FSU Football: A&M experts talk hiring Jimbo Fisher and expectations

The Jimbo Fisher era is over with FSU football, so we spoke with Texas A&M football expert Matthew Bartlett about how it all went down and more.

We spoke with Matthew from the A&M site Gig’em Gazette last week regarding the rumors of Jimbo Fisher seriously considering the Texas A&M job.

At the time it still seemed like it was a coin flip and Fisher was mum on the news, but announced Friday he accepted a massive offer from the Aggies.

We reach out to Matthew again to get his reaction to the news and how he expects Fisher to meet their expectations and more.

Q&A Interview

Q: So when did you guys first start hearing about Jimbo Fisher being interested in coming to A&M and do you believe dialogue started as early as September?

Bartlett: Fisher’s name was floated out there a few weeks ago after Texas A&M lost to Mississippi State. At that point there was still a lot of uncertainty about whether or not Kevin Sumlin would be back so it was hard to buy into Fisher being a real target then. The Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward put Kevin Sumlin on notice before the season so it wouldn’t shock me to learn that he had been working on Fisher since the UCLA game on opening weekend.

Q:  With the current roster at A&M and who Fisher can bring in the final couple months of recruiting, how do you think his first year will go? What’s your win’s and losses prediction and you have both Clemson and Alabama to deal with.

Bartlett:  The current roster is loaded with talent. The biggest question marks are the offensive line and the tight end position, but the cubbard is full of weapons on offense and playmakers on defense. This is a team that lost to Alabama by eight points with a true freshman at quarterback. It’s hard to project too far into the future, but there’s no reason why Fisher shouldn’t be better than 8-4 at a minimum in his first year. I’d think he wins half of the toughest games (Clemson/Alabama/Auburn/LSU) and that could make for a 10-win season with a bowl win.

Q:  I know Fisher has asked at least two staff members from his FSU staff to come to A&M. Who are you hearing regarding who he wants to be on his A&M staff.  Do you expect John Chavis to remain DC?

Bartlett:  We’re starting to see some of the pieces come together. Recent reports indicate that Fisher wants to bring TE coach Tim Brewster as well as DL assistant Odell Haggins and RB coach Jay Graham. After that it’s an open slate. If he retains anyone from the current staff I’d expect it to be specials teams and recruiting coordinator Jeff Banks and defensive ends coach Terry Price. I don’t see John Chavis returning.

Q:  Fisher runs a pro-style offense that he adapts to his quarterback. He used to run a lot of plays with designed QB runs, but seemed to go away from that in the Jameis Winston era and beyond. How do you think the A&M offense will look if Fisher depends more on pocket passing and rarely uses the threat of the QB’s legs to attack the defense?

Bartlett:  Texas A&M has players that fit both angles, so it will really depend on what route Fisher is more comfortable with. Kellen Mond is a dual threat quarterback that made several huge plays with his legs this year. Nick Starkel looks more comfortable in the pocket and doesn’t have the same running ability. Both show a lot of promise going forward and it’s hard to make sense of which guy will get the nod from Fisher next season.

Q:  I know the expectation for Fisher is a national championship. How much time do you think the fan base gives him to reach that goal? Three or four years? He won his national title with FSU in his fourth year, but had a title contender in his third year before ultimately finishing 12-2. With a 10 year contract, what are the odds Fisher will be at A&M that long?

Bartlett: I see the Fisher contract as proof that Texas A&M has gone all in. They have everything that money can buy to build a national championship program. If Fisher can’t do it, then who can? If things get bad fast there’s always a chance that the Texas A&M brass cuts him a fat check, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Fisher was brought in to win a national title, so a couple of conference championships in the early years would prove he’s headed in the right direction. He’s going to need to be in the Playoff conversation come mid-November just about every year. Texas A&M knew what they were doing when they offered him a 10-year contract. The odds are that they ride it out and see what happens.

Thoughts

I can confirm Odell Haggins will not be going to Texas A&M with Jimbo Fisher. It sounds like talks were underway for a while here which coincides with other reports.

Fisher has a tough road ahead and it’ll be interesting to see who he hires on staff. Thanks to Matthew Bartlett for answering our questions and be sure to follow Gig’em Gazette if you plan to keep up with what Fisher’s doing moving forward.