Paul Finebaum breaks down Jimbo Fisher's job security

Jimbo Fisher’s position on the hot seat became a major storyline throughout the course of the SEC season last fall. With Texas A&M coming in with high expectations, he found himself there quickly with the Aggies finishing tied for last in the league.

Even so, Paul Finebaum still doesn’t believe that Fisher is necessarily a goner yet in College Station. In an appearance on SportsCenter from SEC Media Days, he said Fisher’s buyout continues to make things complicated as far as relieving him from his duties. However, he isn’t sure if things will get that dire again considering what he believes the hire of Bobby Petrino as OC will do for him and A&M.

“I don’t think it’s ciao yet because it would cost $70 million to buy him out. And there does not seem to be an appetite in the state of Texas,” said Finebaum. “Now, oil prices could go up tomorrow and that could change very quickly.”

“But bringing in (Bobby) Petrino may be the move that saves Jimbo Fisher for now in terms of perception. Because Bob Petrino was once one of the best coaches in college football, he coached a Heisman winner a couple years ago in Lamar Jackson,” Finebaum continued. “If Jimbo Fisher will let him do his job — and that’s the debate right now – A&M has a chance to be very good this year.”

Texas A&M came into ’22 as a team within the Top-10. A loss on Kyle Field to Appalachian State in their second game then shifted that conversation completely. They righted the ship for a bit with a pair of Top-15 wins over Miami and Arkansas but, from there, the Aggies lost six straight from October 1st to mid-November.

In the end, the offense was the major issue as A&M scored just 22.8 points per game, which finished 101st in the nation. That’s why Finebaum pointed to Petrino’s hire as a potential solution to Fisher’s problems.

Fisher has been very good, yet not great, over five seasons at Texas A&M. The question now is whether or not this upcoming year justifies that his tenure continues or if it really is the tipping point for the Aggies.

Finebaum ‘firmly’ believes A&M does not want to fire Fisher

Paul Finebaum has no doubt that Texas A&M administrators don’t want to fire head coach Jimbo Fisher. He thinks that is evidenced by the addition of new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.

Petrino has his own checkered past when he was the head coach of Arkansas, but the seemingly reformed former SEC coach is Fisher’s right hand man this season. A&M brought him in to fix Fisher’s offense and help A&M get over the hump.

Finebaum chalked it up to Fisher knowing what he had to do. In the end, he had to make a change if he wanted a longer leash at Texas A&M.

“Jimbo is smart,” Finebaum said to Matt Barrie on ESPN’s YouTube channel. “And I think he realized he didn’t have many cards to play. We spent all of our last year on Sunday morning talking about would they buy him out. It’s pretty obvious they did not want to buy him out and I still don’t think they do. This gives them a chance to make it. And it’s a dangerous move. But I don’t think Jimbo Fisher can worry about that. I say dangerous because it’s easier to fire Jimbo Fisher now that you have somebody who’s able to take over.” 

Finebaum made it clear he doesn’t think the school is actively trying to get rid of its head coach.

“You know this isn’t just some garden variety offensive coordinator,” Finebaum said. “I firmly believe A&M does not want to fire Jimbo Fisher. I think they want him there. And the people with whom I’ve spoken to that or part of that program say, so far, it has gone well.

“Now that doesn’t mean anything, that means Bobby Petrino has got his parking spot. He went through orientation with the HR people. And it was probably needed. Beyond that, they had a pretty decent spring without any controversy.”