Texas A&M football fired head coach Jimbo Fisher on Sunday. The move did not come as a shock to the CFB community, as the former TAMU coach was on the hot seat since the start of the 2023 season.
He is a top-10 highest-paid college football coach overall, coming in at No. 8 with a steep $9.1M per year in salary and bonuses.
With the Aggies’ decision to let him go, the school triggered the contract buyout clause that was to expire in 2030. It is a large chunk of money often given to prepone a contract by compensating the coach with potential earnings he could’ve made as head coach.
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Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M contract buyout
Jimbo Fisher is set to receive $76.8M, in what is one of the most expensive contract buyouts in
college football history.
Here’s a quick table exploring how much Texas A&M football would’ve paid Fisher, as the contract matured year on year.
| Year | Money Owed |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $76,800,000 |
| 2024 | $67,550,000 |
| 2025 | $58,000,000 |
| 2026 | $48,750,000 |
| 2027 | $39,200,000 |
| 2028 | $29,550,000 |
| 2029 | $19,800,000 |
| 2030 | $9,950,000 |
Texas A&M to pay Jimbo Fisher $77.5M
Here’s a quick breakdown of what Texas A&M’s payout to Jimbo Fisher will be like. The actual payout is $1M more than the widely reported of $76.8M. Fisher’s revised payout stands at $77,562,500.
| Timeframe | Amount |
|---|---|
| Within 60 Days | $19.4 million |
| Within 120 Days | $7.27 million |
| 2025 | $7.27 million |
| 2026 | $7.27 million |
| 2027 | $7.27 million |
| 2028 | $7.27 million |
| 2029 | $7.27 million |
| 2030 | $7.27 million |
| 2031 | $7.27 million |
These are the main terms of the buyout clause: 25% within 60 days, which comes down to around $19.3 M, and 7 equal payments for $7.2M starting no later than March 11, 2024. Jimbo Fisher’s record contract buyout for the next 120 days ($26.6 M) is extremely near to what Deion Sanders would get in a 5-year Colorado contract ($32.2M). With the former FSU coach’s dismissal, what’s next for both Texas A&M and Fisher?
5 Jimbo Fisher replacements for Texas A&M
Texas A&M, one of the top SEC schools in the country, now needs a worthy replacement. Here
are our top 5 football coaching candidate recommendations:
- Dan Lanning
- Lane Kiffin
- Urban Meyer
- Kliff Kingsbury
- Lance Leopold
What’s next for Jimbo Fisher?
Jimbo Fisher will be looking for his next gig as he hasn’t announced any plans of stepping down from coaching duties anytime soon. Many fans have speculated Fisher to lead other CFB programs or head to the NFL as HC or in the capacity of an OC/DC.
Whatever the ex-TAMU coach decides, If you gave us north of $20M in the next 120 days, we would head for a long vacation on the Bahamas shore before thinking about our next steps. You deserve it, Jimbo!
