On Sunday, Texas A&M fired head coach Jimbo Fisher, which wasn’t a surprise as Fisher kept the Aggies mired in mediocrity and failed to lead the team to national title contention.
The only surprise was that it took so long to do it. But when you are the Aggies and you agreed to not one but two ridiculous, fully guaranteed contracts with a coach who failed to deliver what was promised, you have to do everything you can to reduce the pending humiliation that will follow.
In this case, no one involved can hide from the criticism they rightfully deserve for agreeing to Fisher’s extensions.
In 2017, Fisher received a 10-year, $75 million contract to leave Florida State and become Texas A&M’s new head coach. He replaced Kevin Sumlin who, while helping the Aggies win, ultimately failed to elevate the team to national title contention.
With Fisher, the hope was that he would capture the magic he had during the Seminoles 2013 BCS championship, and spread it around College Station.
After going 9-4, 8-5 and 9-1 in his first three years, Texas A&M leadership decided Fisher’s performance warranted a longer, more lucrative deal. So they presented him with a 10-year, $95 full guaranteed extension in September 2021.
And, of course, Fisher delivered.
Oh, wait. My bad.
In reality, Fisher only won in the recruiting game, where he assembled a top-10 recruiting class almost annually, including one in 2022 that caused Nick Saban to accuse him of paying players.
“I mean, we were second in recruiting last year,” ranted Saban in May of 2022. “A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team — made a deal for name, image, likeness. We didn’t buy one player, all right? But I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough.”
Turns out Saban should have directed his ire at Texas A&M brass for falling victim to Jimbo Fisher and his management team, which engineered the greatest heist in college football.
Over the next two seasons, Fisher went 8-4, 5-7 and then 6-4 this season before the university decided to fire him on Sunday.
“I determined our program is stuck in neutral. We should be relevant on the national scene,” said athletic director Ross Bjork. “Something is not clicking and therefore, something had to give.”
Over his six-year tenure at Texas A&M, Fisher amassed a record of 45-25. During this time, the Aggies never even made it to an SEC Championship game. For all his coaching futility, he is still owed almost $77 million due to his guaranteed contract.
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