Alabama Football: Jimbo Fisher’s big problem is …

News came out Monday that Texas A&M had requested (demanded) Alabama football head coach, Nick Saban be fined or suspended. That the Aggies did so is not surprising, despite being ridiculous. Also not surprising is what should be abundantly clear to more than just Alabama football fans. Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M, AD, Ross Bjork have an inflated perception of their standing in the college football world.

As Ole Miss AD, Bjork defined himself by defending the sleaze tactics and rules-defying actions of Hugh Freeze. Bjork probably did not need to teach Jimbo Fisher that in the world of college football, truth is best viewed as optional.

What Bjork and Fisher have done in College Station has tarnished the reputation of a once rightfully proud institution. Not even a National Championship – which the Aggies are not likely to win – will cleanse the program’s image.

Why is a National Championship unlikely for the Aggies? Because there is nothing special about Jimbo Fisher as a coach. Outside of Texas A&M faithful, there has been little doubt NIL deals were used to land recruits. Jimbo Fisher’s full-throated, staccato, and classless defense appeared to be false indignation. Jimbo is no student of Shakespeare or he would know protesting too much can be a giveaway.

An immediate refutation to Jimbo not being an elite coach can be made from Florida State winning the 2013 National Championship. Pumping the brakes on that argument is easy. Look no further than LSU to realize winning one National Championship is not a mark of a great coach. It has happened twice in Baton Rouge.

Then there are the four FSU seasons after the 2013 Championship. The Noles did well in 2014, going 13-1. FSU made the first CFB Playoffs, losing at the Rose Bowl to Oregon in a semi-final game. The 2015 and 2016 seasons, FSU went 10-3. But in 2016, some FSU fans were seeing slippage in the overall talent of the roster. In September, with FSU ranked No. 2, No. 10 ranked Louisville crushed the Noles 63-20.

In the 2017 season, it was quickly clear, slippage had turned to meltdown. The Noles lost six of their first nine games, leading Fisher to limp away to Texas A&M. Florida State is yet to recover.

Fisher’s record at Texas A&M includes never winning 10 games in a season. Against Top 10 teams, the Aggies under Jimbo are 3-7. One big win over a No. 1 ranked Alabama football team does not make a coach elite.

Instead, it gives a loudmouth coach a platform to attack a former boss. Fisher has intense pressure to win big in College Station. It is not clear whether he can deliver. What is clear is that Jimbo Fisher is a man who cannot cope with being in Nick Saban’s shadow.

One more point cannot be ignored. Fisher’s magical 2013 season was with a team led by Jameis Winston. Winston, for all his considerable football talents, was a college student who embarrassed his school and the FSU program.

Jimbo Fisher never flinched in his defense of Winston. Greg Couch wrote in 2014,

"Jimbo Fisher has shocked people this season with his seemingly clumsy and overly staunch defense of everything Jameis Winston did or was accused of doing. Fisher came across as the great enabler, a cliche of a coach who would pull the wool over anyone’s eyes for the team."

Couch’s words nailed Fisher’s behavior in 2014 and some of them might apply to Jimbo now – the part about pulling “wool over anyone’s eyes for the team.”

Note: Florida State and Texas A&M team records were retrieved from SportsReference.com.