Who will Texas A&M football hire after Jimbo Fisher? Consider these candidates
Jimbo Fisher saw his mark. Such an easy target, really, those Aggies.
Texas A&M craves relevance in football so desperately it doesn’t think twice before throwing oil barrels full of cash at its desires. Fisher happily grabbed it like a gameshow contestant, placed in one of those cash cubes, with dollars blowing all around him.
Fisher exits the chamber with his pockets stuffed. His work is done. He pulled one over on the Aggies, those suckers.
Take a bow, Fisher. You fleeced ‘em, although they made it so very easy.
You didn’t you really think Texas A&M was going to let something like a $77 million-plus buyout stop it from firing a failed coach, did you? The Aggies know little about championships – they’ve heard rumor of such a thing – but they know how to spend like a shopper on Rodeo Drive.
Texas A&M fired Fisher on Sunday amid his sixth season. It will fork over the historic buyout it recklessly set itself up for with the contract extension it awarded Fisher just more than two years ago. That extension followed the 10-year, fully guaranteed contract that A&M used in 2018 to pry Fisher from Florida State, a deal that reconfigured how the industry writes contracts.
More commentary Jimbo Fisher getting $77M to go away seems shockingly normal
At every turn, the Aggies spent like a rich drunk in the casino’s high-roller section, and it’s not last call yet.
We could make endless jokes about the Aggies, a program married to mediocrity since the dissolution of the Southwest Conference, but I never question their riches. Will the Fisher debacle make them slow their roll? Doubt it. They’re far from broke, and this remains an attractive job, even if Fisher did his darndest to make it look challenging.
Texas A&M enjoys fertile recruiting terrain, NIL riches, striking facilities, passionate fans and rich donors who write blank checks. The Aggies lacked for elite success during the Fisher era, but not for talent.
Some coach will see this job for the opportunity it is. And if he fails to deliver Texas A&M’s first national championship since 1939? The Aggies will pay a king’s ransom, anyway.
Duke’s Mike Elko is a name to consider. He was the Aggies’ defensive coordinator during their 9-1 season in 2020, back in the brighter days of Fisher’s tenure, when Elko’s defense ranked second in the SEC.
Elko, now in his second season as Duke’s coach, seems a little basic for someone as rich as the Aggies, though.
Think bigger: Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Washington’s Kalen DeBoer and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin are a starting point for the hot board.
I’m sure some Aggies fan is typing a message board post about Urban Meyer as you read this, but Meyer never coached in the NIL and transfer portal era, where players enjoy more power. The names I listed are thriving in this era.
History tells us the Aggies will screw up this hire, but combine their riches with their recruiting base and NIL backing, and this remains a sleeping giant. Fisher took A&M for a ride, but the beauty of being stupidly rich?
You shake it off and write an even bigger check for someone who might be worth it.
New Year’s Six bowl drama
If the College Football Playoff selection committee can award only one New Year’s Six spot to a 10-2 SEC team, the debate just got interesting.
Ole Miss and Missouri each are heading toward that record after Georgia smashed the Rebels, 52-17 on Saturday, while Missouri did the smashing of Tennessee, 36-7.
The committee’s rankings will be updated on Tuesday, and the Missouri (8-2, 4-2 SEC) and Ole Miss (8-2, 5-2) pecking order will have my attention, with a possible trip to the Cotton Bowl or Peach Bowl for the higher-ranked team, while the lower-ranked team may wind up relegated to the Citrus Bowl, depending on how things shake out elsewhere.
The case for Missouri: Unlike Ole Miss, the Tigers gave Georgia a competitive game for four quarters. This committee seems beholden to the eye test, and Missouri’s well-rounded team has consistently been easy on the eyes, even in defeat.
TOPPMEYER: Georgia football shows Lane Kiffin no mercy, as Bulldogs smash Ole Miss Rebels
The case for Ole Miss: The Rebels beat a ranked LSU team 55-49 in Oxford, while Missouri lost to LSU 49-39 at home. The committee’s selection criteria specifically list considering results against common opponents.
Best line I heard this week
A college bro, tailgating in a crowded parking lot before Ole Miss-Georgia, as my rental car pulls in: “Whoa. Backup. Backup. That’s a Hellcat! Give it some room!”
Thank you, Stevie from Avis, for keeping me in the finest rides, which part the seas of a crowded parking lot full of imbibing fans.
Three and out
1. The Iron Bowl just got interesting. Alabama and Auburn rank among the SEC’s most improved teams from September to today. The game will be in Auburn, where the Tigers’ last three wins in this series occurred. Auburn secured bowl eligibility with a 48-10 trouncing of Arkansas. Hugh Freeze’s debut on the Plains is trending toward seven or more wins. That’s nothing close to Freeze’s ceiling, but it should come as sweet relief for Auburn after the misery of the Bryan Harsin era.
2. Missouri’s stud running back Cody Schrader for the Heisman Trophy? Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz introduced the notion Saturday after the Division II transfer gutted the Vols. That’s not happening, but a first-team All-SEC selection for the one-time Missouri walk-on from Truman State? That should happen.
3. Sam Pittman sounds like a guy ready to accept his fate on the barstool next to Fisher at Buyout Pub, where the cold suds are dispensed by donors and college administrators. Here’s how the Arkansas coach assessed his team’s humbling from Auburn: “For whatever reason, it didn't look like we played with a lot of energy. That's not what a good coach or a well-coached team does.” That’s what a coach due for a buyout does.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
The "Topp Rope" is his twice-weekly SEC football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Texas A&M football search: With Jimbo Fisher fired, spend more, Aggies
