Getty Image / Tim Warner
Jimbo Fisher and his Texas A&M Football squad are hoping to rebound off a dismal 2022 campaign.
The Aggies came into the 2022 season ranked 6th and in the national championship conversation. After starting 3-1 but with a loss to Appalachian State, Jimbo Fisher‘s Aggies lost six games in a row and finished the season 5-7 with a 2-6 record in the conference.
Speaking at the Fort Worth Texas A&M Club this week, Jimbo Fisher brought up the nearby TCU Horned Frogs and what happened to them in the National Championship against the SEC’s Georgia Bulldogs.
Jimbo’s words about TCU and the SEC immediately backfired, at least on social media, where everyone pointed out that Fisher’s SEC success in 2022 wasn’t materially better or worse than TCU. The specific quote that caught fire on social media is:
Jimbo Fisher with a spicy comment about TCU here at the @fortworthaggies Club: “They stayed healthy, they had a lot of experience and they got to where they had to get to. And then when they got to the SEC, it changed, didn’t it?”
— Carter Karels (@CarterKarels) May 11, 2023
If that tweet isn’t loading, Jimbo’s quote was “They stayed healthy, they had a lot of experience and they got to where they had to get to. And then when they got to the SEC, it changed, didn’t it?”
He’s referring, of course, to TCU’s blowout 65-7 loss to Georgia in the National Championship. But let’s look in the proverbial mirror for a minute, shall we?
In SEC play, Jimbo’s Aggies went 5-3 in 2018, 4-4 in 2019, 8-1 in 2020, 4-4 in 2021, and 2-6 in 2022. That’s a 23-18 record during his five seasons in the SEC but only 2 winning SEC seasons so far.
Jimbo’s comment hit social media and elicited a lot of reactions:
‘It changed, didn’t it?’
When Texas A&M got to the Sun Belt, it changed, didn't it?#GigEm pic.twitter.com/lS75mKoZgg
— Eddie O (@SquadNation619) May 11, 2023
Some people are wondering when A&M was good (2020, they were good in 2020).
We’re they even mediocre in Big 12, they were just trying to stay ahead of Kansas and Iowa St.
— Conrad Madsen, SIOR 🌵 (@ConradMadsen) May 11, 2023
Some Longhorns got in their jabs:
— UT Mangler (@UT_Mangler) May 11, 2023
Don’t shoot the messenger on this one…
The constant babbling of SEC teams thinking they’re good just because they play in the same conference as Alabama and Georgia, is the tiredest thing in the history of college football.
— Chris (@AsydaFries) May 11, 2023
Jimbo also revealed 2 mottos for the 2023 team: ‘standard over feelings’ and ‘do what’s right today.’
Jimbo Fisher said one of this team's mottos this year is "standard over feelings" he said he gets "the vibe" that this year's leadership is like the leadership in 2020, he said, "They're hungry, they're mad."
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) May 11, 2023
Coach Fisher said this team's motto is, "Do what's right today."
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) May 11, 2023
The ‘standard over feelings’ sure seems like a cleaned up version of a popular phrase thrown around a lot these days.
For what it’s worth, ESPN released it’s 2023 FPI (College Football Power Index) predictions. The model is predicting Deion Sanders’ Colorado to be laughably bad.
That same model has two teams in the state of Texas predicted to do better than Texas A&M. ESPN’s FPI predicts the Texas Longhorns will go 10.1-2.6 (W-L), the Texas Tech Red Raiders will go 7.5-4.6 (W-L), and Jimbo Fisher’s Aggies are pegged at 7.5-4.5.