Tough love: Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher ‘learning every day’ how to communicate with today’s players - Houston Chronicle

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COLLEGE STATION – Three months into Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M tenure in the spring of 2018, quarterback Kellen Mond figured out it was a whole different ball game than what the players had become accustomed to.

“It’s a lot different from what we’ve seen before,” Mond said at the time of Fisher’s relentless approach in practice. “We do something wrong, he’s on us. If we do something right, he’s on us because there’s a better way to do (it).”

Fisher’s tough-love tactics worked at Florida State, where he led the Seminoles to a national title in his fourth season in 2013. These days the oft-blunt coach is in a self-described “learning curve” for himself and his peers, however, as players across the nation post to social media the daily goings-on of a program, including when a coach is too callous for their liking.

Fisher, with his third season at A&M starting Sept. 26 at home against Vanderbilt, is aware of the new world he lives in, in trying to mold and strengthen young men for life beyond football and college.

“You’re learning every day,” Fisher said. “… I am a very tough coach and a tough-love guy, and you want practices to be tough and you want to push them so they do well when those situations occur out there. (But) I am making myself more aware, and more aware of how you do things, and these kids’ feelings at certain times.”

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A prime example of a passionate, social media-savvy player is A&M junior safety Leon O’Neal, a former Cypress Springs High standout. Pre-social media if a player wore his emotions on his sleeves, perhaps only his team, friends and family would know, but now that type of demonstrative player wears them on the ends of his fingertips – the ones used to enter a message that can be read worldwide in a matter of seconds.

“… I want to thank my brothers for the love and support,” O’Neal posted in part to Twitter in February. “Our bond will last forever. I have now placed myself in the transfer portal.”

Except that O’Neal is still part of the team after things apparently calmed in his life.

“Social media can be a great thing, and it can be a bad thing,” Fisher said in the spring. “Not just (O’Neal), but everybody does it. They put their feelings out there and how they feel right at that time. It’s not indicative of who they are or what they are, it’s just what they’re feeling at that moment.”

Fisher, 54, also said he’s become a better listener in the time since George Floyd, a Black man who grew up in Houston, was killed under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer in late January, sparking worldwide protests against police brutality and social injustice.

“What’s going on and what’s actually affecting (our players) in the world … that’s where we’re continually learning as coaches, to try and listen and let these kids tell us the issues they see, and some of the things they see we may not even see ourselves,” Fisher said. “It’s educational for us each and every day.”

The Aggies on Aug. 28 set aside practice and marched onto campus in the name of racial equality and social justice – Black players comprise about two-thirds of A&M’s roster – and Fisher joined the march. He also spoke to the assembled group on campus that included athletes and coaches from other sports at A&M.

“We want to let them know we support them 1,000 percent in everything that’s going on,” Fisher explained. “Some of our players brought some of those issues up, and thought it was a time to … reflect and help, and (discuss) the issues that were going on and within our team. I thought our team leaders did a great job in that regard.

“The reason I spoke (at the gathering) was to let them know to keep us aware … staying aware of their feelings, and talking and keeping the open line of communication, and try to support them in every way we can, which we totally do.”

Fisher added that he’s in full support of change, if that change helps lead to more equality for all.

“Because social injustice has no place in this world, and we’re going to do everything we can to support (the players) and create things for ourselves to help make change in the future, from things they have told us and helped us with,” he said.

Fisher, whose voice often can be heard above others during an A&M practice, joked prior to the start of camp in August that his players might like him to wear multiple facemasks, to help muffle his yells.

But while he is considered tougher on his players than his predecessor at A&M, Kevin Sumlin, the Aggies have had only a handful of players “opt out” of the season during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the NCAA has ruled all players will not lose a year of eligibility this season, whether or not they play.

Backup quarterback James Foster, who intends to transfer, and defensive backs Elijah Blades and Derrick Tucker have opted out of this fall. Blades, a starting cornerback, is using the opportunity to fully recover from a nagging shoulder injury, and Tucker had slid down the depth chart with an influx of young, highly-rated defensive backs under Fisher. Tucker also said he intends to be a part of the Black Lives Matter movement in his time away from football.

The Aggies and the 13 other programs in the SEC are playing a 10-game, conference-only regular season schedule because of the pandemic.

“Guys on the team have 100 percent bought into everything that coach Fisher has to offer us,” senior linebacker Buddy Johnson said. “Guys want to be a part of this. Football is a sport that’s physical but it’s also mental, and coach Fisher understands that. He wants us to be on the field, he actually cares about us, and when we’re on the field he wants us to be 100 percent ready to go.

“If guys are not 100 percent ready to go, he’s going to take the time to make sure guys are doing well.”

As for Fisher allowing the missed practice for a solid talk on societal issues?

“Coach Fisher understands everything going on,” Johnson said, “and he knew we had to take a step back to actually address (the issues). We had great talks about it.”

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