Fisher tops $146M owed to fired Power 5 coaches
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Paula Lavigne, ESPN Staff Writer
Texas A&M‘s record $76 million contract buyout for fired football coach Jimbo Fisher accounts for more than half of the approximately $146 million Power 5 schools owe to fired head football coaches since the start of the 2022 season, according to publicly available data.
Fisher’s buyout is nearly triple the highest known coaching contract buyout at a public school. The previous record was set by Auburn‘s 2020 buyout of football coach Gus Malzahn, which cost $21.7 million.
According to an ESPN analysis of athletic department financial records and contracts, Power 5 and Group of 5 programs spent more than $533 million in dead money — owed to coaches who were fired without cause with time left on their contracts — in the 11-year period from Jan. 1, 2010, to Jan. 31, 2021. That included payments to football coaches and men’s and women’s basketball coaches and accounted for head and assistant coaches.
Also included in the $146 million owed since the beginning of the 2022 season:
• $15.5 million for Bryan Harsin, fired from Auburn in October 2022.
• $15 million for Scott Frost, fired from Nebraska in September 2022.
• $11.4 million for Geoff Collins, fired from Georgia Tech in September 2022.
• $11 million for Paul Chryst, fired from Wisconsin in October 2022.
• $8.7 million for Karl Dorrell, fired from Colorado in October 2022.
• $4.4 million for Herm Edwards, fired from Arizona State in September 2022.
• $4 million for Zach Arnett, fired from Mississippi State on Monday.
Buyouts can change depending on certain circumstances, including whether a coach lands a new job. According to the terms of Fisher’s contract, Texas A&M will owe Fisher $19.2 million within 60 days and then pay him $7.2 million annually through 2031. There is no offset or mitigation on those payments, and the annual payments start 120 days after termination.
Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said in a news conference Sunday that the school “has to learn a lesson” from Fisher’s contract and that the finances involved in his firing are “monumental.”
“We will use unrestricted contributions within the 12th Man Foundation for the first one-time payment and the athletic department will fund the annual payments for the remaining portion by growing our revenues and adjusting our annual operating budget accordingly,” he said. “Although this is a major, major financial decision that comes with many consequences, we have a plan and we will not let this impact the performance or the culture of our entire athletics program.”
Texas A&M’s athletic department generated about $193 million in revenue in 2022, ranking seventh among public Power 5 colleges, according to the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database. Fisher’s buyout is just $6 million less than the Kansas State athletic department’s total expenses in 2022, which were about $82 million.
The trend, dating to last fall, of firings occurring from midseason to before conference championships has been accelerating. Previously, most coaching changes took place in early December. The transfer portal opens Dec. 4, and the early signing period begins Dec. 20.
B. David Ridpath, Ohio University sports business professor and a member of The Drake Group, an organization that lobbies Congress on issues in college athletics, said that despite claims of donors footing the bill for buyouts, “regardless of where the money comes from, all money is state money at a public institution.” While he said he understands some severance is needed for coaches fired for performance reasons, it doesn’t make sense to pay out their entire contracts for essentially a failure to perform.
Ridpath said the ability of schools to pay these buyouts shows that they can come up with the money to pay athletes, which is a highly debated issue among university leaders, the NCAA, conferences, legislators and athlete advocacy groups.
“I would like to think [the Fisher buyout] would be so outrageous that the Texas public policy groups or state legislators or federal delegation says, ‘Hold on a second. Our public institutions should not be doing this,'” Ridpath said. “What I fear is, this is only going to get larger. The only thing that will stem this tide is if the labor is paid,” and more money goes to the athletes instead of the coaches.
The $146 million calculation does not include contract money potentially owed to former Michigan State coach Mel Tucker, who was fired for cause in September amid a sexual misconduct investigation, or to former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was fired following an investigation into hazing allegations. Fitzgerald is suing Northwestern for wrongful termination, and Tucker has said he is preparing to file a similar lawsuit against Michigan State.
New York Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo sat out Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Braves because of soreness on his right side, but he said it was realistic that he’ll return to the lineup on Monday.
Nimmo exited Saturday’s game after the fourth inning with right intercostal irritation. He felt discomfort when he held up on a swing in the second and was checked by manager Carlos Mendoza and an athletic trainer.
Nimmo, who is hitting .228 with five home runs and a team-high 25 RBI, said core testing went well and he wanted to see if he could play Sunday night, but Mendoza nixed that idea this early in the season. Nimmo said he won’t have an MRI unless problems arise when he tries swinging, which he planned to do Sunday evening.
“Everything looks good right now,” Nimmo said. “… It’s a little like, sore. So it’s like as if you worked out on it or something like that maybe a little too much. But other than that, it’s pretty good.”
The Mets start a series vs. the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
DJ Stewart replaced Nimmo in left field and the leadoff spot Sunday.
“I’m pretty optimistic that we caught it early,” Mendoza said. “We were able to treat it last night, and he’s feeling good today.”
In other injury news, it’s unclear when No. 1 starter Kodai Senga will throw live batting practice again or begin a minor league rehab assignment during his recovery from a right shoulder capsule strain.
Senga faced hitters twice in the past two weeks, but he’s back to just throwing bullpens probably for the next week or so, Mendoza said.
“We don’t want to put him at risk,” Mendoza said. “He’s very meticulous about his craft.”
Elsewhere, right-hander Tylor Megill (shoulder strain) pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings for Triple-A Syracuse, allowing seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks. He is expected to be reinstated from his rehab assignment this week, and the Mets must decide whether to bring him back to the big leagues or option him to Syracuse.
Right-handed reliever Drew Smith (shoulder soreness) could come off the injured list Monday or Tuesday, and left-hander David Peterson (left hip surgery) is scheduled to make another rehab start Tuesday at Double-A Binghamton and could be ready to come off the IL when eligible on May 27.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Brad Keselowski moved to the front when leaders Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick hit while battling for first with nine laps left and held on to capture the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday for his first NASCAR win in three years.
It was Keselowski’s 36th career victory, his second at Darlington and his first since reconnecting with magnate Jack Roush and becoming a co-owner at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.
“Hell of an effort by everyone,” Keselowski said after crossing the finish line.
It appeared Keselowski’s employee at RFK, Buescher, would get the win after he passed his boss and Reddick with 29 laps to go. But Buescher and Reddick then hit and fell back, opening the door for Keselowski’s satisfying victory.
“What a heck of a day,” he said. “That battle out there with my teammate and Tyler Reddick, we just laid it all on the line.”
Ty Gibbs was second, Josh Berry third and Denny Hamlin fourth. Chase Briscoe was fifth followed by William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley and Michael McDowell.
It was another near miss for Buescher, who lost by 0.001 seconds to Kyle Larson at Kansas in the closest finish in NASCAR history.
Buescher slid to 30th and Reddick 32nd at Darlington.
Buescher confronted Reddick when both got out of their cars. Reddick took full blame for the incident.
Larson was in the top 10 when he spun out with 40 laps left and could not return.
Meanwhile, one slipup ended the chances of two NASCAR champions. Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and Byron were three-wide on Lap 128 when Byron tagged Truex, who pushed into Blaney and sent him against the wall in Turn 2.
The crew for Blaney, the defending Cup Series champion, could not repair the damage, and his day was done. He rode up alongside Byron to signal his displeasure with Byron’s move.
“He used a little bit more racetrack than I thought, so I have every right to be mad, and he gets away scot-free,” said Blaney, who wound up last in 36th place.
Truex, the 2017 series champion, dropped from the top 10 and finished 25th.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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