Breaking down the profile for Texas A&M's next football coach after Jimbo Fisher
The Jimbo Fisher era in Texas A&M came to an end on Sunday as the Aggies’ program fired Fisher in the midst of his sixth season at the helm, as the focus in College Station now turns toward finding a new head man to lead the program going forward.
Current LSU athletic director Scott Woodward hired Fisher during his tenure at Texas A&M, and has since hired similar candidates like Brian Kelly and Kim Mulkey in Baton Rouge. But as current Aggies’ AD Ross Bjork looks to find his new head football coach, On3’s Andy Staples and TexAgs.com’s Billy Liucci discussed what type of leader he could potentially be eyeing.
“Ross has a type too, it’s different,” Liucci said. “You look at some of the coaches he’s hired in the other sports, sometimes he’ll go off the beaten path. But it’s also not gonna be only Ross making this hire, it’s just not. I think A&M people have learned enough that it’s not gonna be meddling on the regents or the donor level, I think it’s gonna be just more than just the athletic director making this hire.”
Bjork mentioned that a football advisory group and other resources like former players and industry experts will be involved in Texas A&M’s search for their next head coach in his press conference on Sunday. But that still begs the question of what type of head coach Texas A&M’s brain trust wants to take over the football program.
“This is a real search Andy, I don’t think there is a type,” Liucci admitted. “Pick a name of these high end, Jimbo types like when A&M hired Jimbo. Maybe not with a championship, but you know, the biggest names that people will sit around a table like when you and I sat there and mentioned Jimbo and people were like, ‘You guys would never be able to hire Jimbo from Florida State.'”
The Aggies could seek out a successful coordinator or a master recruiter from college football’s coaching ranks, but it’d be hard for many to imagine Texas A&M not trying to make a splash and hire a big-name head coach.
“So if one of those guys expresses interest, A&M can pass the hat and they can go get the money and say, ‘We can’t get that guy unless do you want to pay his buyout? Because if you do we’ll fund the contract, but the buyout money?’ So I do think one or two of those will pop up were it’ll be at least intriguing, those biggest of the big names kind of what I think people around the country think they’re gonna expect A&M to do again,” Liucci said. “So I’m not saying they can’t go up there but it has to be if they truly think somebody is attainable, And right now, I don’t see that name.”
Only time will tell who Texas A&M decides to be their next head coach, but it will be fascinating to see what style of coach they settle on to lead the program into a new age of college football.