Jimbo Fisher has proven himself worthy of a ranking as a top head coach in college football with a national championship under his belt. However, Fisher has yet to win a conference or division title with Texas A&M, so some may not consider him as a top head coach currently. Still, there are many other factors to consider when evaluating a head coach in the modern era of college football. Here are the main criteria that determine where Fisher ranks as a head coach in 2022.
On-Field Performance
Fisher took over Florida State’s program a year after Bobby Bowden retired. Over his eight years with the Seminoles, Fisher managed to have six 10-win seasons including the undefeated season in 2013. Texas A&M is yet to have a 10-win season with Fisher as head coach. But the Aggies have been close with two nine-win seasons and have never had fewer than eight wins in his tenure. There’s hope that Fisher will guide the Aggies to a 10-win season in the near future with the top recruiting class in 2022. Nonetheless, a hopeful season can’t be considered until it happens.
Since 2010, Jimbo Fisher has had an impressive record of 117-37. The only head coaches with more wins in that span are Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney. Fisher is also the first former Saban assistant head coach to beat his mentor. Fisher is also 8-2 in bowl games. He is one of four active head coaches with a national championship, and he looks to add to that resume soon.
Moreover, Fisher has also mentored two quarterbacks who were the top pick in the NFL Draft: JaMarcus Russell and Jameis Winston. Christian Ponder and EJ Manuel were also first-round selections. Fisher put some other stellar players in the NFL including Kelvin Benjamin, Jalen Ramsey, Ronald Darby, etc.
Recruiting
Recently, of course, Texas A&M finished with the best recruiting class according to 247Sports. During Fisher’s tenure, the Aggies finished eighth, sixth, fourth, and 17th in the country in recruiting. Clearly, Fisher has shown improvement on the recruiting grounds for Texas A&M after taking over for Kevin Sumlin.
At Florida State, Fisher finished in the top five for recruiting from 2013 to 2016. Many people speculate that he reportedly stopped recruiting for the Seminoles in 2017, with the idea that he was on his way out. There are no real facts to bear that out. In fact, it is arguable that Fisher has adjusted best thus far to the new era of recruiting. He was able to gather the top-rated recruiting class of all time in 2022, and it appears that this was impacted by the NIL opportunity. Regardless of the money, Fisher was able to get the university’s boosters and staff on the same page to bring in a terrific set of incoming freshmen.
Concluding Thoughts
The general conception is that Saban and Dabo are the two best head coaches in college football since they each have multiple national championships. That argument is tough to disprove, but Fisher definitely has a case for being the third best head coach in college football. Kirby Smart won it all more recently, but the outlook for both the Aggies’ and Bulldogs’ programs are eerily similar. Furthermore, Fisher has more conference championships than Smart, so that’s definitely a reasoning for Fisher being better. At any cost, you can’t argue against Fisher being a top five head coach in college football today.
Due to higher expectations in today’s college football, many think that Fisher has not done a great job at Texas A&M. However, his resume speaks for itself. He will continue to dominate in the NIL era, and Fisher could soon make a case for a ranking as the top head coach in college football.
