Former Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher is back in the news after his Monday night appearance at the Little Rock (AR) Touchdown Club. He discussed many topics, including a potential return to coaching and the ever-changing NIL landscape.
For those who may have forgotten, Fisher was fired from Texas A&M just a day after the Aggies’ 51-10 win over Mississippi State with just two games left on the 2023 schedule. This resulted in a record-setting $76 million buyout that the University will pay for the next decade.
Nowadays, Fisher is focused on spending time with his family while hunting as much as time permits, knowing that the game will always be there if a return is in the cards.
However, Fisher can’t understand the current NIL structure. He notes that the unequal footing among the larger and smaller conferences could get out of control, as next year’s revenue-sharing introduction could exceed $22 million for larger programs in the SEC and Big Ten. Speaking with CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello, Fisher had some strong opinions about the future of CFB.
“People don’t realize that Alabama, Georgia and all of them ain’t got that money,” Fisher stated to CBS Sports. “They’re not like Ohio State, Texas. There’s a difference within your own conference, in my opinion. Maybe you make it $16 (million) or $18 (million) so the other mid-level schools have a chance. I just hate taking the Big 12 out of this, the ACC. I mean, it’s crazy to me. You think of the national championship between Miami, FSU, Clemson … it’s still a shame to me.”
However, concerning Texas A&M’s budget after the program landed the highest-rated 2022 recruiting class in 247Sports history, Fisher referenced the previous BroBible accusation that Texas A&M’s 2022-2023 collective was working with over $35 Million, revealing that the number was nowhere near that astronomical value.
Fisher further explained to CBS Sports that during the 2022-2023 season, all 20 Texas A&M Athletic programs were working with under $1 million, which led to a flurry of phone calls from players and their family members.
“‘Where’s my money?'” was the general question, he said. “Why I came out and went against it as much as anything was because families were calling and saying, ‘Coach, I wasn’t bought.’ It was the families of the kids they were talking about. You don’t think about that avenue of it because they kept getting questions, too. That’s why I made the statements I made.”
Like him or not, you have to respect Fisher’s brutal honesty. As the NIL landscape will no doubt continue to create chaos if more regulations don’t come into play, Fisher feels that College Football should adopt the NFL structure if things continue down the same road.
“Here’s what bothers me,” he stated “No one has stepped up and watnt do do what’s right for college football. There needs to be a commissioner.”
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