Jimbo Fisher has yet to beat Nick Saban and Alabama in three tries as Texas A&M's coach, but he's still getting a raise and contract extension.
Texas A&M announced Wednesday that its board of regents approved extending Fisher's contract through the 2031 season with an annual compensation that will be raised from $7.5 million in 2021 to $9,150,000 million in 2022, with subsequent annual raises of $100,000 through Dec. 31, 2031.
Fisher, 55, is being rewarded for the Aggies going 9-1 last season -- their lone loss was 52-24 at Alabama -- and beating North Carolina in the Orange Bowl. His overall record at Texas A&M is 26-10.
In 2018, Texas A&M lured Fisher from Florida State -- where his Seminoles beat Auburn to win the 2013 national championship but also lost to Alabama to open the 2017 season -- with a 10-year, $75 million contract.
Adding the annual raises starting in 2022 to Fisher's $7.5 million for this year, his total guaranteed financial compensation the next 10 seasons will be $93,450,000.
The Houston Chronicle broke the news of Fisher's extension being in the works. Fisher's original deal with Texas A&M was extended by four seasons.
When the extension and raise kick in next year, Fisher will be the second-highest paid coach in the country behind Saban. In August, Saban, 69, signed an extension through 2028 that will pay him $10.6 million annually.
Fisher on the SEC teleconference Wednesday said that he's grateful about the new deal, but that he needs to focus on this season, starting with Saturday's opener against Kent State -- Saban's alma mater.
"It's a tremendous organization with tremendous people who give us all the support," Fisher said of Texas A&M. "They're behind us 100%. I'm very appreciative of them and everything they do for us, that's for sure."
Aggies Athletic Director Ross Bjork told reporters Wednesday the timing of Fisher's new contract is significant.
"It's really, really important to get this done before we start playing games," said Bjork, according to TexasAgs.com. "It further shows our commitment not only to Coach Fisher, but to Aggie football.
"We're on the right track to building towards championship-level success. Our momentum at Texas A&M has never been greater. We need to capture that and show we're committed to the highest level of football success."
The Aggies open this season ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press poll after finishing last season ranked No. 4 -- Texas A&M's highest final ranking since winning the 1939 national championship.
'Coach' to start at QB
Zeb Noland began preseason practice as a graduate assistant coach for South Carolina. He was assisting receivers coach Justin Stepp, the former Arkansas assistant.
But instead of being an obscure member of the Gamecocks' staff for Saturday's season opener against Eastern Illinois, Noland will be the team's starting quarterback.
Noland, who has a season of eligibility left after playing at Iowa State and North Dakota State, began practicing with the Gamecocks early in camp after starting quarterback Luke Doty suffered a foot injury that will sideline him for the opener.
Within two weeks, Noland, 24, had moved up the depth chart to be the No. 1 quarterback in Doty's absence.
"He just brings an older presence to not only the quarterback room but the offense," Gamecocks center Eric Douglas told The State newspaper. "Sometimes if things are going wrong, we've got Zeb back there screaming and it's like, 'Oh, wow. We haven't heard that before.' "
Noland played in nine games over two seasons at Iowa State, then played two seasons at North Dakota State, including seven games last spring. In 24 career college games, Noland has passed for 2,115 yards and 12 touchdowns.
When Oklahoma beat Iowa State 37-27 in 2018, Noland passed for 360 yards.
South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer got a first-hand look at Noland from the sidelines as an Oklahoma assistant.
"When we were talking to [Noland] about becoming a graduate assistant here, I remember the very first time [offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield] talked to him on the phone, Satt came to me and he's like, 'That guy might be the smartest quarterback I've ever talked to in my entire life,' " said Beamer, according to The Athletic. "So it's no surprise from a mental standpoint that he's able to pick stuff up."
Noland can play for South Carolina because the NCAA awarded players an extra season of eligibility as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It never came up in my conversations with him," Beamer said to The Athletic. "I didn't ask. I wasn't thinking about covid years and all that stuff.
"He came in here and got to work and got rolling and then there was one day in late June, early July where Satt mentioned, 'You do know that Zeb has some eligibility left if we need it?'
"It kind of hit me then. We joked around with him about it for the entire month of July. Then it got very serious."
Week on the road
LSU, which plays at UCLA on Saturday night, has taken a detour to Houston this week because of Hurricane Ida.
With Ida battering Louisiana, the Tigers players and staff members loaded onto buses Saturday night and drove to Houston, where LSU has practiced this week at NRG Stadium, home to the NFL's Houston Texans.
LSU will travel from Houston to Los Angeles on Friday.
"The players and the coaches have handled it great," Tigers Coach Ed Orgeron said of practice in Houston. "It was a long trip coming over here, but we got to rest on Sunday."
It took the Tigers 11 1/2 hours to drive to Houston from Baton Rouge because of heavy traffic resulting from Hurricane Ida evacuees.
"Our team has been focused, everybody is early to meetings," Orgeron said. "We're kind of in our well-protected cocoon here."
Orgeron said the decision was made Friday morning to leave Baton Rouge after Saturday's practice.
"We knew the hurricane was coming, and it came up fast," Orgeron said. "We met with the administration. Everybody was on the same page. Thoughts were if we stay in Baton Rouge, are our players going to be in harm's way? I didn't want that.
"If we did stay, we'd be taking a chance if we could practice or couldn't practice. We definitely needed the opportunity to get our players safe and the opportunity to practice."
Measuring stick
Season openers don't get much bigger than No. 3 Clemson against No. 5 Georgia in Charlotte, N.C.
"It'll be a national measuring stick for everybody to say, 'Oh, Georgia's either here or Georgia's gone.' I acknowledge that, I understand that," Bulldogs Coach Kirby Smart said at his weekly news conference. "That's not going to change how we prepare for this game, that's not going to change how we prepare for the next game. It's life, it's what the world is made out of."
Georgia quarterback JT Daniels said the Clemson game needs to be kept in perspective.
"As big and as cool as it is, it's week one," Daniels told reporters this week. "You could beat Clemson by 100 and lose the rest of the season and not win the SEC. Or we could lose by 100 and win the SEC and everything goes our way."
Smart said he expects the media to blow the game out of proportion no matter the outcome.
"For you guys, it's over if you don't win, you won it all if you do win," Smart said. "For us, it's an opportunity to grow, it's going to make us better in our SEC schedule regardless of the outcome of the game.
"We're going to be a better team for having played these guys, and [Clemson] can say the same for us."
No comment
Mississippi State Coach Mike Leach didn't have much to say at his weekly news conference when asked whether he's comfortable with how many of his players have been vaccinated for covid-19.
"I don't comment on vaccines," Leach said. "I don't comment on injuries. And I don't comment on covid. That path changes all the time, so we let doctors handle that."
Leach also was asked about the SEC's policy of teams forfeiting if they don't have enough available players because of a covid outbreak or other reasons.
"I don't know. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Leach said. "I do know this -- last year we played the University of Georgia with something like 44 scholarship guys available. If we can do that, we probably won't forfeit."
Georgia beat Mississippi State 31-24 in Athens, Ga.
Rebels can run
Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin is known for the big pass plays he calls, and the Rebels have one of the top quarterbacks in the country in junior Matt Corral.
But as Kiffin accurately pointed out during his Monday news conference, running the ball is an Ole Miss strength.
"It always is with us," Kiffin said when asked the importance of the running game for the season opener against Louisville in Atlanta. "I think there's a misconception that we just throw the ball.
"We led the SEC in rushing last year, a lot of it is because we ran the ball way more than anyone else did in the SEC per game. We're always committed to [running]. And when we don't do it in games, we get out of balance. So we need to do that."
Ole Miss averaged an SEC-best 210.6 rushing yards per game last season.
NFL style
Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz said at his weekly news conference that he will be releasing an NFL-style injury report each Thursday and list players as being probable, questionable or doubtful for that Saturday's game.
"For us, our policy is if you practice on Thursday, you get a chance to play," Drinkwitz said. "If you don't practice by Thursday, you're out."
SEC TOP TO BOTTOM
Rank;2020 record;comment
1;Alabama;13-0;Can Miami offer a challenge?
2;Georgia;8-2;Monster opener vs. Clemson
3;Texas A&M;9-1;Looking to beat Saban's alma mater
4;LSU;5-5;Coach O and Tigers take on UCLA
5;Florida;8-4;In-state matchup with Florida Atlantic
6;Ole Miss;5-5:Monday night game against Louisville
7;Missouri;5-5;High expectations in Drinkwitz's 2nd season
8;Kentucky;5-6;Stoops going into 9th season
9;Auburn;6-5;Harsin back with team after being quarantined
10;Arkansas;3-7;Lots of seniors for Pittman
11;Mississippi State;4-7;Leach faces Skip Holtz
12;Tennessee;3-7;Could be rough 1st season for Heupel
13;South Carolina;2-8;Shane Beamer looking to make name for himself
14;Vanderbilt;0-9;Should get win vs. ETSU
PLAYER TO WATCH
Alabama QB Bryce Young, 6-0, 194 pounds
Young, a sophomore from Pasadena, Calif., will make his first college start when the No. 1 Crimson Tide play No. 14 Miami on Saturday in Atlanta. He's got a tough act to follow considering Alabama's last three starting quarterbacks -- Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones -- were all drafted in the first two rounds to the NFL.
Rated the nation's top dual-threat quarterback as a recruit, Young passed for 13,250 yards and 152 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,084 yards and 26 touchdowns at Mater Dei High School.
In limited playing time in nine games last season, Young completed 13 of 22 passes for 156 yards and 1 touchdown.
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 5 Georgia, 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC)
WHERE Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
RECORDS Opener for both teams
LINE Clemson by 3
Kudos to Georgia and Clemson for agreeing to open the season against each other in such a high-profile game with national title implications for both teams.
It's the 65th time the Bulldogs and Tigers have played, but first time since 2014 when Georgia won 45-21 in Athens.
Georgia has a 42-18-4 series lead.
Other Games
Thursday
Bowling Green at Tennessee
WHEN 7 p.m.
2020 RECORDS Bowling Green 0-5; Tennessee 3-7
TV SEC Network
LINE Tennessee by 33
Saturday
Louisiana-Monroe at Kentucky
WHEN 11 a.m.
2020 RECORDS Louisiana-Monroe 0-10; Kentucky 5-6
TV SEC Network
LINE Kentucky by 31
Rice at Arkansas
WHEN 1 p.m.
2020 RECORDS Rice 2-3; Arkansas 3-7
TV None
LINE Arkansas by 19 1/2
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 14 Miami
WHEN 2:30 p.m.
WHERE Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
2020 RECORDS Alabama 13-0; Miami 8-3
TV ABC
LINE Alabama by 19 1/2
Louisiana Tech at Mississippi State
WHEN 3 p.m.
2020 RECORDS Louisiana Tech 5-5; Mississippi State 4-7
TV ESPNU
LINE Mississippi State by 23
Central Michigan at Missouri
WHEN 3 p.m.
2020 RECORDS 3-3; Missouri 5-5
TV SEC Network
LINE Missouri by 14 1/2
Akron at Auburn
WHEN 6 p.m.
2020 RECORDS Akron 1-5; Auburn 6-5
TV None
LINE Auburn by 36 1/2
Eastern Illinois at South Carolina
WHEN 6 p.m.
RECORDS Eastern Illinois 0-1; South Carolina 0-0
TV None
LINE South Carolina by 40 1/2
Florida Atlantic at No. 13 Florida
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
2020 RECORDS Florida Atlantic 5-4; Florida 8-4
TV SEC Network
LINE Florida by 23 1/2
No. 5 Georgia at No. 3 Clemson
WHEN 6:30 p.m.
2020 RECORDS Georgia 8-2; Clemson 10-2
TV ABC
LINE Clemson by 3
Kent State at No. 6 Texas A&M
WHEN 7 p.m.
2020 RECORDS Kent 3-1; Texas A&M 9-1
TV ESPNU
LINE Texas A&M by 28 1/2
East Tennessee State at Vanderbilt
WHEN 7 p.m.
2020 RECORDS East Tennessee State 4-2; Vanderbilt 0-9
TV None
LINE Vanderbilt by 21 1/2
No. 16 LSU at UCLA
WHEN 7:30 p.m.
RECORDS LSU 0-0; UCLA 1-0
TV Fox
LINE LSU by 3
Monday
Louisville vs. Ole Miss
WHEN 7 p.m.
WHERE Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
2020 RECORDS Louisville 4-7; Ole Miss 5-5
TV ESPN
LINE Ole Miss by 10
BY THE NUMBERS
$93,450,000 -- What Texas A&M will owe Coach Jimbo Fisher over the next 10 years
66-17 -- Alabama's record against top 25 teams since 2008, including 6-0 last season.
1897 -- First Georgia-Clemson meeting. The Bulldogs won 24-0 in Athens.
11 1/2 -- Hours it took for LSU's team buses to drive from Baton Rouge to Houston with the highways filled with Hurricane Ida evacuees
OVERHEARD
"I think he's the same height."
-- Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz when asked on he SEC coaches' teleconference about the growth of quarterback Connor Bazelak since last season.
"Well, we won 69-0. So that would be cool if a real game went like that."
-- Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin on the Rebels' mock game last week in preparation for Monday night's opener against Louisville.
"You feel the crowd. You don't just hear it, but you feel it."
-- Florida Coach Dan Mullen on being able to play in front of larger crowds this season.
