Did Texas A&M Football Trade One Mediocre Coach for Another?

Years 5 and 6 for each Texas A&M football coach

Year 5 for each Texas A&M football coach was again very different. This time, it was Fisher’s team plagued with struggle: the uber-talented 2022 class saw the field quickly, but it became clear they were not yet ready in several key spots. Injuries decimated the Aggies, who were already riddled with offensive execution issues. The later part of the year saw young star Conner Weigman take the reins at QB and lead the Aggies to an upset victory over the #5 team in the country and division champion LSU at home. Even through all of the muck and mire of that year, the Aggies were still headed in a positive direction.

Sumlin’s 2016 began in a much more hopeful spot than 2015 ended. The incoming grad transfer, Trevor Knight, was a veritable savior following the loss of both Allen and Murray, and he led the Aggies to a 6-0 start, including an overtime win at home against Tennessee. The Alabama game once more proved to kick off a poor second half of the Texas A&M football season, though, as the Aggies won only 2 of their final 7 games—those being against NMSU and UTSA. Knight and Myles Garrett were headed out the door. The direction for the Aggies was once again downward.

The start of Sumlin’s sixth season was also his death knell as the head man for Texas A&M football. In Pasadena, his Aggies blew a 41-14 lead over UCLA to eventually lose 45-44. By all accounts, the decision to let him go was made that night. An uninspiring performance against Nicholls the following week had Aggies fearing the worst, especially with the original starter at QB in Nick Starkel having gone down in the UCLA collapse. Mond seemed to steady himself, however, with big wins over Arkansas and South Carolina to open conference play. Alabama’s third-ever trip to Kyle Field saw the Aggies test them in a way they hadn’t in a while, holding the Tide to their lowest point total since Texas A&M football took them down in 2012. The following week, unbelievably, the Aggies actually won a decently tough conference game after playing Alabama. This wouldn’t last, though, as the Ags dropped four of six down the stretch, including a shootout in Charlotte against Wake Forest. Of course, Sumlin was already gone and Jimbo hired by the time the Aggies played in the Queen City.

That brings us to the present for Jimbo. So far this year, the Aggies started off gangbusters against New Mexico, showcasing a high-flying passing attack behind Weigman’s arm. An early loss at Miami stung, but Conner still gave reason for hope—until he went down with injury two weeks later. Max Johnson seemed capable in the remainder of that game, but has yet to put together two solid halves of football, now sitting at 1-2 as a starter with back-to-back losses to Alabama and Tennessee. Things look bleak for Texas A&M football at the moment, but they’ve looked bleaker.

So all that said, let’s take a look at the actual win-loss record for each coach, and other relevant stats that can help us in this discussion.