Texas A&M's Ross Bjork backs Jimbo Fisher after 'one bad season' - ESPN

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Despite a disappointing 5-7 season a year ago, Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork dismissed any talk Wednesday that coach Jimbo Fisher was on the hot seat entering the 2023 season.

«Build to last. That's my mantra,» Bjork told ESPN. «There's no panic here. You can't be a blow-by-the-wind program in how you make decisions and expect to win championships in the SEC. Sure, last year was disappointing for all of us, but I look at where we're headed, and so does Jimbo.»

The Aggies lost six straight games at one point last season — their first losing campaign since 2009 — struggled on offense and had 24 players enter the transfer portal following the 2022 season, including a handful of freshmen from the No. 1-ranked signing class in 2022.

One of the key moves Fisher made during the offseason was to bring in former Arkansas and Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator. Fisher is relinquishing playcalling duties to Petrino. The Aggies ranked 101st nationally last season in scoring offense (22.8 points per game).

«It was what was right for the program, the right time and the right guy,» Fisher said of his decision to hire Petrino. «It's something I had thought about a year or two before. I needed to be able to spend more time in other areas on our football team.»

Fisher signed a 10-year guaranteed contract extension just before the 2021 season that will pay him $95 million through 2031. If Texas A&M were to fire Fisher following the 2023 season, he would be owed $77 million.

Bjork said Fisher's buyout was «public record,» but that it wasn't something foremost on his mind as Fisher enters his fifth season in College Station. Fisher is 39-21 overall at Texas A&M. The