TEPPER: The 3 things Jimbo Fisher must to do succeed at Texas A&M

Texas A&M got their man. After a month of rumors and a week of courtship, the Aggies landed Jimbo Fisher to be 26^th coach in school history. The 52-year-old leaves Florida State — his first head coaching job — after eight seasons, 83 wins, three conference titles and a national championship in 2013. He becomes the lone coach in the state of Texas with an FBS national title to his name. There’s little debate that Jimbo Fisher is one of the best college football coaches in America, making this a coup for the Aggies. But now, the work begins, and there are three things that Fisher must do to ensure his time in College Station is everything Aggies dream it can be.1: Shore up his Texas bona fides For all of the qualities that Fisher brings to Aggieland, Texas ties are not among them. Largely a product of the eastern quarter of the country — a West Virginia native, a Samford alum, a coach primarily in SEC territory — Fisher has never coached in Texas. He hasn’t recruited here much lately, either: since he took over as the Seminoles’ head coach, he’s signed a grand total of six players from the Lone Star State. That will have to change at A&M, and the best way to do that is to may be to become a friend of Texas high school football coaches. Matt Rhule faced a similar situation when he was hired at Baylor earlier this year, and he quickly moved to hire three prominent Texas high school football coaches as assistants. Fisher would be well-served to follow a similar path to ensure he can lure the state’s top prospects to College Station. 2: Sort out the quarterback situation Texas A&M had some inconsistent quarterback play in 2017, and that may be generous. Nick Starkel and Kellen Mond both flashed potential at times between injuries (for Starkel) and inconsistency (for Mond), and the signal-caller spot would’ve been up-in-the-air for 2018 even if the Aggies had retained Kevin Sumlin. Now, it’s up to Fisher to find the right guy to trigger his offense. Will he opt for the pocket-oriented Starkel? The more mobile Mond? Or a third option, perhaps someone out on the recruiting trail right now? Whomever he chooses, it will have a huge impact on what the Aggies look like in Fisher’s first season — and his second, and third. 3: Stress the process Aggie fans are rightfully gleeful over Fisher’s arrival, but it’s worth mentioning that Texas A&M probably won’t win the national championship next season. In fact, they’ll be underdogs to win their own division of their own conference in 2018. And there is a fair chance that Fisher is a .500 coach at A&M a third of the way through his first season, considering the Aggies face Clemson and Alabama (in Tuscaloosa, mind you) in their first four games of 2018. And all of that is OK, as long as Fisher approaches things with the long-term in mind. The word of the day at Fisher’s introductory press conference should be “build” — Fisher will try to build the Aggies toward being a national power, and building takes time. It’s not going to happen overnight, or with one recruiting class, or with one season. Fisher would be well-served reminding his new fan base that the goal is sustained success over the long term, not a one-year flash.