Why Jimbo Fisher's decision-making was 'unacceptable' vs. Alabama

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher made more than one puzzling call in Saturday’s 26-20 loss to Nick Saban and Alabama. Standing out above them all, however, was a decision not to go for it on fourth down.

Facing fourth-and-1 from the Crimson Tide 45-yard line late in the third quarter with the game tied at 17, Fisher called timeout, seemingly to set up a play to keep the drive alive. Then surprisingly, the Aggies sent out punter Nik Constantinou to give the ball back to Alabama. The Crimson Tide scored on the next drive, taking the lead for good.

It was the turning point in the game, costing the Aggies a chance to get in the driver’s seat in the SEC West. Kayce Smith of Barstool Sports, who is also an A&M alumna, joined On3‘s Andy Staples with some strong thoughts on the matter.

“It blew my mind that these coaches are playing scared,” she said. “That’s what Jimbo looked like he was doing a lot of the time. Then to stand up and do what he’s been doing the entire time at Texas A&M, it’s almost like, ‘hey, this is my call. I’m gonna stand by it and make some sort of excuse.’ It’s unacceptable.”

Fisher said after the game that A&M would have went for it had it been less than a yards. The coach pointed to that fact that the Aggies had already been stopped on third-and-1 twice before in the game, and he didn’t want to take the chance of a turnover on downs.

That decision from, however, proved costly when Constantinou’s punt went into the end zone for a touchback. Alabama scored, then came up with a safety a few drives later to make it a two-possession game. A&M later faced fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line and opted to kick a field goal.

That would be its last score of the game as it never got the ball back. Perhaps more frustrating that the decision-making to Smith was the coach’s unwillingness to own up to the mistake.

“There were so many things that you can point to,” she said. “It’s not just the decisions, it’s the excuses that he makes afterwards. In the moment, every once in a while making a bad coaching decision is gonna happen. I don’t anticipate those never happening regardless of who the head coach is. But then to get up in a press conference afterward — I don’t know if he’s playing ignorant. I don’t know if he’s just comfortable. I don’t know if he just thinks people aren’t gonna understand or call out, whatever.

“But to say things like, ‘We didn’t go for it because it was fourth-and-1, but if it was fourth-and-inches we would’ve gone for it.’ Anybody that watches football and has a brain knows that’s not how that works.”

With the loss, Jimbo Fisher’s record against Alabama dropped to 1-5. It’s a hard pill to swallow for A&M fans like Smith, who admitted she felt “confident” entering the game that the Aggies could beat a Crimson Tide team that hasn’t looked as strong as in years’ past.

Instead it was the same story as usual, in part because Jimbo Fisher wasn’t willing to take the risks he needed to give A&M a shot against Alabama. Especially coming off last year’s 5-7 record and with little success to show in Fisher’s six seasons in College Station so far, Smith believes this kind of thing is getting tiresome.

“Nick Saban is always gonna be Goliath,” she said. “Regardless of whether they’re ‘vulnerable’ or not, they have Nick Saban. Why would you coach cowardly against the greatest coach of all-time? You used to be his assistant. You know what he’s gonna do. You know what this man has built a career and a legend on. Why would you coach scared? Even if you go for it and you don’t get it, at least you went for it.

“You’re playing Alabama at home in front of the largest crowd that Kyle Field has ever had with this current stadium and you make decisions like that and you wonder why people are frustrated. This isn’t just an Alabama thing. This isn’t just a Nick Saban thing. This is a Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M thing. It just happened to be that they played Alabama.”