Texas A&M beat Arkansas 24-17 from AT&T Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and new Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher got pretty upset with one of his players, linebacker Tyrel Dodson.
Jimbo Fisher yanked a player’s face mask, and ex-NFL players do not approve
The A&M head coach said after the game he was trying to tell his player not to get into a fight.
So upset, in fact, that he grabbed him by the face mask and pushed him backward with it. The video went viral, with former Texas Longhorns linebacker and current ESPN analyst Emmanual Acho among those criticizing Fisher:
A lot of other former pros, like former Oregon and NFL offensive lineman and current SB Nation contributor Geoff Schwartz disapproved of what Fisher did:
More from Acho:
Former USC and Vikings QB Sean Salisbury also chimed in:
Former Pro Bowl lineman Mark Schlereth:
Current Chargers cornerback and former Florida Gator Jaylen Watkins added:
After the game, Fisher was asked about the incident.
“They’re getting in an argument and a fight,” Fisher told reporters. “I don’t need that guy out there pushing and shoving, getting in a fight in the game. Lose one of our best players on defense and our team leader, that’s great. Learn to put your pride away and go on the sideline. There ain’t no sense to go out there and push and shove and do dumb things out there when you’re locked in on a game. He plays great, he’s a heck of a players for us.
“We’ve had Dodson gone for a game or two. We had that. In a game like that, to lose [number] 25? I was just trying to make a point — I don’t want you out there fighting. Make the play, shut your mouth and go on. And he is a great player. Emotions get in football, it’s an emotional game. But you gotta play intelligently, you gotta play to win. Dodson’s one of our team leaders, that’s a guy we count on for everything, make calls, do everything, man, that guys’s critical.
“And you gotta understand that role, and there’s something bigger than the individual battles that you’re going with. That’s all I was trying to make a point to him.”
As for Dodson, he had this to say on Twitter after the game:
We’ve seen plenty of head coaches go viral for stuff like this before — former Florida head coach Jim McElwain was criticized for berating a player, and Woody Hayes certainly would’ve gone viral, if social media existed at the time. While Fisher says he was just trying to make a point to one of his players, it’s obvious that not everyone agrees with how he did it.
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