Jimbo Fisher has been settling into a comfortable rhythm at the ACC Network studios this fall. He is breaking down games on Saturdays and cashing those $7 million annual checks from Texas A&M till 2031. But when the conversation recently turned to whether he’d consider jumping back into coaching with all these jobs opening up, Fisher pulled back the curtain on something that’s been eating at him since his Texas A&M exit.

The coaching carousel is absolutely out of control right now, and Jimbo Fisher knows it better than most. There’s already been $168 million in buyouts paid out to fired coaches this season, and we’re not even through October yet. Brian Kelly just got $54 million to leave LSU, James Franklin pocketed $49 million when Penn State showed him the door, and Billy Napier walked away from Florida with $21 million. 

Jimbo Fisher’s sitting there watching all this unfold, and during a recent appearance on the Mac and Murray CFB show, he said what a lot of coaches are thinking but won’t say out loud. The NIL money has completely warped the power dynamics in college football, and it’s the coaches who are paying the price. “All these guys that make money, they forget that,” Fisher said. “If somebody is sitting there in their board meeting every day and looks over their shoulder, they wouldn’t like it. But that’s the world we’re in.”​

Fisher’s analysis gets really interesting. He’s explaining exactly how the NIL system has fundamentally changed who calls the shots. “Here’s what’s happened with NIL. You have to keep going back to the same whale over and over for more money,” Fisher explained. “And so this guy said, ‘Wait a minute. If I’m giving all this money, I want them to say so.’ Yeah. And you got guys talking into a business that they truly kind of understand, but they don’t really understand how it goes.”

The frustration in his voice was obvious. These mega-donors are writing seven-figure checks to NIL collectives every year. Then they think that gives them the right to make personnel decisions, including when to fire the head coach. In Florida, boosters literally told athletic director Scott Stricklin that their continued financial support depended on firing Napier, and sure enough, Napier was gone within days.​

The real kicker, according to Fisher, is how this pressure trickles up the food chain and how quickly university presidents cave. “And listen, the ADs can take a little bit of pressure. The president can’t take any pressure. They hate because most of the president’s world is academia. And they’re having to spend 90% of their time dealing with this football issue or basketball or whatever it may be. I don’t want to hear it. So, let’s just go get another. Get rid of that guy. Go make this guy happy. Get him off my back.”

It’s a brutally honest assessment of what’s happening at the highest levels of college athletics. Presidents didn’t sign up to manage football crises all day. So when boosters start complaining, the easiest solution is just to fire the coach and reset the clock.

Fisher told Yahoo Sports recently that he’s absolutely interested in coaching again. “I’m not stepping away from it just because I have money,” he said, but you have to wonder if he’s really willing to walk back into this chaos. When Mac and Murray joked about him maybe landing one of these open jobs, Fisher laughed and said, “I may stay right here and hunt all day.” He’s already collecting nearly $200,000 per week from Texas A&M without having to deal with a single booster phone call. So, at 60 years old with a national championship ring and generational wealth, maybe hunting season doesn’t sound so bad after all.​

The itch Fisher can’t scratch

For all of Fisher’s clear-eyed analysis about how broken the system has become, he’s still dying to get back into it. Last December, he was sitting in West Virginia’s athletic offices making his pitch, and the hunger was obvious. “When you’re away from something, it makes you reflect,” Fisher told the Mountaineers’ administrators. “I’m back to watching film and have those feelings. I miss the players and those relationships. I miss practice. I miss the grind. I live to coach. I love to do what I did.”

 His wife Courtney, who was there with him, said, “It’s in his blood. There’s no getting away from it.” West Virginia ended up hiring Rich Rodriguez instead, but Fisher’s been prepping ever since. He is organizing potential staff, creating recruiting plans, and participating in a weekly private call with Bill Belichick, Bill Polian, and other football heavyweights. 

The problem is that Fisher hasn’t held a head coaching job since Texas A&M fired him with two games left in 2023. During Yahoo Sports’ October 23 episode breaking down Fisher’s comeback chances, Steven Godfrey didn’t pull any punches: “Right now, Jimbo’s legacy is maybe just short-term. The phrase ‘buyout’ is going to be associated in the first sentence of Jimbo’s legacy. And I think that frustrates the hell out of him.”

With at least eight FBS coaching jobs already open this season and more expected, Fisher will likely get his shot at redemption. The question is whether he’s willing to accept that the sport he once dominated has fundamentally changed. And whether any athletic director is willing to bet big money that this time will be different.​