Paul Finebaum: Firing Jimbo Fisher was the right decision for Texas A&M

Jimbo Fisher is out in College Station and, in Paul Finebaum’s opinion, Texas A&M is going to be better off for that decision.

Finebaum addressed the news that the Aggies let Fisher during ‘The Matt Barrie Show’ on Sunday. He opened by going through the details of the decision which, based on the number on his buyout, is going to be a historically costly one.

“We don’t know that much right now. But what we do know is that this is all going down,” said Finebaum. “This apparently reached a head after last week’s loss to Ole Miss. There was a board meeting on Thursday – it finally got on the agenda. And, apparently, the $77 million, or whatever the specific number is? Somebody said, ‘Let’s go ahead and do it.'”

In the end, Finebaum knows this was always going to be the outcome. With a 45-25 record overall and an 11-11 mark over the past two years, the results were not matching the investment, especially in a league that’s only getting more and more competitive.

“What matters is that Jimbo Fisher is out,” Finebaum said. “He has been on death’s doorstep now for about a year and a half. This was inevitable.”

“A lot of our friends in the media kept saying, ‘Well, it’s too much money’? The fact that Texas is knocking on the door quite often? ‘None of that matters’? It does matter,” said Finebaum. “I think this is the absolute right decision for the school.”

Considering the price of this choice, some will clearly see it as wasteful for Texas A&M. Again, though, the slipping stance of the Aggies, specifically in a span where they were supposed to be breaking through, made this a worthwhile decision for enough people involved with their athletic department.

“I know the national folks from academia will say, ‘How can you spend $77 million?’ – the largest buyout, I believe, was Guz Malzhan at $21 million? Well, at least Gus Malzhan got to a national championship – and, ironically, lost to Jimbo Fisher,” said Finebaum.

With two games to go in the Aggie’s season, Fisher finally ran out of lives. The question as Finebaum looks back now, though, is whether Fisher was every really that great at all or if he parlayed a few seasons at Florida State into quite an incredible return in the form of payment.

“This was not going to work,” Finebaum closed. “Jimbo Fisher did not have the magic that he used to have. And you have to start wondering, as we put him to bed, was he really an outstanding coach or did he live off of Jameis Winston for two years?