Paul Finebaum discusses Jimbo Fisher buyout, how a lower number would impact his status

Jimbo Fisher is anything but a fan favorite right now in College Station. With Texas A&M sitting at 3-5 during a year where the Aggies had real expectations, some are ready to pay his buyout and run him right out of town. In Paul Finebaum’s opinion, he believes it would have already happened if not for the astronomical buyout in Fisher’s contract.

During a recap of Week 9, Finebaum criticized Fisher and talked about his contract. He says if the buyout were more comparable to the rest of the contracts in college football, this decision would have already been made before now.

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“In Jimbo’s case, it will cost $17-$20 million dollars (a year). That’s an outrageous amount of money. But if Jimbo Fisher’s buyout was just $18-$20 million, which is the high end of buyouts in history? I believe he would be gone,” said Finebaum.

Fisher signed a fully guaranteed 10-year, $95 million extension last year. It will keep him as the leader of the A&M program through 2031. The buyout comes down each season he’s at the helm but, just one year into the extension, his buyout currently stands at $86 million. Even in an age of the sport where money is a major point, it would look almost crazy to pay that much to be rid of a coach that was 34-14 before this season and is still recruiting at a top level.

Finebaum said he was slightly curious if Fisher is almost banking on being let go of at this point. Based on his calm demeanor after losses that have little excuse, he thinks Fisher might be hoping that the writing on the wall is true.

“Jimbo Fisher really deserves an Oscar for going in there every Saturday night after losing to South Carolina and Ole Miss. It’s not like he’s losing to Alabama and Georgia. And he’s talking about, ‘We’ve got a good team. We’ve got a great young quarterback. We’ve got this, we’ve got that.’,” said Finebaum. “There’s just a lot about this program that is telling you it’s coming apart.”

This season has been a catastrophe for A&M. They were a preseason pick to compete both in the SEC and nationally. Now, they’re at a crossroads with Fisher as head coach. If it were a smaller asking price, this may have already been old news. As it stands, though, it’s a question that Aggies will seriously have to consider as their season winds down.