Jimbo Fisher pulled a bizarre move on Friday afternoon prior to Texas A&M’s game against Ole Miss. The Aggies head coach bailed on a standard television production meeting without giving a reason.
Every week, prior to Saturday, the media network set to broadcast the game typically speaks to the head football coach on both sides about the upcoming matchup. The announcers take the time to ask about the opponent, injury updates, and things of that nature. It’s nothing crucial, but it occurs before every game and it gives the people on the call a chance to get a better feel for what’s going on.
For this weekend, in College Station, ESPN’s Tom Hart will call the game for SEC Network. As is standard, Hart was set to meet with Fisher on Friday.
Considering that the head coaches are busy, sometimes the meetings have to be delayed or moved. Rarely, if ever, does a head coach ever decide not to show up at all.
But Fisher did just that.
Jimbo Fisher bails on ESPN production meeting.
While speaking with Paul Finebaum on Friday afternoon, Hart revealed that the $95 million man suddenly became unavailable. Fisher did not show up, did not give a reason why he could not meet with the SEC Network and did not reschedule.
Hart said that he cannot remember a time where this happened in the past. Fisher is the first coach to ever leave him high-and-dry before a game.
To make things even more interesting, Hart reported that Jimmy Sexton is in Texas this weekend. Sexton, one of the most high-profile agents in sports, also represents Fisher.
The timing of Fisher’s snub makes things look even worse. From an outsider’s perspective, the Texas A&M program is in complete disarray.
Not only do the Aggies — a preseason Top-10 team — sit at 3-4 with a legitimate chance to miss out on a bowl game, but the drama in College Station is real. Multiple players were suspended indefinitely earlier this week and there are a lot of rumors suggesting that many top players may choose to transfer at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Fisher is bailing on production meetings and avoiding confrontation. As a result, quite a few questions remain:
- What came up that made Fisher unavailable?
- Could Sexton have told Fisher not to talk?
- Did Fisher decide to bail on his own?
- Was athletic director Ross Bjork involved in the decision?
- Why did he avoid Hart? Is there something to hide?
- Is Fisher scared of answering the hard questions?
- Was there something else going on in College Station that took priority?
Whatever happened, it’s a terrible look for Fisher and A&M. They will look to get back on track with a big home win over Ole Miss on Saturday.
