Fisher thrilled to be ‘doin’ what we’re doin’ ’
COLLEGE STATION — In his first visit with reporters of the 2020 season, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher offered a salutation he would not have imagined a year ago.
“You know how happy I am to see y’all?” Fisher said Tuesday with a chuckle. “Never thought you’d hear a coach say that: ‘I’m happy to see the media.’ But I’m very happy to see you.”
An upbeat Fisher has reason for rascally banter heading into his third season with the Aggies — primarily because so far there is a season for the SEC, along with the Big 12 and ACC. Two Power Five conferences, the Big Ten and Pac-12, are not playing in the fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A&M started practice Monday night, and the Aggies almost considered it a gift to be mixing it up in 90-something degree weather. Fisher said Tuesday none of his players has tested positive for COVID-19.
“The biggest thing you take away from practice is … it was practice,” Fisher said. “We got back to doin’ what we’re doin’, and you could see the excitement in their bodies.”
The Aggies hit the Coolidge practice fields minus a handful of players from the spring roster, all backups: quarterback James Foster, defensive lineman Adarious Jones and offensive linemen Riley Anderson, Barton Clement and Colten Blanton.
Foster, who entered the NCAA transfer portal this summer, is still on the roster but has “opted out” of the season because of the pandemic — meaning he can preserve a year of eligibility while still seeking another program.
The redshirt freshman Jones suffered a knee injury in the offseason, Fisher said, and is out for the year. The trio of offensive linemen have medically retired, leaving the line thinner than Fisher would like but still in decent shape (five starters return there).
The Aggies and the rest of the SEC received their updated 2020 schedule Monday night, and while A&M opens Sept. 26 with the SEC East’s weakest team from last season, Vanderbilt, the Aggies play at perennial contender Alabama in Week 2 on Oct. 3.
“Listen, if you want to be the best, you’ve got to go compete against the best,” Fisher said of facing Alabama early. “Playing them there will be tough, and they’ve got a great team. You’re going to play ’em, so you might as well play ’em at the get-go.”
In addition, A&M announced its intention to try to play before about 30 percent capacity for its opener against the Commodores in a little more than a month. A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said earlier this summer he hoped the Aggies would be at about 50 percent capacity for the season, but A&M reiterated Tuesday that all projections are subject to change.
Prior to dropping their four nonconference foes — and perhaps four wins — and adding Florida and Tennessee to their all-SEC, 10-game schedule, the Aggies and their 18 returning starters were picked by some prognosticators to perhaps be in the mix for the four-team College Football Playoff for the first time.
“You’ve got to play them all anyway,” Fisher said of the Aggies’ revised regular-season schedule that ends at Auburn on Dec. 5. “Things are what they are, and they do what they do, and you can’t worry about that. Everybody in this league has a good team, so that’s the way it is. We’ve got a heck of a schedule … we’ve just got to worry about ourselves and play the best we can.”
The Aggies return a four-year starter at quarterback in senior Kellen Mond, and the San Antonian on Tuesday said he was thrilled to finally be back on the field for a final college season.
“I think this team is going to be very special,” Mond said. “But we’ve got a long way to go, and we’ve got to continue to work.”
No media is allowed to attend practices because of the pandemic, and A&M released a few minutes of drill video to offer fans a taste of what’s going on behind the maroon fences. One snippet of five-star freshman receiver Demond Demas of Tomball in particular caught observers’ attention because of his swiftness.
“Our team speed has increased,” Fisher said of an emphasis in recruiting. “We do look like we’re running pretty well. Our big guys, too — not just our skills guys. We’re in good shape.”