Texas A&M Football: Is Jimbo Fisher the Worst Head Coaching Hire Ever?

Worst Texas A&M Football Coaching Hires: The Worst of All Time

We all knew this was coming, didn’t we?

It’s hard to imagine now, but hiring Fran felt like a huge coup at the time. This was a guy that many Aggie fans thought could take the program over the top after his success at Alabama. He’s not on the same level, but this felt like retribution for the Tide stealing Bear Bryant away all those years ago!

Instead, what the Aggies got was one of the most frustrating and least successful coaches (relative to what he was working with) of all time. His lowlights were up there with the best (or worst?) of them, including a 77-0 loss at Oklahoma—the worst loss in A&M’s history—that is still discussed today. He notched the first losing season for Texas A&M football in 21 years. The following year wasn’t too bad, but he notched another losing season in 2005. 2006 started off well enough, and the Aggies beat Texas, but A&M lost their biggest game of the year against the Sooners and got smoked in the Holiday Bowl by Cal.

Then came the infamous secret newsletter controversy that essentially sealed his fate, even after an above-average season in 2007. It’s just so strange that he defeats Texas in his last game, goes to the postgame presser, and announces his resignation with that letter. Very strange times in Aggieland, indeed.

Overall, coach Fran was not only one of the worst but one of the strangest tenures an Aggie coach has had in quite some time. The way he left the program was in no way good, and the Aggies continued to be somewhat rudderless throughout Sherman’s tenure. Looking back at both his and Sherman’s times gives you a real appreciation for how things have gone for Texas A&M football since joining the SEC, and the direction they are currently headed. The future is bright for the Aggies.