Whether you are a college football super fan or even just an ESPN watcher, you probably heard that Texas A&M fired HC Jimbo Fisher. The Aggies put themselves in a ridiculous situation over some pretty unreasonable explanations such as “being stuck in neutral”. Jimbo Fisher joined the organization as the Aggies HC in 2017 signing a 10 year $75 million contract. 

• In 2018(his first season), Fisher went 9-4 and won a Bowl game
• In 2019, Fisher went 8-5 and won a Bowl game
• In 2020, Fisher went 9-1 with finishing #5 in the CFP rankings, and one spot outside of the playoffs. Still finished the year with a Bowl win
• In 2021, Fisher went 8-4, but the Aggies were unable to play a Bowl game due to COVID and injury issues.
  • In 2021, Fisher received a 4 year contract extension through 2031 that gave him an annual salary of over $9 million, which was 8th highest of all CFB coaches.
• In 2022, Fisher went 5-7
• This past season Fisher was 6-4 before being fired

Now here’s the crazy part. Due to his 2021 contract extension, the Aggies now owe Fisher over $75 million total from his buyout. They owe him $19.2 million within 60 days of his firing and $7.2 annually every year from now through 2031. 

Yes we are in agreement, Texas A&M has fallen off a little bit the past couple seasons, but with Fisher having them back with a winning record and a tough schedule, the Aggies were bouncing back. He was also one of the best recruiters in all of CFB. He set the recruiting record with his 2022 class. Texas A&M could’ve addressed multiple areas before firing Jimbo, but instead went straight for him. We are just saying they could have replaced their coordinators first or they could’ve addressed the QB room which has been sub par for a few years now.

Regardless, this isn’t an investigation into why it was Jimbo. What really puts the bow on this whole thing is that the Aggies, after all the Mark Stoops rumors, ended up with Mike Elko from Duke. Elko is not a bad hire by any means. He turned Duke from a 3-9 football team in 2021 into a 9-4 team in 2022 and this year a 7-5 team(with missing Leonard for several games). That being said, this also in an ACC where things have gotten a bit ugly within the last few seasons. He is jumping up from what is arguably the worst conference in CFB right now to one of the best. Many heads were turned and questions arose when they made the hire, wondering if it was really worth firing Jimbo. 

Enter 6’4”, 212 lb dual threat QB Riley Leonard. Despite not being in the portal very long, there’s already a ton of speculation regarding where Leonard will end up. 247 Sports was very quick to put in a Crystal Ball prediction of Leonard to Notre Dame, who will be losing Sam Hartman to the Draft. However, we are not convinced that it is going to be Notre Dame. We are under the belief that it is going to be Texas A&M. The timing of Elko’s hire and Leonard in the portal are just way too close together to make me believe that he’s going anywhere else.

Potential impact of Leonard in College Station

As stated, standing at 6’4”, 212 lbs, Leonard has ideal QB size. On top of passing the eye test, Leonard has a strong arm and is a good athlete as shown by his ability to run the football, which we believe he could actually do more than he does. Despite a strong arm he has a low arm slot that gets batted down more than you would like to see. He also has extremely spotty accuracy. Under pressure, Leonard is not looking to run it every single play; he does keep his eyes downfield but runs out of clean pockets and falls off throws.

As you can see Leonard has his mix of positives and negatives, just like any college QB, but we believe that his rawness now, shows potential down the line.

Leonard would very easily be the best QB Texas A&M has had since Kellen Mond. As mentioned earlier, the lack of even decent QB play over the last couple seasons has been a major issue for the Aggies, and what we believe is a major factor in Fisher’s “lack of success” and eventual firing. 

Rumors have had it that the Aggies WR1, Sophomore Evan Stewart, could be one with eyes on the portal. However, Stewart has yet to enter. We suspect that his unhappiness is stemming from once again the common theme of poor QB play. If Leonard, as we believe, ends up in College Station it could be the key to keeping Stewart out of the portal and even increase his production and success in the 2024 season. 

As for SEC play, contrary to popular belief Texas A&M is not a bad team. Their record hasn’t been up to standard the last couple seasons, but yet they are still competitive in most of their games. A legit QB like Leonard could be the piece of the puzzle that’s been missing for the Aggies playoff hopes. The last time the Aggies were legit contenders was in 2020 when they finished as the #5 teams in CFB, when(you probably guessed it) Kellen Mond was at the helm for the Aggies.

It’s hard to tell at this current moment whether Elko will be able to keep up the recruiting at the level that Fisher had it at, but the reality is Elko doesn’t have to have the top ranked class every year. As long as he keeps Texas A&M competitive on the recruiting trail, A&M should in theory get back to being a year-in, year-out CFP contender under the stipulation that Leonard follows him like we suspect. Automatically though, Elko should be able to top any of his recruiting classes from Duke at A&M. The team in College Station is ready to win; they just need a QB to lead their offense.