The long overdue final chapter of the Jimbo Fisher Experiment came to a merciful conclusion in 2023. Texas A&M officials were left with no choice but to pull the plug on the former national championship coach after 5-plus years of high expectation and little results after gifting him the largest contract in college football history.

Interim head coach Elijah Robinson finished out the season, including a 31-23 loss to Oklahoma State at the Texas Bowl in Houston on Wednesday night. On the game’s first play, Jaylen Henderson became the Aggies’ 3rd quarterback to be injured in 2023, and Marcel Reed took over. The freshman from Nashville, a former Mr. Tennessee Football, completed 20-of-33 passes (1 INT) for 361 yards – the most by an Aggies QB in a game this season.

Texas A&M closed the book on a 7-6 season of turmoil that not only saw the firing of its head coach but also a mass exodus via the transfer portal.

As of the bowl game, Texas A&M had 21 players in the transfer portal, including 9 already committed to other programs. The most notable losses are DL Walter Nolen (Ole Miss), Texas A&M’s highest-rated recruit ever, as well as DL Fadil Diggs (Syracuse), DL LT Overton (Alabama), S Jardin Gilbert (LSU), TE Jake Johnson (North Carolina) and WR Raymond Cottrell (Kentucky).

Wide receiver Evan Stewart, CB Tyreek Chappell, CB Deuce Harmon, and DL Isaiah Raikes are among those in the portal but still undecided on a destination.

Here’s a look at the final grades for the Aggies’ offense, defense and coaching for the 2023 season.

Offense

Running game: D

The run game simply wasn’t very good this year, and that’s putting it mildly. It ranked 10th in the SEC averaging 141 yards per game over the 12-game regular season. Four times, the Aggies failed to rush for 100 yards. In 8 of the 12 games prior to bowl season, the Aggies were held to under 160 yards rushing.

Amari Daniels ran for a team-high 514 yards in the regular season — and added only 18 more in the bowl loss. Daniels’ total was the fewest since the 2008 season, when Mike Goodson led the 4-8 Aggies with 406 rushing yards. A veteran offensive line didn’t help matters with a puzzlingly inconsistent season. Normally reliant on a physical style run game, the Aggies never got a consistent running game going in 2023.

Passing game: C+

Inconsistency could best describe the passing game. It could also be used to describe their quarterback situation as well. Blame injuries, but 3 quarterbacks played at least 4 games. Conner Weigman played very well in the season’s first 4 games before suffering a season-ending foot injury. LSU transfer Max Johnson took over and played in 8 games before an injury sent him to the sidelines as well. Jaylen Henderson rounded out the trio with a strong showing in his 4 games of action before he, too, was injured in the bowl game.

The 3 combined to average 262 passing yards per game, which ranked 6th in the SEC. Not bad, but not that good, either. Johnson led the team with 1,452 passing yards (9 TDs, 5 INTs). Weigman accounted for 979 yards, 8 TDs with only 2 picks, in half the number of games. That at least bodes well for the future, assuming Weigman, a sophomore, is able to return to form.

Defense

Run defense: A

The Aggies led the SEC in rushing defense, allowing just 106.67 yards per game. They also gave up the fewest rushing TDs (7) in the regular season. In 6 games, the Aggies held opponents to under 100 yards rushing. Only Tennessee (232) rushed for more than 154 yards.

Junior LB Edgerrin Cooper led the charges with 84 tackles, and freshman LB Taurean York helped shore up a position that was lacking from a year ago. They complemented a highly talented D-line that included the departing Nolen and Diggs, along with holdovers (for now) Shemar Turner and McKinley Jackson.

Pass defense: A

Only 1 SEC team — Georgia — allowed fewer passing yards than the Aggies, who gave up 188.3 per game.

The Aggies held 4 passing attacks to fewer than 105 yards. The d-line played a big part, too, applying consistent pressure. Cooper (8.0) and Turner (6.0) were among the SEC sack leaders while Josh DeBerry (9), Chappell (8) and Harmon (8) were among the league leaders in passes defended.

Coaching: F

This is self-explanatory when the head coach is fired — and even more so when he receives the largest buyout in the sport’s history. The Aggies barely finished the regular season with a winning record despite being one of the most talented in the conference.

Fisher never resonated with the team. He was tough on his quarterbacks during the game, often berating them as they came off the field. Whatever his technique, it didn’t work in College Station and Fisher never really came close to duplicating the national championship season he had at Florida State.

Final thought on the 2023 Aggies …

It was yet another in the long list of seasons to forget for Texas A&M under Fisher, who save for a 9-1 COVID season of 2020 and a No. 4 ranking, accomplished little else.

The Aggies finished only 1 other season ranked in the AP Top 25 under Fisher. In 2018, his first season, the Aggies went 9-4 and finished ranked No. 16. Outside of those 2 seasons, the Aggies were a very pedestrian 27-20 under Fisher.

He finished 45-25 (.643) at A&M, meaning he didn’t even win as many games — or as regularly — as Kevin Sumlin (51-26, .662).

They offered $75 million to lure him away from Florida State and now, factoring in a contract extension, will hand over $77.6 million (in installments) to buy out the contract and send him away.

The hiring of former Aggies DC Mike Elko rings in a new era of football at Texas A&M. For some, it brings renewed enthusiasm for a different direction while others remain downtrodden at the failure of the big-name coach and the inability to replace him with an equal or bigger name in the business.