Texas A&M is expected to inform coach Jimbo Fisher that he has been fire, ending his six-season tenure leading the Aggies, according to multiple reports. University regents reached a decision during an executive session on Thursday ahead of Texas A&M’s Week 11 win over Mississippi State, according to TexAgs, with more meetings scheduled for Sunday and a decision forthcoming.
Fisher is not expected to coach the remainder of the season, Yahoo Sports reports.
Should Texas A&M fire Fisher, he will be owed north of $75 million in a buyout stemming from a blockbuster, fully guaranteed $95 million contract extension signed in 2021. That deal followed an initial 10-year, $75 million agreement that brought Fisher to Texas A&M from Florida State.
Fisher never met expectations
Hired away from the Seminoles at the end of the 2017 season, Fisher had a national championship pedigree and was expected to bring similar success to a program with more than enough resources available to be a power player in college football. However, Fisher’s time with the Aggies has been wildly disappointing outside of a 9-1 campaign during the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season. Texas A&M entered 2023 coming off a 5-7 campaign that forced Fisher to yield play calling duties to first-year offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
The Aggies sit 6-4 (4-3 in SEC) in Fisher’s sixth season. Notably, Fisher’s 45-25 overall record (.643) is worse than that of his predecessor, Kevin Sumlin, who was fired with a 51-26 record (.662). Fisher’s Aggies have been underwhelming in SEC play as well. His 26-21 mark against conference opponents includes a 1-5 record against Alabama, the school Fisher was hired to topple in the SEC West.
Since Fisher signed the extension in 2021, Texas A&M has gone 10-13 against SEC opponents and 12-14 against Power Five teams. Certainly not the production that TAMU expects from one of the highest-paid coaches in the game.
There is also the matter of the Aggies offense, or lack thereof. Fisher helped mold quarterback Jameis Winston into a Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick who led Florida State to a national title in 2013, but the offensive prowess Texas A&M believed it was bringing to College Station has not been on display often enough.
Following a 51-point outburst against Mississippi State on Saturday, the Aggies are averaging 30 points per game in SEC play. That stands out because it’s the first time they’ve averaged at least 30 points per game against conference opponents since 2020. Texas A&M has averaged 28.0 points per game since Fisher arrived, sixth in the league (14 points per game behind Alabama).
Recruiting success only part of the job
Fisher did accomplish what the school hoped for on the recruiting trail, however. He routinely signed top-10 classes and even had the No. 1 class in 2022 — ranked as the best all-time in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. But acquiring the talent is one thing; developing that talent into a team capable of winning the SEC and competing for national titles is another. Fisher has failed to catch the likes of Alabama’s Nick Saban and Georgia’s Kirby Smart in that department.
Why now?
With Oklahoma and Texas set to join an expanded SEC next season, the path to the conference title game and a College Football Playoff berth — even in an expanded field — will become even more difficult. Texas A&M will also no longer be able to claim it is the lone SEC program in the Lone Star State while on the recruiting trail.
Perhaps Texas A&M fears not making a move now will lead to it falling further behind in the SEC, leaving the next coach with an even more difficult challenge.