Ross Bjork on Jimbo Fisher contract: We're going to learn from that

In 2021, three years after he arrived at Texas A&M, the university gave Jimbo Fisher a new contract. He initially signed a 10-year deal in 2017, but the updated, fully guaranteed agreement ran until 2031 and was worth $95 million.

Two years later, Fisher is out — and Texas A&M paid him his $77.6 million buyout. That part of the contract was a big topic of conversation around his future, especially considering the Aggies went 5-7 last season after bringing in the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class.

As Texas A&M goes through another coaching search, Ross Bjork took the fall for that contract. That said, there are lessons to learn from the decision.

“We’ll analyze everything,” Bjork said. “That’ll be part of the puzzle piece that we put together here in the coming days in terms of what does the market look like, what do contracts look like? There’s a market for a lot of different contracts than what we had, and you can hire a great coach. We’re going to look at all of that, so we have to learn a lesson.

“Look, the dynamics around that decision in 2021, that’s an institutional decision. But I take responsibility. I knew what was coming in the marketplace later that fall, so I knew that it was the right decision at that time because that’s the information we had. It didn’t work out. Clearly, it didn’t work out. We’re going to learn from that and make sure that we don’t make those same mistakes again.”

Fisher went 45-25 during his nearly six years in College Station, and that included nine wins — eight of which came in conference play — during the COVID-impacted 2020 season. Overall, Fisher had a 27-21 record in SEC action, including a 4-3 mark this year.

Ultimately, though, Bjork decided a change was necessary even if it came at a high cost. The college sports landscape is changing dramatically next year. The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams and the SEC is adding two teams. With the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, the league will also get rid of divisions.

Even with two games left in 2023, along with a bowl game, Bjork said the time was right to move on from Jimbo Fisher and get a head start on a coaching search.

“You’re either moving forward or you’re stuck. We were stuck,” Bjork said. “And so I kind of used the analogy with somebody earlier. You know how you’re driving down the highway, it’s a four-lane road, and I drive fast, okay. I like 75-80, and somebody’s in the left lane and they’re going 55 and they won’t move over. We were that car going 55. Something had to give. They had to get out of the way.”