Alabama Football: Jimbo Fisher to Aggies means more respect for Tide
Alabama football will be seeing Jimbo Fisher as head coach of Texas A&M, next season. That move helps the Crimson Tide win more respect for their schedule.
Instability in the coaching ranks of the Southeastern Conference? Adding Jimbo Fisher makes for a jumbo-sized helping of respect in the SEC. That respect extends to Alabama, as well.
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Tyler Conway of Bleacher Report reported that “Florida State announced Jimbo Fisher is leaving the program to become the new head football coach at Texas A&M after eight seasons and one national championship with the Seminoles. Fisher’s contract is a 10-year deal worth $75 million, the largest deal in college football history, per Mark Schlabach of ESPN.”
That’s 10 years of having another great head coach in the SEC West. The other one: Alabama football’s Nick Saban.
Texas A&M wanted Jimbo bad. Conway stated that “the Aggies went hard after Fisher following the firing of Kevin Sumlin, who went 51-26 in six seasons with the program. Sumlin was let go following a 7-5 regular-season campaign, his fourth straight year with at least five losses.”
Who wouldn’t have wanted Fisher? That’s like asking Texas A&M if they like breathing.
Fisher is not only a product of Saban’s coaching tree, when an assistant with LSU, but his head coaching resume speaks for itself. Seven out of eight seasons with winning records and five out of seven bowl games for Florida State, including the BCS National Championship when Fisher took the Seminoles to a perfect 14-0 record.
This season’s losing record is more of a bump in the road than anything else for Fisher. The Seminoles lost their starting quarterback in the first game of the season and never seemed to recover quick enough to make a go of it.
Having Fisher’s pedigree on staff at Texas A&M may help the Aggies, but it also helps Alabama by giving legitimacy to another program in the SEC West besides the Crimson Tide and Auburn. Yet, even the Tigers may not have their own head coach Gus Malzahn for much longer, depending on if rumors become reality. With the head coaching musical chairs game still in progress, when the music stops, it may only be Saban and Fisher left as the only two top coaches in the division.
Just look at Tennessee‘s woes of even finding a coach willing to take the job. Look at Ole Miss and their catastrophic issues plaguing them, now. Mississippi State’s coach is now a Florida Gator. Arkansas may or may not get Gus. LSU has been struggling to find an identity. And, the likes of Vanderbilt, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Missouri have been struggling to not be completely irrelevant for years.
Kirby Smart‘s Georgia Bulldogs had made a name for themselves this season, being ranked number one in the country. That is, until Auburn woke up and decided to show all of college football how limited Georgia’s quarterback really was. The Tigers pulled the curtain back and did not find the Wizard of Oz; more like the scarecrow beaten to a straw-filled pulp.
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Fisher’s credibility only helps the SEC, especially in the West division. Alabama has had to deal with doubters about their schedule all season long, because of the rest of the conference’s weak play. Especially against non-SEC teams. If Fisher can whip the Aggies into legitimate contenders next season, Alabama may have a fight on their hands but at least it will be one that could raise their stock against other teams battling for the college football playoffs.