Paul Finebaum: Firing Jimbo Fisher now was the only move for Texas A&M

Jimbo Fisher was let go by Texas A&M last week, but his departure comes with a heavy price tag. The Aggies will have to pay out over $75 million to buy out Fisher’s contract.

The Aggies believed it was time to move on and bite the bullet financially, and Paul Finebaum believes it was the smartest move the Texas A&M brass could have made.

“I believe it was the only move. The program was digressing,” Finebaum told Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic. “[They were] heading toward a 7-5 season — which is unacceptable. You can mitigate it by talking about the close games against really good teams but quite frankly, at that price tag, it just doesn’t make any difference.

“If you’re not in contention for something, then it’s time to make a change and I appreciate and applaud what Ross [Bjork] did. I think he set the right tone last night and he explained the money and yeah, it’s a big deal but it’s not my money, it’s not your money — it’s their money and they feel pretty comfortable that they have it and it’s worth paying for.”

Aside from the shortened COVID season seeing the Aggies finish the year 9-1 and falling just short of the field of four in the final College Football Playoff rankings — Texas A&M’s decline was rapid and apparent.

The writing on the wall for Fisher’s departure began last season when Texas A&M was upset at home against Appalachian State 17-14. Despite being ranked as high as No. 6 in the preseason poll just two weeks before the loss — the Aggies would finish the season 5-7 only two years removed from a near CFP berth.

Despite improving his team from last season to deliver a 6-4 record through 10 games — including a 51-10 win over Mississippi State the day before he was fired — it is still way below the standard that Texas A&M expected from Fisher when they hired him in 2018.

As the Aggies look to move on from the Jimbo Fisher era, they have named assistant head coach Elijah Johnson, who also served as the run game coordinator and defensive line coach before his promotion, as their interim head coach as there is still a game to be played this week against Abilene Christian before rounding its regular season with a road trip at LSU. Not to mention Texas A&M is bowl eligible after last week’s blowout win.

Kickoff from College Station is scheduled for Noon ET live on ESPN+.