College football’s top 25 highest-paid coaches for 2020 season

5. Jimbo Fisher – Texas A&M

2020 Salary: $7.5 million

Now that we’ve made it to the top five, salaries start to take a turn towards the ridiculous. Two of these coaches are making their money based on past performance, and we can bet you know the other one but we’ll start with Jimbo Fisher. He was one of the best coaches in the country when he was with Florida State. Then, he was given a $2 million raise to head to the Texas SEC school.

The Texas A&M Aggies haven’t been very relevant for a long time. They dominated the Southwest Conference in the 80s and 90s and had a good season or two at the beginning of their SEC tenure, but things fell off with once Johnny Manziel was gone. Then, during the era of conference craziness where everyone changed, the Aggies made the bold move to go to the hardest conference in the country.

They went 11-2 in their first year in the SEC in 2012 and even ended the season ranked 5th in the country. They’ve only ended the season ranked in the top 25 twice since then. That’s why they felt they needed to go get Jimbo Fisher. To deal with this ridiculous schedule, they needed one of the best coaches in the country.

Just look at last year’s schedule. The Aggies lost to (ranking at the time of matchup) No. 1 Clemson, No. 8 Auburn, No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Georgia and No. 2 LSU. They won every other game and sometimes won them handily. Fisher has a much easier schedule, even if they have to go back to back with Alabama and LSU in the final two weeks of the season.

It’s too early to judge Fisher’s contract, even if it’s entirely a risk for Texas A&M. There is no buyout if Fisher ends up leaving for any other team in the country, yet his contract is fully guaranteed. It’s insane, but it’s what it took to get Fisher to sign on the dotted line.