💸 Biggest college football buyouts ranked: Jimbo Fisher $77M

Texas A&M owes Jimbo Fisher $77,562,500, USA Today reports, and his deal has no job-offset clause. Holgorsen's has one. 📌

By , money desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 3 min read

Dana HolgorsenRANKEDPhoto: mr_t_77 · CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo: mr_t_77, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher on Nov. 12, 2023, and USA Today Sports put the bill at $77,562,500, the largest buyout in college football history. Nothing else in the documents read comes close, so this ranking runs from the record down to figures that look like rounding errors beside it.

What we know

  • Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher on Nov. 12, 2023, and USA Today Sports reports the buyout is $77,562,500, the largest in college football history.
  • Per USA Today Sports, 25% of Fisher's buyout is due in a lump sum within 60 days, with the rest in equal annual payments through Dec. 31, 2031.
  • Athletic director Ross Bjork said the 12th Man Foundation pays the first 25% and the athletics department covers the installments.
  • Before Fisher, the highest public-school buyout was Gus Malzahn's $21 million at Auburn, USA Today reports.
  • ESPN reported Houston would owe Dana Holgorsen nearly $14.8 million, with a mitigation clause that could lower it if he took another job.
01

Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: $77,562,500

Texas A&M announced the change in football leadership on Nov. 12, 2023, effective immediately. USA Today Sports reports that 25% of the buyout is due to Fisher in a lump sum within 60 days of termination, with the remainder paid in equal annual installments through Dec. 31, 2031. Athletic director Ross Bjork said the first payment comes from the 12th Man Foundation, the school's fundraising arm, and the installments from the athletics department.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)

"Although this is a major, major financial decision that comes with many consequences, we have a plan,"

Ross Bjork, Texas A&M athletic director, at a Nov. 12, 2023 press conference, per USA Today

The terms behind No. 1

Fisher's original 10-year, $75 million deal, per the copy the Houston Chronicle obtained in August 2018, paid a $500,000 base salary plus $7 million a year in "supplemental" income, with two luxury vehicles and a country club membership thrown in. In September 2021 the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents added four years, through 2031. USA Today Sports calculated that this immediately doubled the clause: about $95.6 million if he were fired without cause on Dec. 1, 2021, up from $45.6 million.

Two terms did the rest. USA Today reported that Fisher's deal did not require him to offset a payout with new income, and the 2018 contract says that if Fisher resigns he has no financial obligation to the school. Leaving is free; being fired is not. The documents read include no comment from Fisher on the firing.

The rest of the list

02

Gus Malzahn, Auburn: $21 million

Before Fisher, the highest buyout from a public school was Malzahn's, USA Today reports: Auburn was on the hook for $21 million after firing him in late 2020. Half was due within 30 days, with the rest in installments over four years. The contract did not require him to offset the amount with future pay.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
03

Dana Holgorsen, Houston: nearly $14.8 million

Houston fired Holgorsen on Nov. 26, 2023, and ESPN reported the school would owe nearly $14.8 million, but his deal includes a mitigation clause that could lower the amount if he takes another job. He did take one: the Houston Chronicle reported in November 2024 that Nebraska pay offsets what Houston owes, citing Lincoln Journal Star columnist Amie Just for a $66,667 salary that November. On Saturday, ESPN reports, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule fired him as offensive coordinator; Holgorsen had a two-year contract paying $1.2 million annually, and the documents read give no payout terms for that exit.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
04

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M: $10 million, reportedly

The Aggies fired Sumlin in 2017 and, per the sports radio station The G.O.A.T., reportedly owed him $10 million at the time. Fisher was hired to replace him. The documents read give no contract terms for the Sumlin figure.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)

Matt Rhule, the coach who fired Holgorsen, signed a seven-year Carolina Panthers deal that NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported at $62 million in January 2020. The documents read give no buyout figure for him, so he stays off the ranking.

The pattern in the record: the biggest checks sit in contracts with no offset clause, while Houston's mitigation clause lets a new paycheck undo part of the fortune. If you are reading a coach's contract, that one clause is the number to find.

Earlier on file: Nebraska fires Dana Holgorsen as OC after fourth straight loss

The Jimbo Fisher file

Last entry Sep 1, 2021
  1. Reported

    Texas A&M regents voted to extend Fisher's contract four years through 2031, per the university. This story

On file: The Jimbo Fisher file · The Dana Holgorsen file · The Matt Rhule file

The Ledger

On the record

  • Texas A&M fired Fisher on Nov. 12, 2023; USA Today Sports reports a $77,562,500 buyout paid in installments through Dec. 31, 2031.
  • ESPN reported Houston would owe Holgorsen nearly $14.8 million, reducible by new employment.

Still rumour

  • Sumlin's $10 million is a 'reportedly' figure; Rhule's buyout, Nebraska's payout to Holgorsen and what Houston has actually paid are not confirmed in the documents read.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissFortune

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