With Kevin Sumlin out at Texas A&M, the Aggies are reportedly moving quickly. According to Tomahawk Nation, "don't expect" Jimbo Fisher back at Florida State. An announcement on his departure could come on Thursday and there's now reportedly doubt he coaches the regular-season finale against Louisiana-Monroe.
A report earlier this week noted there was a done deal.
First it was LSU last year, and now Texas A&M has become heavily involved in trying to pry Fisher away from the Seminoles. With those rumors flying, Florida State did its due diligence to appease Fisher and prevent him from fleeing the program.
According to a report by the Orlando Sentinel, Florida State was making progress on a standalone football facility, which became an issue after Fisher made comments on Clemson's facilities. The same report also noted that the school was looking to invest more in the salaries for Fisher's assistant coaches.
Facilities have become more and more important to programs in recent years, as schools hope to flaunt their commitment to football with these large investments. While Fisher recently mentioned Clemson's new athletic facility, the Tigers are far from the only ones to make that kind of investment; even Kansas has recently committed to pouring hundreds of millions into improvements dedicated purely to football.
FSU President John Thrasher also previously noted, "Jimbo's here forever." But he did leave the door open a bit with what he said next.
"You know, as long as he wants to be, he's good. He's as good as gold. He's going to be here."
Fisher would be a homerun for an Aggies programming looking for a quick turnaround.
At one point this season, it appeared as if Sumlin was as good as gone but, after four consecutive wins following the opener, Sumlin appeared to be at least somewhat in the "safe" category when it came to his job status.
From there, though, the Texas A&M Aggies began to struggle again and eventually Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle reported that the powers that be in College Station had come to a decision. In short, Sumlin was expected to be on his way out, regardless of what took place in his team's season finale against LSU (they lost, 45-21).
The same report indicated that Jimbo Fisher is "the Aggies' top target."
The Aggies are certainly taking a risk in parting with a known commodity but, in the end, it seems as if Texas A&M wants to aim high and Sumlin wasn't the guy moving forward.
Sumlin finished his tenure with a 51-26 record (25-23 in the SEC).
