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Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher issues another LSU denial: 'I ain't going nowhere'

Jimbo Fisher doubled down on Monday to reiterate that he plans to remain at Texas A&M.

Fisher is the top target of LSU athletic director Scott Woodward for the school’s head-coaching vacancy. That job is still open and the rumors surrounding Fisher have persisted. Naturally, Fisher continues to be peppered with questions about his future.

On Monday, Fisher issued perhaps his strongest refutal of those rumors yet.

“I’ve told everybody I’m staying here and I’ve told everybody I plan on being the coach at A&M. And everybody thinks all coaches lie,” Fisher said. “We’re going to recruit an unbelievable class this year, OK? So I’m either the dumbest human on God’s earth who’s going to recruit all these guys to A&M so I can go [to LSU] and go play against them. If I did that, you ought to say, ‘That’s the dumbest human being and I don’t want him to be my coach.’ OK?”

Fisher has connections to LSU AD Scott Woodward

Fisher had an eight-year run at Florida State that included a national championship. As his tenure at FSU started to go downhill, Fisher was lured to College Station by Woodward when Woodward was A&M’s athletic director. Woodward gave Fisher a 10-year, $75 million contract. Fisher is now in his fourth season at A&M and recently had his contract extended through 2031.

Woodward is now at LSU, where he previously worked with Fisher in the early 2000s. Fisher was the offensive coordinator for the Tigers from 2000 to 2006 under Nick Saban and later Les Miles. Woodward, a Baton Rouge native, worked at LSU from 2000 to 2004 before becoming the AD at Washington.

When Saban left LSU for the NFL, Fisher interviewed for the LSU job before the school hired Miles. Fisher was also linked to the LSU job in 2015 and 2016 when Miles’ status with the school was tenuous.

Despite those connections, Fisher has repeatedly denied interest in replacing Ed Orgeron at LSU. Last month, just after LSU made it official that Orgeron wouldn’t be back in 2022, Fisher said Texas A&M “is the job I want.”

“I love being here. I have a great contract. I have an unbelievable chancellor, an unbelievable president, an unbelievable AD. I believe we’re in the process of building something great. I plan on being here and fulfilling this contract. I love everything about this place,” Fisher said Oct. 18.

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher reacts to an official's call during the second half of the team's NCAA college football game against Mississippi, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, in Oxford, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher reacts to an official's call during the second half of the team's NCAA college football game against Mississippi, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, in Oxford, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Fisher: 'We're building special things' at Texas A&M

Fisher reiterated that on Monday, two days after the Aggies dropped to 7-3 with a road loss to Ole Miss.

“We’re gonna have special things here. We’re building special things. They’re investing in the program. They’re investing in everything we’ve got. We’re building the culture. We’re not where [we want to be]. And that was the disappointing thing about Saturday for me, that we didn’t take a step in some of the things I thought we really should have,” Fisher said.

“But I want to be at A&M. I plan on being at A&M. I ain’t going nowhere. I don’t want to be nowhere else. I love being right here.”

Texas A&M returns to the field at home on Saturday against Prairie View A&M, an FCS program. From there, the Aggies will close out the regular season on the road against, coincidentally, LSU on Nov. 27.