Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher is in the middle of disappointing (and bordering on disastrous) 2022 season with his Aggies falling to 3-4 following a third straight loss. However, if power brokers around the program want to make a coaching change, it won't come cheap.
Fisher signed a 10-year, fully guaranteed contract extension on Sept. 1, 2021, that will pay him $95 million through 2031. If Texas A&M fires Fisher after the 2022 season, boosters would need to pony up nearly $86 million.
Many buyouts include offset clauses, which subtract any salary from new jobs from the buyout amount. No such clause exists in Fisher's contract. Here is Fisher's buyout if he is fired at the conclusion of each season:
- 2022: $85,950,000
- 2023: $76,800,000
- 2024: $67,550,000
- 2025: $58,200,000
- 2026: $48,750,000
- 2027: $39,200,000
- 2028: $29,550,000
- 2029: $19,800,000
- 2030: $9,950,000
The current contract is an extension of a 10-year, $75 million deal agreed upon in December 2017 that sent shockwaves through the coaching market. At the time, only Alabama's Nick Saban and Clemson's Dabo Swinney were making more than $7 million per season. Now, there are 12 such coaches -- and four clearing $10 million per season.
Fisher's deal is the largest in college football history to be fully guaranteed. Michigan State coach Mel Tucker also signed a 10-year, $95 million contract in 2021, but a built-in retention bonus at $400,000 per year saves Michigan State nearly $4 million in the event of a buyout. Even Swinney, who signed a 10-year, $115 contract in 2022, would be owed just $64 million if fired at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
