Texas A&M football faced a tough task this past weekend. After unexpectedly losing to Appalachian State at home, some labeled the game against a 13th-ranked Miami Hurricanes team a must-win for Jimbo Fisher and the team.
Now, what was really at stake if the team didn’t win the game? Many people didn’t elaborate on that phrase “must-win”. Was it a must-win for the Aggies to remain in the College Football Playoff race? Sure. Was it must-win before this fanbase completely checks out of the season? Maybe. Was it a must-win for Jimbo Fisher to keep his job? Now that is an interesting topic.
After several years of just-above-average performance from Fisher-led Texas A&M football teams, Aggie fans are begging for more success. Whether what they want is a 10-win team or a National Championship depends from fan-to-fan, but regardless, they want to see some sort of improvement from the team on the field.
Fisher has been raking in top recruiting class after top recruiting class, but its never really shown up on the field any more than 8-4 seasons show. For many fans, whether they were just emotional about the App State loss or not, were ready to start calling for Fisher’s job if he hadn’t pulled out a win against the Canes.
Jimbo Fisher on Max Johnson: "He took care of the football. He got the ball out. ... He had some nice pulls and runs... He managed the game, and the game wasn't too big."
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) September 19, 2022
"He played a very solid game, and hopefully we can grow around him."
In fact, even after the win against Miami, Bookies.com has Fisher at the seventh-highest odds of being the next collegiate head coach fired. They give him +2000 odds with a 4.76% chance of him being next.
Now, how likely would it be for the college to move on from Fisher? Well, it would come at a pretty hefty cost of just over $85 million, which would be the largest contract buyout in sports history.
Whether the Texas A&M football head coach saved his job is uncertain, as if he was on the hot seat to begin with, but the Aggie faithful could’ve certainly made a push for the university to give him the boot. Even if it would cost a pretty penny, administration could become impatient with Fisher, as many fans have become, and make the theoretical buyout a reality.
Regardless, Fisher certainly helped his case with this statement win over Miami. Even though his offense didn’t fare well, the move to make Max Johnson the starter was certainly the right one, and he made sure his defense was up to the challenge that Miami had brought. Fisher’s job after upsetting the Hurricanes is again safe, for now.