Texas A&M Football: Aggies’ talent level rapidly rising under Jimbo Fisher
Texas A&M football is assembling one of the nation’s most talented rosters. Jimbo Fisher is delivering on his mandate to take the program to new heights.
Much was made of the $75 Million contract handed to Jimbo Fisher before he’d ever coached a down for Texas A&M Football. In the eyes of many, the Aggies were throwing money on the prayer that Fisher could fix a nagging problem that had endured for decades. But those in College Station knew a National Championship wasn’t the end goal. Texas A&M wanted to get to the top of the mountain and stay there.
“Staying there”, would require an influx of talent to a degree that hadn’t been seen in maroon and white, possibly ever before. Three seasons in, Fisher is returning on that promise.
Texas A&M became a card-carrying member of Bud Elliott’s blue-chip ratio this past season, officially crossing an imaginary line that demarcated programs capable of winning championships and those without enough stars to get there. The Aggies were now one of 15 programs in the country that could say the majority of its roster was comprised of 4-star and 5-star players.
Recruiting at an elite level is not a guarantee of anything.
— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) January 2, 2021
But not doing so IS a guarantee of getting left out.
This is the first time two teams with a Blue Chip Ratio of 80% have met in the CFB Championship. https://t.co/8zuQiM1bQl pic.twitter.com/Dt5RSP13BI
Texas A&M football got there by rocketing up the recruiting rankings. In the three seasons prior to Fisher’s arrival, Texas A&M ranked 18th, 13th and 17th in the national recruiting rankings. Since Fisher arrived, the Aggies have ranked 4th, 6th and are currently 7th in the 2021 class with weeks to go before signing day.
Here are the programs that can claim a Top 7 recruiting class in each of the last three cycles: Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M. That’s it.
Clemson doesn’t qualify (10th in 2019). Ohio State doesn’t qualify (14th in 2019). Florida doesn’t qualify (No better than ninth in that span).
More. Where do the Aggies rank among CFB's top fanbases?. light
It’d one thing to get the talent to campus. It’s another to win. Texas A&M just finished a 9-1 campaign that earned them the No. 4 ranking in the final polls, the highest since the Aggies won a national championship in 1939. Texas A&M football isn’t where they want to be, yet. But they are a lot closer than the casual observer might believe.