Jimbo Fisher fired at Texas A&M — coaching carousel is getting wild and could affect USC

Aggies Wire is covering the story we’re all interested in on Sunday. Jimbo Fisher has been fired by Texas A&M. The school is eating a buyout of more than $70 million. The big-donor money which paid Jimbo’s salary is also being used to pay the buyout. It will be used to pay the next head coach’s salary as well. It’s a lot of money, and people will have their opinions on that, but it’s the business as we know it, right or wrong.
Why should USC fans be interested in the Jimbo Fisher story? For one thing, the transfer portal is going to go crazy with players leaving A&M when the portal window opens on December 4, in just a few weeks. The bigger and more immediate story, though, is that the coaching carousel is spinning. This will affect who goes where. If a USC defensive coordinator candidate instead wants to go to Texas A&M, either as the head coach or as the coordinator for the new head coach, that will affect what Jennifer Cohen and Lincoln Riley are able to do.
Reaction to Jimbo Fisher’s firing was immediate and dramatic on social media. Let’s take a look at the first spins of the head coaching carousel for November and December of 2023:
2020 WAS A WEIRD YEAR, AND COACHING CONTRACTS WERE AFFECTED BY ITMONEY MONEY MONEYTHROWAWAY MONEY
Exactly a decade ago, Jimbo Fisher won a national championship and got a salary bump to $4 million. With the help of agents and complicit athletic directors, college football created an entirely new economy out of thin air.— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 12, 2023ZERO FISHERThe Jimbo Fisher Era at Texas A&M is over– 0 National Titles– 0 Conference Titles– 0 Division Titles– 0 10-win Seasons– 0 wins vs ranked opponents on the road– 0 ranked finishes in last 4 full seasons– Worse record than Kevin Sumlin– $117,450,000 guaranteed pic.twitter.com/Xc1Qe10KKB— Kyle Umlang (@kyleumlang) November 12, 2023BIG DOLLARSJimbo Fisher’s buyout is around $75 million, guaranteed.The previous record buyout paid to a college coach was $21.45 million by Auburn to Gus Malzahn.This is another stratosphere.— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) November 12, 2023PALTRYThe Jimbo Fisher era at Texas A&M, by the numbers:◽️ 5+ seasons◽️ 45 wins◽️ 25 losses◽️ 3 bowl appearances◽️ 3 bowl wins◽️ 0 SEC West titles◽️ 0 CFP berths◽️ A buyout worth over $75 million pic.twitter.com/3Y0YIsGUm6— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 12, 2023BUYOUT MADNESSWill this Jimbo Fisher insanity FINALLY be the thing which gets athletic directors across the country to STOP LOADING UP CONTRACTS WITH LARGE BUYOUT NUMBERS?Will we finally see some common sense in this industry?— Matt Zemek (@MattZemek) November 12, 2023LANNING WATCHThe Texas A&M job is now open, with the Aggies expected to eat Jimbo Fisher’s $78 million buyout.Dan Lanning is going to be mentioned as an early candidate. Duck fans need to get used to this. It comes with the territory of having a coveted young coach.— Zachary Neel (@zacharycneel) November 12, 2023MADE BANKI’ll say this about Jimbo Fisher: He may not be a very good college football coach. But he’s smart enough to get fired for not being a very good college football coach and not for reasons that void the fully guaranteed $95 million contract his school was dumb enough to hand out.— Scott Bell (@sbell021) November 12, 20232020 WAS A TRIPJimbo Fisher and others having enough delusional confidence to disrespectfully flex and talk down to Alabama after a couple wins and that fluky 2020 season will go down as perhaps the prime example of when keeping it real goes wrong.— Landry Locker (@LandryLocker) November 12, 2023CRAZYROLLER-COASTERLast season, Jimbo Fisher became only coach in college football history w/3 teams ranked in AP’s preseason top 6 that finished year unranked. Twice at A&M, once at FSU. Fisher fired today at A&M source told @ActionNetwork, after going 45-25 in 6 seasons. He will receive a buyout… pic.twitter.com/sio3J31ETC— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 12, 2023ANOTHER 2020 OUTLIERKnow who had a good 2020 season as a head coach?Tom Allen.#Outlier #NotIndicatorAnyone who coached well in 2020 (minus Saban and the other elite coaches) needed to be evaluated closely in 2021 to see if it was real.Same for Mel Tucker in 2022 after 2021. https://t.co/Q67dtshyxc— Matt Zemek (@MattZemek) November 12, 2023LIFE CHANGES QUICKLYUNREAL FACTJimbo Fisher will be the 15th highest paid college football coach in the country for the next 8 years and not have to coach a single game. Finesse king of all kings.— MGo🫘 (@MJoeBean) November 12, 2023LOOK AT ALL THOSE ZEROESTexas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher is reportedly out as head coach.He’s reportedly set to be paid in full $76,000,000.00.For reference, that’s over $208,000.00….per day.For doing nothing.A day. One day. 208K. pic.twitter.com/veCf1qG8dp— Brad Logan (@BradLoganCOTE) November 12, 2023SADThe $77 million Texas A&M is handing to Jimbo Fisher could have covered:(1) $1 million salaries for all 75 players on team;(2) Annual stipends of $102,000 for all players through 2033;(3) 1,454 full, in-state, four-year academic scholarships;(4) 5,816 one-year scholarships. https://t.co/lDoLRsJqkt— Marc Edelman (@MarcEdelman) November 12, 2023MEGA-DEALJimbo Fisher, fresh off a 51-10 win yesterday, is getting fired two years into a ten year contract signed in 2021. He’ll get paid the remaining $76 million dollars of his contract. What a world.— AngryYankee1 (@AngryYankee1) November 12, 2023MILLIONS AND MILLIONSThe dismissals of these FIVE coaches last year totaled $56.7 million:Scott Frost (Neb – $15m)Karl Dorell (Colo – $11.4m)Geoff Collins (GT – $11.3 million)Paul Chryst (Wisc – $11m)Herm Edwards (AZ St – $8m)Jimbo Fisher about to be due more than all of them combined -…— Doug Samuels 🏈 (@CoachSamz) November 12, 2023POLITICIANS ARE WEIGHING INTexas A&M is going to fire football coach Jimbo Fisher and pay him $75 million to buy out his contract. Are they going to use private donor funds for this or are they expecting Texas taxpayers to foot the bill? https://t.co/CagqBQ6hNF— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) November 12, 2023Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire

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Alex Martin

Alex Martin is your guide to the global phenomenon of football. With a focus on international leagues and tournaments, he provides match commentary, player interviews, and behind-the-scenes stories from the world of football.