Texas A&M Football: Jimbo Fisher fielding new coaching staff

Texas A&M Football coach Jimbo Fisher is beginning to piece together his coaching staff. A few names are locked in, but who else will be joining the team?

Texas A&M Football has made their choice and the new head coach is Jimbo Fisher. Now that he’s signed up for the next 10 years, let’s turn our attention to his football staff. Who will be staying from the Kevin Sumlin regime and who’s coming from Tallahassee?

After hearing how excited Fisher is to be the next head football coach at Texas A&M University, I started to wonder about his staff. I’ve been around the profession for 42 years and have seen first hand how important putting a staff together is. Let’s take a look at the current Texas A&M and Florida State staffs to see who is staying and coming.

Current Texas A&M staff

The Texas A&M staff consists of Jeff Banks (Interim HC / Special Teams), John Chavis (AHC / DC / Linebackers), Noel Mazzone (OC / Quarterbacks), Ron Cooper (Secondary), Clarence McKinney (Running Backs), Aaron Morehead (Wide Receivers), Terry Price (Defensive Ends), David Turner (Defensive Tackles) and Jim Turner (Offensive Line).

Other key personnel include Mark Hocke (Strength & Conditioning), Dennis Polian (Associate AD), Gary Reynolds (Associate AD), Matt Fontenot (Director of Football Operations), Mikado Hinson (Director of Player Development), Tam Hollingshead (Director of High School Relations) and Andrew Dollak (Director of Recruiting Operations).

Current Florida State staff

The Florida State staff consists of Charles Kelly (DC / Secondary), Lawrence Dawsey (Co-OC / Wide Receivers), Randy Sanders (Co-OC / Quarterbacks), Tim Brewster (Tight Ends), Rick Trickett (AHC / Offensive Line), Jay Graham (Special Teams / Running Backs), Bill Miller (Linebackers) and Brad Lawing (Defensive Ends).

Other key personnel include Vic Viloria (Strength & Conditioning), Mark Robinson (Assistant AD for Football Operations), Scott Smith (Assistant Director for Football Operations), Bob LaCivita (Director of Player Personnel), Mario Edwards (Director of Player Development) and Christian Sanders (Coordinator of On-Campus Recruiting).

Both staffs are very similar in how they were constructed. Let me try and predict the future, we’ll have to wait for a few weeks to see if any of these predictions were correct.

Potential changes and retained members

I expect a few holdovers from the current staff. I see McKinney, Banks, Price and D. Turner all hanging around. Do not be surprised if Chavis is still the DC. As for the support staff, Hocke worked for Fisher and Viloria for one year. Did that one year forge a solid relationship, that will be one to pay attention too.

My only other current support staff member I see staying is Hollingshead, specifically for his relationships and knowledge of Texas high school football. As for Polian and Reynolds, they may take other positions within the department. Time will tell for those two.

Let’s turn our attention to the staff at FSU. Early reports coming out of Tallahassee say former Auburn quarterback Dameyune Craig is the first assistant to be hired. Craig played for Fisher (quarterback coach)at Auburn and then worked as a graduate assistant under Fisher and head coach Nick Saban in 2004. Craig would join Fisher’s original staff in 2010 as the quarterback coach.

As for the staff, I want to say Dawsey comes with Fisher, but does he want to leave a place he’s been a part of for a very long time. Graham would be a great fit at the running back spot if McKinney does not stay or if Tennessee does not finally figure out what they are doing.

Final staff prediction

Mark Robinson – Director of Football Operations

Dameyune Craig – Quarterbacks

Clarence McKinney – Running Backs (interesting one to watch)

James Coley (at Georgia now) – Wide Receivers

Offensive Line – complete mystery

D. J. Eliot – Defensive Line (could see Price and/or D. Turner staying)

Sal Sunseri (at Oakland Raiders now) – Linebackers

Secondary – mystery

Jeff Banks – Special Teams

Next: Where will Fisher rank in Texas A&M coaching history?

I left off the OC and DC (would you like Bo Pellini in College Station?) roles because I see Fisher giving out the Co title to help attract some big name to College Station. Regardless of what happens, Fisher will not have to haggle with the administration over salaries for his assistants. Expect this staff to be one of the highest paid in the country.

This should be fun to watch, Gig’ Em.