Texas A&M is in the process of firing Jimbo Fisher, ending a 6-year tenure that will be more remembered for its contract than anything the Aggies accomplished on the field.
Fisher's $76 million buyout is roughly $55 million above the previous record, paid by Auburn to get out from Gus Malzahn's contract.
And while it is a great source of fascination to imagine Fisher walking away with a payday greater than the GDP of an actual country, that's not how the contract works.
Below is the language from Fisher's actual contract.
As stated above, a quarter of the buyout -- roughly $19 million -- will be owed on or before Jan. 11, 2024, assuming Sunday is the effective date of termination.
Thereafter, Texas A&M will owe the remainder of the contract, which was extended through 2031 back in 2021. With eight years remaining on the deal, Texas A&M would then pay Fisher $7 million per year not to coach for the next eight seasons.
While the language above is from the original contract, Texas A&M noted in the extension that the buyout language did not change:
Fisher's contact was extended by four (4) years until December 31, 2031. The terms of the new contract include an annual salary of $9,000,000 starting on January 1, 2022 and will increase to $9,150,000 on January 1, 2023. In each of the following years, the base salary increases by $100,000 on January 1. All other terms relative to performance incentives and other elements remain the same.
Of course, Texas A&M could choose to pay Jimbo off early... assuming the Aggies can raise a sum that is 3.6 times greater than the previous largest buyout on record.
The $76 million figure is just the starting point for how much it will cost Texas A&M to get out from Jimbo's contract, of course. The Aggies will have to buy out the rest of Fisher's staff, and then buy out the next head coach and lay out a commitment to him that is certain to be substantial. The next coach's agent will likely use Fisher's contract as a starting point to negotiations.
That will be a storyline to follow in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned to The Scoop for all the developments in Texas A&M's impending coaching search.