Jimbo Fisher is 11-5 through his first season-plus at Texas A&M. However, he also has the chance to turn the Aggies into a top-level program, and ESPN analyst Marty Smith appears to believe that’s already happening.

In College Station with the SEC Nation crew for Saturday’s Texas A&M-Auburn game, Smith shared with TexAgs.com why he thinks Fisher has proven he’s the right head coach for the Aggies and how they’ve adapted under him.

“I see a transition in personality. Jimbo is a hardass,” Smith said. “Jimbo is a real hard-nosed guy. He’s never lost that West Virginia blue-collar thing. And I know it, because I grew up near him, I grew up in Appalachia, I know who he is. And I know who [Alabama head coach Nick] Saban is, at the foundation, root level. Jimbo’s brought that everywhere with him, he took it to all those offensive coordinator jobs he had, at LSU and Auburn, and he took it to Tallahassee, Fla., and he’s most certainly brought it here to Texas.

“And I see it ratcheted up even a little bit here, because that’s the brand here, too. He fits perfectly here, and I can see that the players have taken on that personality, the whole program has. It’s awesome.”

Texas A&M has a challenging schedule this season, so a win over Auburn on Saturday could be huge for building momentum into the rest of the year. The Aggies and Tigers are set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Later in the season, Texas A&M has games against No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 LSU. It already played No. 1 Clemson, which it lost to, 24-10, on Sept. 7.