Texas A&M Football: Sporting News ranks Jimbo Fisher ahead of Smart

The Texas A&M Football team was ecstatic when they hired Jimbo Fisher as their new head coach in College Station, especially considering the circumstances. Fisher had seemingly lost interest in coaching at Florida State and instead of continuing there, opted to sign a 10-year contract with TAMU.

So far, he has lived up to every expectation imagineable. The only this missing from his resume in Aggieland is an SEC Championship, a College Football Playoff appearance, and a national title, which sounds like a lot when you write it out.

The point that I’m trying to make is that Jimbo Fisher has brought success and consistency to this program that hasn’t been seen since the middle of the 20th century. The Aggies finished ranked 4th in college football last season, their highest ranking since 1939.

Whether he wins a national title or not, he has elevated this program in short order.

Sporting News ranked Texas A&M Football HC Jimbo Fisher ahead of Georgia’s Kirby Smart

This week, Sporting News ranked every head coach in college football, narrowing the list down even further to just the SEC. The results were not what a lot of people expected.

Atop both lists was Nick Saban. It’ll take a long time to change that and despite the fact that a handful of coaches have threatened his crown, he’s still on top in this conference. Beneath him, however, you’ll find some controversy.

That controversy comes in the form of Jimbo Fisher, who ranked one spot ahead of Georgia’s Kirby Smart in the rankings. Fisher is the second-highest ranked head coach in the SEC and fifth in college football.

Smart is trailing behind with the third and seventh ranked spots respectively.

Even as an Aggie fan, you get the feeling that this ranking comes down to potential moreso than past accomplishments. While Smart has an SEC Championship win and a College Football Playoff appearance, he has seemingly hit a ceiling as a head coach.

Granted, Fisher hasn’t reached the same lengths as smart, but he is more proven in his past. In all likelihood, this will translate to future success in the SEC.

Even though Fisher’s national championship didn’t come as head coach of the Texas A&M Football team, it proves that he’s among the most elite head coaches in the game. Only four other active head coaches have won it all, including Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, Ed Orgeron, and Mack Brown.

Aggie fans will hope that Fisher can continue to bring the same type of magic to their favorite football team. He has already exceeded early expectations — don’t expect him to stop here.