Fisher has brought fundamental football back to A&M
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M’s all-time leading tackler, linebacker Dat Nguyen, had noticed something missing around his favorite place the past few years: An emphasis on fundamental football.
Nguyen said that changed a year ago with the hiring of Jimbo Fisher from Florida State, and he added that the difference in and around Kyle Field is stark.
“You can tell across the board, up and down, that football is important again,” Nguyen said of his impression of Fisher’s first go-round with the Aggies. “And nothing but football.”
Nguyen paused, before summing up the sentiments of so many Aggies: “And that’s what A&M is all about.”
That’s what it was about 20 years ago, when Nguyen led the Aggies to their last conference title, the 1998 Big 12 championship. A&M fans have pined for a crown since, across two leagues.
“Jimbo is a no-nonsense guy who doesn’t jack around,” said Nguyen, an All-American at A&M who played seven seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. “If you make mental errors, you’re not going to play. He’s minimizing all of that, and this program will ascend from here.
“After a couple of more recruiting classes, he’ll be a contender.”
Fisher is off to a solid start, even if his first quarterback at A&M didn’t win the Heisman Trophy and his first A&M team, which faces North Carolina State on New Year’s Eve in the Gator Bowl, won’t finish in the top five of the Associated Press poll.
His predecessor with the Aggies, Kevin Sumlin, achieved both. But the Heisman and the AP rankings are decided on by voters’ whims, while Fisher earned the first-year edge in an area decided strictly on the field: division finish.
For the first time since joining the SEC, the No. 19 Aggies finished as high as second in the SEC West. Six years ago, A&M and LSU each had a better SEC record (6-2 vs. 5-3 this season), but the Tigers held the tiebreaker for second with a victory over the Aggies. This season, A&M had the tiebreaker over LSU with its 74-72 seven-overtime win Nov. 24.
Based on that, and the Aggies beating LSU for the first time with both in the SEC West, Fisher’s first season at A&M was an overall success. One thing hasn’t changed over the Aggies’ seven seasons in the SEC: the pursuit of powerhouse Alabama, which will face Oklahoma in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl on Dec. 29.
“We’re not that far away, and we’ll keep grinding,” Fisher said after the Aggies’ 45-23 loss at Alabama on Sept. 22. “This is the next step, and we’ll learn from it. We’re not happy, we’re not satisfied, and we have to clean some things up.”
The Aggies earned a reputation for November stumbles under Sumlin, but closed out this regular season with three consecutive victories, highlighted by the dramatic win over LSU. The teams combined for the most points in a college football game, and the seven overtimes tied with four other contests for longest in history.
“If you’re not proud of those guys, you can’t be proud of anybody,” Fisher said afterward. “It was just an incredible football game, both ways and both teams. I’ve never been in anything like that.”
The two games before the closing streak were proof the Aggies still have plenty of cleaning up to do headed into the bowl and Fisher’s second season. In a 28-13 loss at Mississippi State and a 28-24 loss at Auburn, the Aggies were outscored a combined 28-0 (14-0 and 14-0) in the fourth quarter.
Fisher, who won a national title at Florida State in 2013, might not be a miracle worker. But his emphasis on fundamentals is changing the program.
“He’s committed to what he’s doing,” said former coach R.C. Slocum, who won more football games at A&M than anyone and who guided the Aggies’ last conference champions. “He brings energy and he brings discipline. Our guys are, without a doubt, playing hard and with discipline.
“It’s something I emphasized so much when I was coaching: The one thing that everybody can do is play hard. I don’t care what your ability level is — the one thing you can do is play hard. And if you don’t play hard under Jimbo, you’re not going to play.”