There’s one primary question surrounding Texas A&M Football’s offseason: can Jimbo Fisher replicate the success that he had at Florida State?
After Fisher’s national championship with Florida State, the program stagnated. The Seminoles would go 13-1 the year after their title, but wouldn’t exceed 10 wins anytime after that. When he became Texas A&M’s head coach, this was a concern.
So far, he has done a strong job as head coach, leading the Aggies to a 9-1 season that saw them finish with a 4th ranking in the AP and Coaches Polls. That said, he has to take the next step if he wants to be taken seriously in college football.
Texas A&M Football’s head coach Jimbo Fisher can elevate the program
When the TAMU Football program was put into Fisher’s hands, it wasn’t in as good of a place as Florida State’s program when he took over in Tallahassee in 2010. The Seminoles were just a decade removed from a national championship and 16 years removed from their previous national championship before that.
Texas A&M, on the other hand, hasn’t won a national championship in the modern era. In fact, in the past couple of decades, this program has hardly even been ranked. For such a proud college football school, fans have been let down for too long.
But Jimbo Fisher has an opportunity to make a statement.
In just his third season in College Station, Fisher has already demanded that his football team be respected by having a near-perfect season and winning convincingly in the Orange Bowl, securing an Aggies top-5 finish for the first time since 2012.
That said, the Aggies will hope that Fisher’s tenure as head coach will go a little bit differently than Kevin Sumlin’s just a few years ago. Sumlin was the previous coach in College Station and led this team to a 5th-ranked finish and a win in the Cotton Bowl in his first year. Unfortunately, that would be all of the success that he would see.
The Aggies would finish ranked the next year, but wouldn’t crack the top-25 and the end of any of the next four years, leading to Sumlin’s eventual departure from the program.
If Jimbo Fisher can manage to repeat his success in 2021, the Aggies will be on the map as a force to be reckoned with. That said, this will be no easy feat, as the Texas A&M Football team will have a complete overhaul of their offensive line and a new quarterback.
If he can’t get it done, this school will see a repeat of what they’ve been watching since their last national championship in 1939 — close finishes, but no titles. At this point, Jimbo Fisher’s career with the Aggies will be National Championship or bust.