Kevin Sumlin is officially no longer Texas A&M's head coach. The move was a long time coming, and now that time has come.
And with Sumlin out, Texas A&M can officially begin its full-throated pursuit of Jimbo Fisher. The Aggies have long been infatuated with the Florida State coach. Take this from Brent Zwerneman's story in the Houston Chronicle from last night:
In the days after Texas A&M blew a 34-point lead in the Aggies' season opener at UCLA, a longtime A&M insider told the Chronicle, "Remember the name Jimbo Fisher."
Though Fisher has long been the top option, he's not the only option. Sources told FootballScoop the Aggies have maintained interest in Gary Patterson and Mike Gundy. Patterson announced an extension at TCU through 2024. Gundy signed a new contract in June that runs for five years and automatically rolls over after each year. Pulling either coach out of their situations would have been more difficult than extracting a molar with a pair of tweezers.
Jimbo, though, is a different story. He flirted with LSU twice, and is now reciprocating interest from Texas A&M as Florida State suffers through a 5-6 season.
And the tense is important here. Florida State still has one regular season game to play, and it would break precedent within the profession for Fisher to publicly accept a new job while still in the regular season of his current one.
Still, that doesn't mean representatives haven't had discussions and certainly hasn't stopped some in the A&M media orbit from reporting the deal is done.
Woodward has been working toward the end of hiring Fisher for an eternity by college football standards. Which only increases Fisher's leverage, since the Aggies cannot afford to let this next week pass and then be left at the altar on Dec. 3, scrambling onto Plan B, with the new National Signing Day looming just two and a half weeks from then. Which only gives Fisher even more leverage.
The only thing we can confirm is that Fisher, a Jimmy Sexton client, is going to get what he wants -- either by Texas A&M or by Florida State.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.