Texas A&M is paying Jimbo Fisher $4.5M more than Kevin Sumlin to be a worse coach

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated 10/26/22

There was a time when Jimbo Fisher was thought of as an elite college football coach. Now, he's no better than the coach he was hired to replace. In fact, statistically, he's been worse.

Fisher led Florida State to a BCS National Championship in 2013 and had double-digit wins in 2014, 2015 and 2016. His Seminoles then quickly fell off a cliff in 2017, and he was subsequently fired after a 5-6 season that saw Florida State miss bowl eligibility. Texas A&M saw an opportunity to hire a supposed elite coach and picked him up in 2018 after firing Kevin Sumlin.

Notably, Sumlin went 7-5 at Texas A&M the same season Fisher went 5-6 at Florida State.

Fisher is now in his fifth season at Texas A&M, and the expectations were sky-high for the Aggies heading into this one. Texas A&M started the season ranked No. 6 nationally, but it quickly lost that ranking in Week 2 with a loss to Appalachian State in College Station.

The Aggies have fallen all the way from No. 6 nationally to unranked thanks to that loss to the Mountaineers plus three straight losses to Mississippi State, Alabama and South Carolina.

The Aggies now look ahead to a matchup with No. 15 Ole Miss that's certainly trending in the direction of another loss, and it feels like it's a great time to evaluate where Fisher stands five-and-a-half years into his tenure.

Here's college football insider Brett McMurphy with a look at Fisher's time at College Station. Interestingly enough, McMurphy compared Fisher to Sumlin — and let's say things aren't looking all that good.

Through the same amount of games, Sumlin had a better overall record as well as a better record against ranked opponents.

They have the same amount of SEC championships, zero, and while that's not a good stat for either coach, it's worth noting that Texas A&M is paying $4.51 million more per year for Fisher than it was for Sumlin.

Perhaps the Aggies have a case of buyer's remorse. Unfortunately, Texas A&M signed Fisher to a fully guaranteed contract extension in 2021. If he gets fired at the end of this season, he'd be owed nearly $86 million.

Yowza. Perhaps the Aggies should have just stuck with Sumlin.

More must-reads: