Jimbo Fisher cited his winning record and passion for the game as reasons for wanting to coach again.
Fisher discussed his time at Texas A&M, including the circumstances surrounding his firing and the team’s performance during his tenure.
Fisher holds a 128-48 overall record from his time at Florida State and Texas A&M.
The former Texas A&M football coach, who was fired in November of 2023 despite holding a winning record with the Aggies, made his desire to return to college football clear on an appearance on the ‘Trials to Triumph’ podcast with Freddie Stevenson this week.
‘People have asked me that … If the right situation comes along and it’s right, I’m still 59. I’m still in great shape, I’m healthy, have had success everywhere we’ve ever been,’ Fisher told Stevenson, who played for Fisher at Florida State from 2013-2016. ‘… The way the game is, yes, I still do because I still love it.
‘… I never thought of it as a job. I loved it. And I think to be able to do it, I would. I’ve been fortunate, I’ve won 72% of my games, won 80% of my playoff games and been fortunate to win a national championship as a head coach, as an assistant. I miss the relationships with the players. But to ask you that, yeah, I would be very interested in still doing it because I think I’ve still got a lot to give and I’d like to get back out there. I really would.’
In the interview, Fisher also brought up his time in the SEC and Texas A&M and how ‘unfortunate’ the end of his tenure in College Station turned out to be.
‘The end at A&M, it’s unfortunate, but we also had the highest-ranked team they ever had there in 2020. Our quarterbacks got hurt. We played with first-team, third-team … It was hard to get play-calling and guys around. … Didn’t pan out like we needed to,’ Fisher said.
Coming off a 51-10 win against Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Fisher parted ways in November of 2023. In his buyout from Texas A&M, Fisher was awarded a record-breaking $77.6 million, a value that caused quite the skepticism in then-Aggies athletic director Ross Bjork’s decision.
Hired away from Florida State ahead of the 2018 college football season, Fisher went 45-25 overall and 3-0 in Bowl Games in his six seasons at Texas A&M. Though Texas A&M was ranked in each season under Fisher, the Aggies underperformed in the SEC under Fisher, which also led to his departure. Following a hot 26-10 start at Texas A&M in his first three seasons, the Aggies went 19-15 in his final three seasons.
His best season at Texas A&M came in 2020 when he led the Aggies to a 9-1 record, which included a win at the Orange Bowl. For that season’s success, Texas A&M awarded Fisher with a fully guaranteed 10-year, $94 million contract extension that would have kept him under contract through the 2031 season. The extension is what led to Fisher’s gigantic buyout.
Fisher holds an all-time record of 128-48 over his tenures at Florida State and Texas A&M.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.