Texas A&M Regents Take No Action On Football Coach Position

COLLEGE STATION, TX — The Texas A&M Board of Regents met for three hours behind closed doors Thursday to discuss the school's head football coach position, only to take no action. Many thought the regents would make an offer to Florida State head football coach Jimbo Fisher for the same position in Aggieland just four days after the school fired former coach Kevin Sumlin.

According to an early report from UPI, Texas A&M will most likely offer Fisher a deal that would average more than $7 million annually. He currently makes $5.7 million on an extension he signed in December 2016. Only the last two national championship coaches — Alabama's Nick Saban and Clemson's Dabo Swinney — make more than what Fisher would make in College Station.

Though Fisher’s Seminoles have struggled this season and need a win against Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday to keep their bowl streak of 35 consecutive years alive, he’s still a hot commodity. Fisher told reporters in Tallahassee Thursday afternoon after practice that he fully expects to be on the sidelines for the Seminoles this weekend.

Fisher won 29 consecutive games and Florida State’s third national championship while improving infrastructure and resources at the school and bringing in top-tier talent. He's reportedly butted heads with his bosses sin trying to make certain upgrades in facilities at FSU.

At Texas A&M the resources are there, as well as the newly-built Kyle Field that now holds 102,500 — the fourth-largest stadium in North America. And Texas is as talent-rich as the state of Florida when it comes to high school recruits.

Fisher has posted a record of 83 wins and 23 losses at Florida State after taking over for the legendary Bobby Bowden in 2010. He won the 2013 national championship with a 34-31 win over Auburn in the 2014 Rose Bowl. Florida State won three ACC titles under Fisher, is 5-2 in bowl games and the Seminoles have gone to a record 35-straight bowl games, but that record is in jeopardy as FSU is 5-6 this season and needs a win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday to keep the streak alive. His teams have been ranked in the AP polls every year until this year's early-season collapse.

Texas A&M looked like it rightfully belonged in the Southeastern Conference when it hired Kevin Sumlin for its SEC debut in 2012. The Aggies that year went 11-2, beat No. 1 Alabama on the road, throttled Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl and its quarterback, Johnny Manziel, won the Heisman Trophy.

Texas A&M slipped to a 9-4 record in 2013 and hasn't won more than eight games since then. In particular, A&M has had most of its troubles in the West Division of the SEC — specifically against LSU (0-6 against the Tigers in SEC play since 2012) and Alabama (0-5 in SEC play since 2013). The Aggies fired Sumlin after Saturday night's 45-21 loss to LSU, bringing Texas A&M's record to 7-5 this season.

This is the latest in the arms race for college football and its landscape. UCLA last week hired Chip Kelly while FSU's in-state rival Florida Gators hired Dan Mullen away from Mississippi State. Tennessee continues to search for a coach and another SEC stalwart, Arkansas, is looking hard to fill its head coach position after parting ways with Bret Bielema. Mississippi State on Thursday hired former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead as its new coach with a salary starting at $2.6 million and increasing $100,000 each year.

Reports from ESPN and the Tampa Bay Times indicate that Florida State is pressuring Fisher to make a decision about his future. Another alarming sign happened Wednesday night when three recruits — OL Verdis Brown, DB Houston Griffith and DB Israel Mukuamu — decommitted from FSU.

Image: Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher after the NCAA BCS National Championship college football game against Auburn Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, in Pasadena, Calif. Florida State won 34-31. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)