Ross Bjork on Texas A&M coaching vacancy: 'This is not an 8-4 job'
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork has high expectations as he begins the search to find his next head football coach. The Aggies made the decision to fire Jimbo Fisher after six seasons, and Bjork made it clear A&M is looking for someone to take it to a championship-caliber program.
Fisher went 46-25 in his time in College Station but never competed for an SEC Championship. He finished with an 8-4 record twice, 7-5 once, 5-7 once and 6-4 this before his firing. His best season came in the COVID-shortened 2020 year, when he led the Aggies to a 9-1 record.
Bjork used those records to make a point about his expectations for the next hire Monday.
“This is not an 8-4 job. It’s not,” he said on the Aggie Fan Zone radio show. “Because of the decision we made (to fire Fisher) but also because of the resources and expectations. Does somebody have the wherewithal to deal with that, the weight of (the job) and the magnitude, and not get fazed and rattled, not panic, and if something doesn’t go right, they fix what they need to fix?
“Do you have the chops to deal with this job? (It’s) not for everybody.”
There were times were Fisher seemed to have some positive momentum. After winning the Orange Bowl in 2020, Texas A&M extended his contract 10 years through 2031. He also got a pay raise of $1.5 million per year as part of the agreement.
The Aggies went 8-4 the season after Fisher received the extension. Still, there was belief that next year would bring championship-level football after signing the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. They began the year with high hopes at No. 6 in the AP poll, but finished just 5-7 and missed out on a bowl game.
It became clear that A&M needed to fire Fisher, but his buyout remained a concern. After another mediocre performance this year, though, Bjork had no choice but to pull the trigger.
Fisher’s buyout cost nearly $77 million, making it the largest in the history of college football. Because of that, A&M is being careful about how it constructs its next contract.
“We have to get this contract right,” Bjork said. “We can’t do what we did before. … We’ve level-set with everybody we’ve talked to and said, ‘Here are the parameters, and here is the structure.’”
That structure includes incentive for making the College Football Playoff, with the number rising the further the Aggies make it. The idea is that, to get the big salary, coaches will have to earn it.
“It gives you an incentive structure that is way different than what we’ve had before,” Bjork said. “You can have a base package that has to be competitive, but then it’s like, we’re not giving bonuses to go to the Liberty Bowl. (You make) the CFP, the first round, the quarterfinals, the semifinals, you host, you win the national championship.
“You win the national championship, you’ll get paid like a national championship coach. That’s how we’re putting this package together.”
Some candidates to become Texas A&M’s next football coach include Duke’s Mike Elko, UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, Kansas’ Lance Leipold and more. For now, Bjork is still in the process of gathering information and reaching out to gauge interest, but he’s received positive feedback.
“No one has said no, because they believe in themselves and they believe in the formula that they have,” Bjork said. “And they believe in Texas A&M, that it’s, ‘If I’m there with what I can do, I’m not worried about the contract.’”