Jimbo Fisher fired as Texas A&M head coach, still owed $76 million
COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M fired coach Jimbo Fisher on Sunday, a move that will cost the school more than $75 million and end a tenure that began six years ago with the Aggies presenting him an engraved national championship trophy missing only the year.
"After very careful analysis of all the components related to Texas A&M football, I recommended to President (Mark) Welsh and then Chancellor (John) Sharp that a change in the leadership of the program was necessary in order for Aggie football to reach our full potential, and they accepted my decision," Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said in a statement. "We appreciate Coach Fisher’s time here at Texas A&M, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."
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Instead of winning a title, Fisher went 45-25 and 27-21 in the Southeastern Conference, never winning more than nine games in any season. The Aggies are 6-4 with two games left, coming off a 51-10 victory against Mississippi State on Saturday night in College Station, Texas.
Fisher was lured away from Florida State, where he had won a national championship in 2013, by a massive 10-year, fully guaranteed contract at the end of the 2017 season.
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That contract was extended back to 10 years after he led the Aggies to a 9-1 record during the 2020 pandemic season, by far A&M’s best year under Fisher.
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According to his contract, Fisher is owed the entirety of what remains on his deal — regardless of whether he gets another job in coaching — a staggering buyout that is more than triple the largest known given to a fired head coach.