Middling results put heat on Fisher

FAYETTEVILLE -- The coaching seat for the $75 million man in College Station, Texas, has moved up the burner chart from comfortable to simmer in just two seasons.

Jimbo Fisher was lured away from Florida State with a 10-year, $75 million carrot in 2018 with the expectation he'd turn the well-funded, well-stocked Aggies into an SEC and national championship contender in short order.

No sniff of that territory yet.

Fisher's two seasons have produced records of 9-4 and 8-5 with no wins over Alabama, Auburn or Georgia in five games; splits with LSU and Mississippi State; and sweeps of Arkansas and Ole Miss. While he guided the Aggies to a 74-72 win over LSU in seven overtimes in 2018 to snap a seven-game slide against the Tigers, LSU responded with a 50-7 pasting of the Aggies last year in Baton Rouge en route to the College Football Playoff title.

The Aggies are restless for Fisher, who guided Florida State to the 2013 national championship, to rise above the performance of his predecessor Kevin Sumlin, who won 66% of his games in six years in Aggieland but never more than eight in a season after going 11-2 and 9-4 his first two years.

Fisher's bonafides are legit. He has won 100 games in 10 years as a head coach, and has a .758 winning percentage at 100-32. And to be fair, the Aggies gave national power Clemson strong challenges the last two years in 28-26 and 24-10 losses.

But the Aggies didn't hire Fisher to win eight games a season and consistently fall just short of the best programs in the game.

An anonymous SEC coach, speaking to Athlon Sports, said of the Aggies, "They've put everything into this year. This is the season that's going to make or break Jimbo Fisher."

Overdramatic? Sure. The same coach said Fisher's guaranteed contract means he's not going anywhere for a while, but he added, "he has to show them he can make A&M a national title contender."

Fisher noted last weekend that he sees a change in his team's demeanor in camp.

"A little bit more urgency," he said. "I don't mean that in a negative way. We have a more veteran football team. Older players. More seniors. I think there's leadership with the quality and quantity. Many more guys understanding what to do and how to do it and the things they want to do."

The Aggies project to start 13 seniors, seven on offense and six on defense, a luxury rarely seen in today's game. As an example, the current depth chart for the Arkansas Razorbacks -- whom the Aggies will host at Kyle Field for the first time since 2012 -- features seven starting seniors.

College football analysts have stamped the Aggies as a contender in the SEC West, pointing at their eight returning starters on both sides of the ball. Texas A&M is ranked No. 13 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll behind West division rivals Alabama, LSU and Auburn.

"We don't pay attention to it," senior linebacker Buddy Johnson. "We just go to practice and control what we can control. We're taking game reps at practice. We're staying focused and doing what we have to do. We're not even worried about that right now."

A huge plus for the Aggies is a veteran leader on offense. Senior quarterback Kellen Mond is a dual-threat ace who is the SEC's active passing leader with 7,379 yards.

Mond has thrown 52 career touchdown passes and 24 interceptions, and he sports 1,315 career rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.

He'll be protected by a front that features four returning starters plus tight end Jalen Wydermyer, top receiver Jhamon Ausbon and up-and-coming wideout Demond Demas. In the backfield, returning starter Isaiah Spiller, a 946-yard rusher with 10 TDs, and converted receiver Ainias Smith could be one of the top tandems in the SEC.

Defensively, the Aggies are positioned to make an improvement under coordinator Mike Elko after ranking 29th in the country a year ago. Texas A&M projects to start nine defensive upperclassmen along with sophomores in end Demarvin Leal and safety Demani Richardson, both returning starters.

"Coach Elko has a wonderful scheme," Johnson said. "We view ourselves as a championship defense. That's the only way you should view yourself as a defense, as an offense, as a team."

Added linebacker Anthony Hines: "In practice we've really been focused on assignments ... the little discipline things that it takes to be the best defense in the country. Beyond that, we have the talent. That's never been the question. So we're really trying to make those things mesh."

The Aggies' special teams look to be strong behind return specialists Smith and Devon Archane; returning kicker Seth Small, who had only one miss from less than 40 yards last year; and punter Nik Constantinou, whose only college punt behind All-American Braden Mann went 57 yards.

Texas A&M's schedule looked softer when Clemson and Georgia fell off while Colorado and Vanderbilt hopped on. However, when the SEC went to a 10-game conference-only slate, the Aggies picked up games against Florida and Tennessee, which project to be SEC East contenders.

"Any time you add an SEC team, the physicality just went up," Fisher said. "This league is as physical as any league in ball.

"Your depth, your development of your young players is going to be very important this season. Not only because of the Covid situation, but because of the schedule and the teams you play and for attrition. Developing your young players is going to be very critical and your older guys teaching them how to take care of their bodies each and every week."

The Aggies have impressed Fisher early in camp.

"I like this football team, the attitude of it and the work ethic," he said. "The enthusiasm at practice. The tempo at practice. It's from the old guys. And the new guys have brought some juice to this thing too. They like playing ball. They're energized, and the old guys are playing energized. Their personalities have mixed very well."

The question is, can the Aggies mix with the best in the West?