Jimbo Fisher addresses LSU speculation

It's only natural that the speculation for the soon-to-be-open LSU job would begin with Jimbo Fisher.

As we all know, he won a national title there as Nick Saban's offensive coordinator. He once described it to colleagues in the industry as the best in college football. The AD that brought him to Texas A&M now works at LSU, an AD with a reputation for making splash hires many in the industry didn't believe he'd be able to pull off (see: pulling one John James Fisher, Jr., away from Florida State.) 

And he's got an extremely coach-friendly contract where A&M would have to pay him nearly $100 million to go away but he'd owe the school nothing to leave. 

Given all that, why not start the old "Make him say no" policy here?

Asked about the obvious on Monday, Fisher didn't literally say "I'm not going to LSU" but he did provide plenty of reasons why he plans to stick around at Texas A&M. 

In fact, in just over 60 seconds of speech, I counted eight different times Jimbo professes his love for A&M, 14 espousals of why he loves being an Aggie, and two denials of interest and/or conversation with LSU. 

"I'm going to say this right now: I love being here. This is the job I want. I've got a great contract, I've got an unbelievable chancellor, an unbelievable president, an unbelievable AD. We're recruiting great players. I really believe we're on a process of building something great. I plan on being here and fulfilling this contract.

My family has roots here, I've got ranches here, I hunt here, I love everything about this place. 

There's nothing going on there, there's nothing happening there. I coached there, it was a great place, we won national championships, it's a wonderful place. I love being at A&M and I plan on fulfilling my whole contract. I love everything about this place.

And let me tell you something else: The way this place has embraced me and my family, including our foundation. I love everything about the people here, the administration here, and the people who run this organization, and I love it here."

There's all the above, and the reality of that Texas A&M signed him to a fully guaranteed 10-year, $75 million contract and then just last month extended him for four more years at $9 million per year, keeping him on a fully-guaranteed deal through 2031.

Texas A&M's commitment to Jimbo Fisher is only met or exceeded by Alabama's to Nick Saban, and it's clear from his comments today that Jimbo appreciates that.