Texas A&M fires Jimbo Fisher, owes coach roughly $77 million buyout: Who could replace him?

By Bruce Feldman, Sam Khan Jr. and Chris Vannini

Texas A&M has fired football coach Jimbo Fisher, athletics director Ross Bjork confirmed in a statement Sunday. Bjork later said Mark Robinson, Texas A&M’s assistant athletic director for football operations and a longtime righthand man for Fisher, has also been dismissed.

“After very careful analysis of all the components related to Texas A&M football, I recommended to President Welsh and then Chancellor 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,” Bjork said. “We appreciate Coach Fisher’s time here at Texas A&M and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Elijah Robinson will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season and through Texas A&M’s bowl game, Bjork said.

The news of Fisher’s firing comes after the Aggies beat Mississippi State 51-10 on Saturday and improved to 6-4.

Fisher, 58, has eight years remaining on his contract with a buyout expected to be over $77 million. After signing a 10-year, $75 million contract in December 2017, he received an updated deal of 10 years, $95 million fully guaranteed in September 2021.

Bjork said Fisher’s buyout will be paid only by funds from the athletic department and the 12th Man Foundation, the athletic department’s primary fundraising arm. The 12th Man Foundation will pay for the initial one-time payment and the athletic department will fund annual payments.

GO DEEPER

Inside the numbers on Jimbo Fisher's eye-popping $77.6 million buyout

The Aggies hired Fisher, who won the national title with Florida State in 2013, ahead of the 2018 season. The team has gone 45-25 in his six seasons in College Station. Texas A&M went 5-7 last year, its first losing season since 2009.

The Aggies have not won a conference title since 1998 and have not won a national title since 1939.

TexAgs first reported that Texas A&M was expected to fire Fisher.

For more on Fisher and Texas A&M, follow The Athletic’s live blog here.

Why the Aggies are making this move

Six years into Fisher’s tenure, this program is no closer to the national championship aspirations it had when it hired him than it was with Fisher’s predecessor, Kevin Sumlin, who was fired following the 2017 season. After Fisher led the Aggies to a 9-1 season and top-five finish in 2020, the Aggies seemed to be an on upward trajectory.

Assembling annual top-10 recruiting classes, including the highest-rated class in the internet recruiting rankings era in 2022, put the Aggies in the talent stratosphere of the teams they aspired to be: Alabama, Georgia and LSU. Yet the results haven’t matched with Fisher going 19-15 overall, 10-13 against SEC teams and 12-14 against Power 5 teams since signing his contract extension in September 2021.

A&M had lost seven consecutive games by eight points or less, the longest active streak in the nation, and is 4-10 in such games since 2021. The Aggies haven’t won a true road game in two years, losing nine straight dating back to Oct. 16, 2021, their last road win over Missouri. Despite top-five talent, those results prompted the change. — Sam Khan Jr., college football senior writer

GO DEEPER

Texas A&M after Jimbo Fisher: Pluses, minuses and candidates for the job

How much will this cost Texas A&M?

On top of the $77 million or so owed to Fisher, millions more will be owed to assistant coaches let go. There will also be millions owed to a new staff, including potentially a buyout to the next coach’s previous school.

It’s not unreasonable that this entire change is going to cost $100 million by the end of the day, even if Fisher’s buyout is spread out over a long period. That doesn’t even include the NIL money that may be needed to keep talented players around.

At this point, does the money even feel real anymore? Texas A&M made the change now because getting a few million shaved off the buyout for Fisher next year wasn’t worth waiting around for. We know what oil and energy money can do. We just saw SMU raise $100 million in a week to help the program’s upcoming move to the ACC. A&M has more money and a lot more people.

The previous record for a buyout paid to a college coach was $21.45 million from Auburn to Gus Malzahn after the 2020 season, but this is a new stratosphere. It’s also certain to draw more scrutiny from lawmakers, lawyers and activists who say there’s too much money in college football that is not going to the players. — Chris Vannini, college football staff writer

GO DEEPER

Inside the numbers on Jimbo Fisher's eye-popping $77.6 million buyout

Who could replace Fisher?

Because of the money and resources, nothing is off the table. Potential candidates could include Duke coach Mike Elko, (a former A&M assistant), Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, Oregon coach Dan Lanning (who has a $20 million buyout), Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, Kansas coach Lance Leipold and UTSA coach Jeff Traylor, among others. — Vannini

GO DEEPER

Replacing Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M: Who are the candidates?