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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork on Sunday night said it was his decision to fire football coach Jimbo Fisher earlier in the day, saying that the program was “stuck in neutral.”

Bjork said he called interim Texas A&M president Gen. Mark Welsh after the Aggies’ loss to Ole Miss on Nov. 4 and asked to meet.

“The assessment that I delivered was that we are not reaching our full potential,” Bjork said at a news conference. “We are not in the championship conversation and something was not quite right about our direction and the plan.

“We should be relevant on the national scene.”

In Fisher’s first three seasons in College Station, the Aggies were 26-10 and finished No. 4 in 2020 — the second-highest ranking ever for the program, after the 1939 national championship. Over the past three seasons, Texas A&M is 19-15, including an active nine-game road losing streak that is tied for the program’s longest since the AP poll began in 1936.

Since Fisher’s first full recruiting class in 2019, Texas A&M has signed 70 ESPN 300 players, the fourth most in the FBS, behind Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State, who have each played in at least one national championship game over that span. The Aggies were credited with the No. 1 recruiting class in 2022.

“There was something just not clicking to provide confidence for everyone in the program,” Bjork said. “You have to adapt, you have to evolve. I’m not going to say whether he did or didn’t, but it didn’t work.”

Fisher’s A&M tenure ends with a 45-25 record over six seasons and no appearances in the SEC championship game.

Bjork said he and Welsh met with Fisher inside Kyle Field just before 9 a.m. Sunday and informed the coach that they were making an immediate change, as well as dismissing Mark Robinson, Fisher’s associate athletic director for football.

Bjork said the conversation was “quick and cordial.”

Steps toward removing Fisher began in a board of regents meeting Thursday, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. An executive session included a four-hour discussion, much of which was dedicated to Fisher’s future.

“I’ll just say [there was a] robust conversation and I’ll just leave it at that,” Bjork said. “But there was no vote. This was my decision to the president and Chancellor [John] Sharp. And that was the end of our decision-making process.”

Defensive line coach Elijah Robinson, who Bjork said has the respect of the players, will serve as the interim coach, with coordinators Bobby Petrino and D.J. Durkin continuing their roles.

“I expect them to really rally around Coach Robinson and finish the season strong,” Bjork said.

Fisher’s dismissal is expected to cost the school more than $76 million to buy out his contract, nearly triple the highest known previous coaching contract buyout at a public school. According to his contract, Fisher is owed $19.2 million within 60 days and then $7.2 annually through 2031. There is no offset or mitigation on those payments, and the annual payments start 120 days after termination.

Bjork said the athletic department and the 12th Man Foundation, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization that is the university’s fundraising arm for athletics, will cover the costs.

“The finances are monumental,” Bjork said. “Let me be very clear in this next part: Texas A&M athletics and the 12th Man Foundation will be the sole sources of the necessary funds covering these transition costs.”

When asked if he expected to be on the hook for the entire buyout, Bjork said there were “different parameters” in the contract language.

“Those mechanics will be worked out as soon as we touch base with his representation,” Bjork said, referring to Fisher’s agent, Jimmy Sexton.

Fisher was initially given a 10-year, $75 million fully guaranteed contract in December 2017, when the Aggies hired him from Florida State, where he had won a national championship following the 2013 season. His buyout is so large because he was given a four-year extension in August 2021 that raised his annual salary from $7.5 million to $9 million and pushed his contract through 2031.

“That’s an institutional decision, but I take responsibility,” Bjork said. “I knew what was coming in the marketplace later that fall [when LSU gave Brian Kelly a 10-year, $95 million deal, among other large contracts]. So I knew that it was the right decision at that time because that’s the information we had. Clearly it didn’t work out. We’re going to learn from that and make sure that we don’t make those same mistakes again.”

Bjork said his athletic department will be responsible for making the yearly payouts to Fisher.

“We have a lot of new revenue coming our way too, but we also have to manage expenses,” Bjork said. “There’s a lot of things within even the football budget that we’ve got flexibility on where we can still be at a high level, but we can also spend a lot less, but we can be a championship-funded program. We’re going to adjust all that.”

There is a set list of traits that Bjork said he’s looking for during the Aggies’ search for their next coach. He said it includes someone who has a program identity, great interpersonal skills, a track record of player development, commitment to academics and a strong recruiting background with solid organizational skills.

With the transfer portal opening Dec. 4, Bjork said that will be a key date as the program transitions to a new coach.

“It’s not ideal,” Bjork said. “But also not unique in the modern day of college football, especially given [the] transfer portal world, signing day and all those dynamics that played into it.”

Bjork, who has been in College Station five years, said he’s not deterred in his goals of making the Aggies into a national title contender.

“The ingredients for a championship are here,” Bjork said. “Aggies want to do it the right way and deserve excellence in everything that we do. … Onward we go.”

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

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