Report: Texas A&M reaches out to Dan Campbell, Lions head coach turns down alma mater

Dan Campbell was the perfect tight end for Texas A&M 25 years ago. He grew up two hours north of College Station and realized a dream of playing for the Aggies.

So now that A&M has fired coach Jimbo Fisher, might Campbell’s alma mater be coming for the Detroit Lions head coach with a job offer? And we know his answer. That would be no, according to CBS Sports. However, the Aggies, via back-channel communications, reportedly did reach out to Campbell to see whether he was interested. He would be a home run hire for the Aggies, but he’s also the perfect head coach for the Lions.

On Sunday, A&M athletic director Ross Bjork announced that the school and Fisher had parted ways. There still are two more games plus a bowl left on the Aggies’ schedule. But Bjork wanted to get a jump on the hiring process before the December signing day for new recruits.

A&M, Michigan State and Mississippi State are the biggest vacancies right now. But there probably will be more job openings this month and into December. As always, reporters compile lists of potential replacements. They could be equal parts wish list, with some sourcing of the candidates. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic listed Dan Campbell’s name amongst his Aggie candidates.

“The 47-year-old Texas native played at A&M. Campbell epitomizes everything we suspect the school would want in a head coach,” Feldman wrote. “And if you’ve watched any clips of him in front of his team, you’ll see why. He has jumped into what was an abysmal franchise and has that city thinking there’s finally a Super Bowl in its future.”

Any hint of Campbell leaving started freaking out the Lions loyalist. The 47-year-old Texan is a football godsend to Detroit. The Lions are 7-2, with a game Sunday against the Bears. Campbell’s Lions are making a case that they may be the top team in the NFC, if not the NFL. The Eagles, who reached last season’s Super Bowl, sport the same record.

Meanwhile, the Aggies offered Dan Campbell a chance to come home and cash a hefty paycheck. It’s unclear how much the Aggies are willing to pay their next head coach. Fisher was set to make $9.15 million, plus incentives, this season. He also had the largest buyout of any college coach in history. A&M owes him about $77 million in guaranteed money that the school must pay Fisher through 2031.

Of course, Dan Campbell isn’t the only Aggie in the NFL head coaching ranks. Dennis Allen of the Saints played safety for A&M in the 1990s and even helped the Aggies secure a win over the Texas Longhorns with a late interception. Then there’s Zac Taylor, who is head coach of the Bengals. Taylor’s first coaching job was as a grad assistant at A&M. He worked for his father-in-law, Mike Sherman. The Aggies fired Sherman in 2011.