If the Devil himself flew to College Station and presented a five-point plan to make the Texas A&M Aggies the national champions in football, every hand in the room would go up.
There are not enough dotted lines to sign.
There is commitment, and then there is Aggie commitment.
To win college football games, Texas A&M has done everything but ink one of those lucrative NIL deals with Satan.
With all due respect to the crazies who represent Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, LSU and the other big-time football schools in higher education, the Aggies have the necessary crazy to win.
Now that Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher have not only bowed up to Nick Saban, as well as defeat Alabama last season, it’s time for the Aggies to start winning some championships in the sport they worship.
A second Gator Bowl title under Jimbo isn’t the Aggies’ desire.
Given the amount of money Texas A&M has spent on football, and the commitment and love they have shown Jimbo, an SEC West title, an SEC championship, and appearance in the College Football Playoff, are all reasonable asks by now.
Jimbo will never run out of money, but he is out of excuses.
Jimbo entertained the masses on Thursday in Atlanta at SEC Media Days. He talked a lot, but didn’t say too much.
There isn’t too much to say if you are Jimbo. He is in his fifth season in College Station, which is enough time to acquire his own players through the recruiting process.
He apparently signed the top-ranked recruiting class in the country this offseason. Saban said every player was “bought.” Even if they were, no one cares, up to and including the NCAA.
Jimbo made a lot of Aggie fans so happy back in May when he went on his Netflix documentary-worthy rant against Saban.
On Thursday in Atlanta, Jimbo didn’t necessarily issue an apology but made it clear their “beef” is over.
“I have great respect for Nick. Unfortunately, our thing went public. Sometimes that happens in this world,” Fisher told the media. “Nothing is private anymore, is it?”
No. Especially when you call a press conference to express your anger, as Jimbo did in response to Saban’s comments.
“Have great respect for Nick. We all learn from him. We all will learn, like I say, he will learn, hopefully I learn from things we do and say, and we move on from there,” Jimbo said. “But I have great respect for him and their program like always.”
Texas A&M plays at Alabama on Oct. 8, and it sounds like someone realizes his team isn’t good enough to win in Tuscaloosa this year.
Starting with the quarterback, Jimbo still doesn’t have a team good enough to win the SEC West, let alone the SEC Championship game.
He has parts of what should be a good team; good gets you beat in the SEC West. Again, he has yet to have a complete team.
By now he should have a double-digit win season at A&M, which would be his first since he arrived in College Station in December of 2017.
(In 2020, the Aggies finished 9-1 during the COVID season.)
The Aggies are still two years from winning something bigger than another Gator Bowl title.
All of these top-rated recruits he signed, who knows how many of them actually stay beyond this season? Celebrating an incoming recruiting class in the Transfer Era is as hallow as celebrating national titles won in 1919 and 1927.
Some of this reality is the nature of the SEC West, where finishing second to Alabama is actual cause for celebration.
Since 2000, four teams have won an SEC West title; Arkansas (once), Auburn four times, LSU five times, and Bama the rest.
Every school in the SEC West spends money like your drunk uncle at the slot machine in the pursuit of winning college football games.
The state of Louisiana has no money. At all. It always finds plenty for the LSU Tigers football team.
Now that cheating is permissible in college football, winning an SEC West game is both difficult and expensive. When Texas and Oklahoma join in 2025, the price and the pain go up.
Having won a national title at Florida State in 2013, Jimbo Fisher is supposed to be able to handle these scenarios.
He’s had enough time.
The Aggies will do anything to win a national title.
The only reason they have not signed that deal with the devil is because Satan has yet to offer.
