Jimbo Fisher is owed $76 million guaranteed by Texas A&M University after his firing this past Sunday.
Fisher’s tenure with the Aggies was subpar going just 45-25 with a 64% win percentage during his nearly six seasons. That’s a far cry from the 78% win percentage and 83-23 overall record he compiled at Florida State during his time with the Seminoles, which included a national championship in 2013. Arguably, Fisher’s demise came at the hands of Nick Saban in 2017 during his time at Florida State as explained here, but the Aggies didn’t see it like that.
The success at Florida State is also why Texas A&M awarded Jimbo with a 10-year $75 million contract when they hired him back in 2018. After a 9-1 season in 2020, the Aggies pulled the trigger giving Jimbo a pay increase which made his contract an astonishing $94.5 million 10-year fully-guaranteed.
Fast forward a few years and now that the Aggies have fired Fisher, it leaves Fisher to arguably be the real winner receiving the previously mentioned $76 million the university will pay him annually through 2031.
So how do buyouts usually work? And beyond the money, why is Jimbo’s getting so much attention?
Looking at Jimbo Fisher’s Contract & Buyout at Texas A&M
Typically when a coach gets terminated, the university owes them their buyout unless they take a head coaching job at another FBS school. In this case, the buyout becomes null-in-void and the coach earns what he’s making on his new contract at his new school solely.
Considering a coach was terminated from his previous school, chances are that paycheck will be significantly smaller than their previous stop. This is also the reason that you see fired head coaches seemingly take a few years off and often times start working for various media networks, and then diving back into coaching a few years later.
Two examples of this are below:
Dan Mullen – Mullen was fired in 2021. His contract was through 2026 after Florida gave him an extension which made him at the time the sixth highest paid coach in the FBS at $7.5 million. Hence the reason you haven’t seen Mullen on the sideline since, but rather in the media booth this season for ESPN. While Mullen’s name has been thrown around, especially as it pertains to returning to Starkville for the Mississippi State job after the firing of Zach Arnett, don’t expect to see him on the sidelines unless the Bulldogs are willing to pay a pretty penny that equates to more than $7.5 million annually. And that’s a pretty big figure for the Bulldogs who have never paid nearly that much for a head football coach.
Bret Bielema – The current Illinois head coach was fired from the University of Arkansas in November 2017. According to footballscoop, Bielema’s contract was set to last through 2020 with Arkansas paying him $3.5 million annually. If Bielema decided to return to coaching, that contract would be null-in-void. Bielema waited until December 19th, 2020, after his contract was up and Arkansas had paid him all of his dues before accepting his next head coaching job with the University of Illinois. A smart move by a coach that was able to maximize his earnings.
Jimbo Fisher and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, defied the odds on this one. Fisher’s contract is written as such so that if he accepts another head coaching job at any time effective from his termination date with Texas A&M, he’s still entitled to the $76 million the university owes him.
So unlike most head coaches who take a few years off for reasons explained, don’t necessarily expect the same for Fisher.
Fisher going back to work as soon as possible would actually increase his income even more. It’ll very likely be much less than he made with the Aggies, but considering his previous success with the Seminoles, look for someone to take a chance on Fisher, and pay him a pretty decent amount in doing so.