Jimbo Fisher calls for playoff expansion to limit bowl opt-outs

Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher wants to see a change in the College Football Playoff setup.

With the way things are currently built, there are only four teams that make the playoff, with everyone else left playing for lesser bowl games. With so many players nowadays opting out to prepare for the NFL Draft, Fisher wants to see playoff expansion to try and entice players to stay in school.

Fisher said that he doesn’t have any issues with the players that opt-out to prepare for their futures, but he offered some advice for players that aren’t locked to be early NFL Draft picks.

“I mean the opt-outs are here to stay,” Fisher started. “I’m a believer of if you’re a high pick and you know you’re going, I get it. Here’s what I think. If you’re a third rounder or below, the NFL doesn’t have a lot of money invested in you. What I’m saying is you have your signing bonus. I think the more you play, it’s better. But guys have their own opinion on that, that’s just me.

“Personally, if I was drafting a guy that’s what I would see. But that’s just part of it. And it’s opportunities for young guys to go play. Those guys that opted out, they’ve done a tremendous job for us. I have no disrespect for that at all. They make their own choices in what they do and that’s just the way the world is.”

Fisher went on to say that expansion of the playoff would create more quality bowl games, which would result in fewer players opting out since they have a chance to compete for titles.

“That’s like transfer portal, stuff like that,” he said. “That’s just what we’re into now. I think that’s another reason the playoff needs to expand. Entice guys to stay in school, you get more quality bowl games, guy stay and win national championships. It helps that whole process in my opinion.”

Fisher wants to make a run at the playoff next season

Texas A&M had a solid season this year, but it wasn’t quite enough to make the playoff. Fisher believes that the Aggies will be in a solid spot to make a playoff run next season.

“I think we will be, I think we were a year ago. I really thought we should be in the playoffs, but we’re not,” Fisher said. “We finished fourth (in the SEC West), but I think we’re in that area. At the end of the year, Alabama had a tremendous team, but I think we were the second-best team in the country when you get down to it. This year, we had an opportunity, we had some injuries early, and we had an opportunity, came back with the big wins at Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, but we didn’t finish at the end of the season like we needed to.”

Fisher and Texas A&M will have a large influx of talent next season. The Aggies bring in six five-star recruits as part of the top class in the 2022 On3 Consensus team recruiting rankings.