Jimbo Fisher Going to Texas A&M is a Real Head-Scratcher
I was going to write about a movie today, but more pressing news has surfaced, and no, I'm not talking about Flynn pleading guilty, I'll let RD handle that. The news that I speak of is about another coaching move. I know that I have been talking about sports and coaches a lot lately, but this is a big, big deal. And no, I'm not going to write about the possibility of Mike Leach to Tennessee. I'll save that for next week, or whenever it happens. The news that I speak of was just reported by multiple sports sites, and that is that Jimbo Fisher has resigned from Florida State and is expected to take the head coaching job at Texas A&M.
I have a bunch of mixed feelings about this move. First, and foremost, I think that A&M did Kevin Sumlin dirty. That dude took this team to places that they haven't been since the 1960's and 70's. He was 26 games over .500 as a head coach there. He had a winning record in the SEC. He coached a Heisman winner. He won bowl games. Kevin Sumlin should have never been fired in the first place. But, they let him go, and seemingly, they got their man. They are going to give him an enormous deal, something like 8 or 9 million a year over 9 or 10 seasons. That is a TON of money. I get him leaving FSU for the money, and there is no state tax in Texas. But, the money shouldn't have been the major selling point for Fisher. Fisher has plenty of money already. The dude got paid the moment he took over for Bobby Bowden. He didn't need the money. So no, the money wasn't why he left FSU, at least not in my opinion.
There could have been many other reasons why he chose to leave now. This season has been a disaster since week one. I picked FSU to win the title, then Alabama crushed them and their star QB. They went on to lose 5 of their next 9 games. Where we sit today they are 5-6, needing to win their last game, which is a make up due to the hurricanes, just to make a very low level bowl. Maybe how rough this year has been was a reason for him to want to leave. Maybe he doesn't see it getting any better than this. Maybe FSU is going to be a 7-5 or 8-4 team for the next couple of years, and Fisher probably didn't want to deal with that.
But, Texas A&M is no world beater. Sumlin didn't deserve to get fired because that team won 8 games this year. A&M is considered decent with 8-4 records. The SEC is much, much harder than the ACC. Had he stayed at FSU, he could have turned it around and been in the national title picture as soon as next year. Now, he has to face teams like Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State on a regular basis. I do think the SEC is overrated, but I'd much rather be a head coach in the ACC. The best teams in the ACC, outside of FSU, are Miami and Clemson. That is it. I do not like him taking this job if he is looking to be a constant title contender. As long as Nick Saban is still coaching Alabama, every single coach in the SEC will be ranked behind him, no matter what. If he thought FSU was tough, just wait until he starts going 4-4 or 5-3 in the SEC. It is going to be brutal.
Fisher is also a guy that doesn't care for fans confronting him. A fan this year yelled at him after an early season loss, and he yelled back. That shit is going to happen weekly at A&M if he doesn't beat teams like LSU and Auburn on a yearly basis.
Maybe he left FSU because he did all that he could there. He won a title. He won multiple BCS bowls. He won a New Year's 6 bowl. He too coached a Heisman winner. Maybe he wants a new challenge. I get that, and I think it may be the best reason why he would leave FSU. Maybe he wants to see a new college town. Maybe he is as obsessed with football as most people are in Texas. Maybe he wants to see how fertile the recruiting grounds are in Texas as compared to Florida. These are all reasonable excuses as to why he wanted to take the A&M job. This is the one reason that I will accept.
The more I think about this move, the more confused I get. I'm not confused from an A&M standpoint. They got exactly what they wanted when they wrongly fired Sumlin. They had one guy in mind, they threw as much money as possible at him and they got him to leave a great situation to come coach their team. The AD and the boosters and whoever else was involved did everything to get the guy they wanted. I am confused by why Fisher would want this job. I'm confused for all the reasons I laid out up top. I'm confused because he seemed to have carte blanche at a college football powerhouse. I'm confused because he was already making a ton of money. I'm confused because he had a good team set in place for next year. I'm confused why he wants to leave a less competitive conference, where the path to the playoff is much easier, to go to a tougher conference.
We will see how this all shakes out as the next couple of years go on. I am sure a bunch of key contributors to A&M this past season will transfer because Fisher is going to bring in a whole new staff and system. I'm also curious to see who FSU goes after now because that is a good job, and that team has some good players, including Deondre Francois and Cam Akers. This is all very bizarre, not Tennessee bizarre, but still bizarre. I just don't get it, but hey, Jimbo Fisher can do whatever the hell he wants to do, whether I agree with it or not.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is still not available to coach at Tennessee, but Florida State? Give him a call and find out.
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