Jimbo Fisher isn’t on a sideline right now, but he hasn’t shut the door on getting back there.
Three seasons after Texas A&M moved on from him, Fisher is spending his time as an ACC Network analyst instead of wearing a headset and running a program. He’s still drawing the massive $76.8 million buyout from the Aggies, but the pull of coaching clearly hasn’t gone away.
“The relationship with players. The competition.
I miss the competition. I miss recruiting.
…” Fisher said during an interview with The Athletic. “But I miss the competition, the game planning.
That was never work to me. That was fun.
It was a grind, but it was fun.”
He also made a point that sounded like a direct message to any athletic director considering him for a job.
“If I can recruit without money, I can recruit with money. I promise you that,” Fisher said.
That line carries obvious baggage, especially given how Fisher’s Texas A&M tenure unraveled after the 2022 recruiting class that he was widely tied to and that many Aggie fans remember for all the wrong reasons. The buzz around that No. 1 class was enormous, but the fallout came fast enough that it became part of the story almost immediately.
If Fisher gets another shot, he says the level doesn’t matter nearly as much as the chance to compete.
“Anyone that would give us a fair chance to win,” Fisher said. “It doesn’t have to be elite-elite.
I’ve coached in different levels, (FCS), Cincinnati, different places. It’s just coaching ball.”
That answer fits the path he took long before Texas A&M or Florida State. Fisher’s coaching career started at Samford, where he spent his first five seasons as a graduate assistant, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. He later worked at Auburn and Cincinnati before joining Nick Saban at LSU as offensive coordinator.
For now, the 60-year-old is settled into his TV role. Still, he’s made it clear he’d listen if the right opportunity came along.
In Other News...
Kyle Field Just Became A Question Aggies Never Wanted Asked
Kyle Field has spent more than a century growing from a modest campus venue into one of college footballs defining stages, and Texas A&M has treated its name as part of the place itself. Built in 1905 and expanded through wave after wave of renovations, the stadium has long carried the weight of Aggie tradition, with the name tied to E.J. Kyle and protected as a piece of the programs identity even as the building around it changed.
That history only gets louder when you look at what happened in the last decade, when the 2013 Board of Regents approved a $450 million redevelopment that was finished for the 2015 season and left Kyle Field as the largest stadium in the SEC. It is a venue built to keep growing without losing its sense of self, which is why any conversation about what it should be called lands with extra force around College Station, even if the answer remains more complicated than the question. [Read more 🡒]
Jimbo Fisher Just Reopened An Uncomfortable Texas A&M Conversation
Mike Elko has given Texas A&M a much steadier run since taking over after Jimbo Fishers dismissal, and the numbers have backed that up. In two seasons, Elko has guided the Aggies to a 19-7 record, capped by an 11-2 campaign and a College Football Playoff appearance, a stretch that has helped the program move on from the turbulence that followed Fishers six-year tenure.
Still, Fishers name is back in the conversation after a recent interview with The Athletic, and that alone is enough to stir up old questions in College Station. He is now working as an ACC Network analyst, but his comments have reopened the broader debate about what his next move might look like and whether the college game he left behind would even be the right fit for him if he does try to get back in. [Read more 🡒]
Aggies Fans Are Loving That The SEC Finally Sees Texas
SEC Media Days have a way of sorting out the leagues pecking order before a snap is played, and this year Texas has been soaking up a lot of the glow. Between the buzz around Steve Sarkisians program and the attention flowing toward the Longhorns, the conferences newest heavyweight has become the center of the conversation in a way that has not gone unnoticed in College Station.
For Texas A&M fans, the reaction has been almost as satisfying as any on-field result, because the skepticism theyve long had about Texas is now getting aired out on a much bigger stage. Even with the hype, there are still plenty around the SEC wondering whether the Longhorns have the depth to match the spotlight, especially with the new nine-game schedule looming and the margin for error getting smaller. [Read more 🡒]