Jimbo Fisher lastly bought the hook after six underwhelming seasons at Texas A&M. It’s not all unhealthy. Fisher could by no means wind up within the School Soccer Corridor of Fame, however his contract earned him a spot within the Gettin’ Paid Corridor of Fame. He can in all probability begin his personal college and athletic program with what Texas A&M owes him. Jimbo Fisher College has a pleasant ring to it. Sarcastically, A&M is canning Fisher on the heels of his greatest win in years, a 51-10 shellacking of Mississippi State. Fisher’s $77 million buyout would eclipse all the quantity paid out to purchase out coaches in faculty soccer final season.
That’s a golden parachute extra on par with a Large Tech CEO than a university soccer coach. Disney’s final CEO obtained a $23 million payout. Most coaches consider themselves as executives operating a nine-figure operation, however even when we entertain these delusions of grandeur, that determine feels excessive.
And for what objective? Does Texas A&M assume they’re going to lure the following Kirby Sensible to School Station? They discovered Fisher at his nadir at Florida State, following a 5-6 marketing campaign in 2017. The grace interval from their 2013 nationwide title had worn off and Fisher had settled right into a delicate spot as a wonderful recruiter in a basketball-first convention.
The Aggies fetched Fisher to get them over the Large 12’s hump. For a quarter-century, A&M has been a NPC in faculty soccer’s most intense soccer state to Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State.
That is the second time in a decade that Texas A&M has sputtered underneath the thumb of an offensive genius. Almost a decade in the past, the Aggies have been taking part in with home money as Kevin Sumlin was letting Johnny Manziel be Johnny whereas Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray lined as much as play in probably the most thrilling offense within the nation.
As an alternative, Allen and Murray, the skinny planks this system’s basis program was constructed on, each transferred. With Fisher, they put their very own cash on the road. His byzantine offensive system by no means translated to trendy faculty soccer success. Kellen Mond was the height of Fisher’s tepid offense, however he not often registered on the nationwide scale.
Fisher by no means appeared to achieve momentum. Their top-ranked recruiting class in 2022 was adopted by an 11-11 report over the following two seasons. Previous to the season, Fisher turned to Bobby Petrino to reinvigorate a mediocre Aggies offense that hadn’t completed among the many high 30 in whole offense.
After a Week 1 efficiency once they recorded their first 50-point recreation in opposition to an FBS crew in regulation in a daily season recreation since Fisher’s debut season in 2018, they started to settle again into their consolation zone. At their peak, Fisher and Co. may solely ship a top-40 offense and an 8-4 end. Technically, the 8-4 end was an enchancment, however rich donors with cash to blow aren’t precisely identified for his or her persistence. They have been impatient in handing Fisher a $96 million extension after an 11-1 COVID season and the dearth of rapid outcomes was sufficient for his rapid dismissal.
In the end, Fisher and Texas A&M’s investments couldn’t get A&M out of the Large 12’s sticky center as a result of Lubbock wants a miracle employee, not a automotive salesman. Fisher’s earlier expertise got here on the helm of the Florida State model and as an offensive coordinator with an SEC powerhouse in LSU. Whomever Texas A&M targets subsequent ought to be a program architect with expertise in constructing from the underside up. Given their willingness to do no matter it takes by hiring Petrino, it wouldn’t be stunning in the event that they have been prepared to debase themselves for one more past-his-prime coach in City Meyer.
Realistically, somebody like Kansas’ Lance Leipold, who construct a Division III powerhouse or turned the floundering Buffalo program right into a perennial MAC contender, might be simply what Texas A&M wants. The College of Texas at San Antonio’s Jeff Traylor is a rising determine within the teaching neighborhood who has paid dividends on the UTSA with a 29-8 report over his final three seasons. Nevertheless, none of that can matter till A&M adjusts their expectations. The truth of the scenario is that Texas A&M is a stepping stone job masquerading as a deposed powerhouse. The earlier they arrive to that realization, the earlier they’ll stop repeating the identical errors.
Observe DJ Dunson on X: @cerebralsportex
