at least get new input. But Fisher seems like a guy who will do it his way and try to prove his critics wrong. He’s somewhat in the same position Jackie Sherrill was when he stumbled for the first three years with the national media making fun of A&M for giving him a six-year, $1.6 million contract, which was unheard of in the early 1980s. But Sherrill, who never wavered in how he did things, finished the 1984 season with back-to-back victories over TCU and Texas, jump-starting the Aggies to three straight Southwest Conference titles. Sherrill and the Aggies had the last laugh.
There’s no doubt Fisher needs to choose wisely, because next year will be a make-or-break season. This program can’t afford another mediocre year. Things have digressed under his reign. A&M fans rushed the field to celebrate the LSU victory, drawing a $250,000 fine. Aggie fans also rushed the field last year after beating Alabama. The bottom line is they are starved for success after suffering through two seasons that started with top 10 expectations. A&M in the last two seasons is 0-4 against teams from Mississippi, lost to a 6-6 Appalachian State team and didn’t go to a bowl game, yet the Aggies stormed the field twice. That sure beats crying.
Robert Cessna’s email address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
