CHARLOTTE – Time is not ticking for Jimbo Fisher to name his defensive coordinator, according to Texas A&M’s new head football coach.
In fact, Fisher said time is on his side with it being the dead period for recruiting, allowing him to “just get the right guy.”
“When the time is right,” Fisher said of his timetable of naming a new DC Thursday morning. “We’ve got plenty of time. That’s the one thing about this dead period, you’ve got no rush to do things because you have until [Jan. 12] to do so because you can get back on the road.”
Reports have surfaced that the Aggies’ current defensive coordinator John Chavis could be Arkansas bound to join the Razorbacks’ staff in the same position. Fisher said he has not talked with Chavis regarding his future at A&M.
Still, Fisher has already assembled his offensive staff, headed by coordinator Darrell Dickey from Memphis. Joining Fisher from Florida State are Tim Brewster, Jay Graham and Dameyune Craig who will coach tight ends, running backs and wide receivers, respecitively. Current A&M offensive line coach Jim Turner is expected to be retained.
Fisher said things will get rolling even more once the Aggies return from the Belk Bowl in Charlotte.
“I like where the staff is,” Fisher said. “After the New Year we’ll make some additions that people will see and hopefully I’ll have that finalized pretty quickly.”
One potential coach that could also be retained is A&M’s interim head coach Jeff Banks, who would likely serve solely as special teams coordinator under Fisher with the hiring for Brewster.
Banks said that a decision regarding his future at A&M will be made in the days following the bowl game, adding that he has loved his five years in College Station.
“I’ll re-evaluate it with my family and the options I’ll have job-wise after this and we’ll go from there,” Banks said. “Obviously Jimbo Fisher’s putting together an unbelievable staff, he’s got a great vision and those are just things I have to weigh when I get done with the bowl game.”
Banks said that being the head man for the past month has “peaked his interest” in becoming a head coach one day and has made him re-evaluate what his goals as a coach are and where he sees his future going.
“I didn’t know that would be a goal of mine,” Banks said. “I’ve just always really liked the special teams aspect of the game. Doing it at the highest level in the National Football League would probably be my number one goal. But then you get thrust into this, hey Sunday afternoon you’re going to address the team after Kevin Sumlin’s being let go, and now 20 days later you look at this and say, there’s certainly good things about this type of job.”