A&M Fires Fisher, Could Look to UW or Oregon for Replacement

With the college football season winding down a year ago, Texas A&M was in need of an offensive coordinator and made a pitch for Ryan Grubb, prompting the University of Washington to give the creative Husky play-caller a second pay raise in a month's time.

The Aggies now need a new coach after firing Jimbo Fisher on Sunday in what will be a very expensive football divorce, with the school reportedly on the hook for $76 million to buy out the coach — nearly triple the previous highest known settlement, according to ESPN.

Not surprisingly, early names to emerge in the Texas A&M coaching sweepstakes are the UW's Kalen DeBoer and Oregon's Dan Lanning because they're two of the college game's hottest coaching properties. 

It's unclear whether either Pac-12 coach would be interested in taking the SEC job, but as college football continues to show no bounds when it comes to recklessly throwing money around, Texas A&M has made it known it has unlimited resources for securing a Fisher replacement and intends to use them.

Already, the Aggies are known as one of the most aggressive schools in raising and spending name, image and likeness funding, giving them a built-in recruiting edge.

All of that, a talented roster fueled by exorbitant fund-raising but weighted down by a 6-4 record deemed unacceptable this season, led to Fisher's termination following a 51-10 victory over Mississippi State. In six seasons, Fisher's A&M record was 45-25, just 11-11 counting this year and last.

Prior to coming to College Station, Fisher coached eight seasons at Florida State, compiled an 83-23 record and captured the 2013 national championship.

DeBoer and Lanning each are in their second seasons at schools departing the Pac-12 for the Big Ten at season's end and they seem well-entrenched in Seattle and Eugene. DeBoer has the Huskies unbeaten at 10-0 and fifth-ranked; Lanning's Ducks are 9-1, marred only by a 36-33 loss to the Huskies last month, and are No. 6 in the polls.

Lanning would seem to be the most likely to move of these coaches because he came to Oregon from the SEC after serving as Georgia's defensive coordinator. Husky fans probably should be more concerned if Michigan parts ways with twice-suspended coach Jim Harbaugh.

While the UW athletic department notably has been hamstrung by Jimmy Lake's $9.9 coaching buyout in 2021, Texas A&M will pay Fisher $19.2 million within 60 days of his ouster and $7.2 annually through 2031. 

Two years ago, Fisher signed a new 10-year contract with $95 million guaranteed using the leverage that LSU was seriously pursuing him.