Between The Eers: Talking Jimbo Fisher
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - What's up everybody.
00:10 It's a special edition here of Between the Ears
00:13 as I've got Eugene Napoleon on here with me.
00:16 And typically throughout football season,
00:18 we don't do a whole lot outside of our typical scheduled
00:22 How West Virginia Beats Whoever,
00:24 the day after here on Between the Ears,
00:26 and then we do our game day show.
00:27 But we had to throw this one in there
00:29 because there's been a lot of conversation being had
00:31 on social media about Jimbo Fisher being fired number one,
00:35 first and foremost.
00:36 And secondly, a lot of West Virginia fans
00:39 who are upset about the game in Oklahoma
00:41 are starting to do this whole thing again,
00:43 where, oh, let's bring Jimbo home.
00:45 Just like, you know, the old Nick Saban thing
00:48 where they thought that they could bring him home
00:50 at some point in his career later on
00:51 when he's won 15 national titles
00:54 and he's ready to come back home.
00:56 Look, before we get really even deep into this
01:00 with the whole West Virginia thing,
01:03 let's just talk about the move first, okay?
01:07 Texas saying them, ditching Jimbo,
01:10 and all the money, the cold, hard cash
01:13 that they're going to have to pay this man
01:15 to not show up to work, Gene.
01:16 I mean, if you told me,
01:18 "Skyler, I'm going to give you X amount of thousand dollars
01:22 a year to not show up to work,"
01:25 I'd probably take it too.
01:26 But for this man, he's making $76 million
01:31 to not show up to work at Texas A&M University.
01:37 Here is the breakdown of his pay, okay?
01:41 Within the first 60 days,
01:44 Jimbo Fisher is owed $19.4 million.
01:49 That's more money than any of us
01:50 will ever see in our lifetime combined.
01:54 Within 120 days, it's $7.27 million.
01:59 And then for every year from 2025 to 2031,
02:03 he's owed $7.27 million exactly every single year.
02:08 This man never has to coach or work
02:10 another day in his life if he doesn't want to.
02:13 But there's that chance that another team
02:17 or school or whatever is going to come calling
02:19 and want him to resurrect their program or their situation.
02:23 It's going to happen.
02:24 His name's going to float out there.
02:25 He's too good of a coach, has had too much success,
02:29 I think, to retire this early.
02:31 I think he may have a chance of finding another landing spot.
02:34 But just talking about this Texas A&M thing first,
02:38 Gene, just give me your thoughts
02:40 on paying a coach this much money,
02:42 first of all, when the contract was made,
02:44 and then second of all, to even agree to something
02:48 this ridiculous in terms of a buyout.
02:51 - Well, okay, I always say this.
02:55 I'm sure you remember, and I've said it many times,
02:57 I'm a former sports agent myself.
02:59 - Yeah, so you know all the ins and outs to this.
03:02 - Yeah, so when you're negotiating deals,
03:06 it's not on, in this case, he had a really good agent.
03:10 Okay, or I'm not sure if he negotiated this himself
03:14 or his agent, whoever did, brilliant move.
03:18 The bottom line is you're not going to feel sorry
03:21 for a university if they say yes to these terms,
03:25 and yes to this buyout amount,
03:27 and then they're the ones who says,
03:28 you know what, we're good, we don't want you to show up
03:29 for work, then you already know what that comes with.
03:32 Then here's my buyout, here's my payout, cool.
03:35 Here's my thing.
03:36 In a world where you have an insurmountable
03:42 other issues going on, it really makes you think
03:49 about the microcosm of sport versus the reality
03:53 of real life issues, right?
03:56 This man is going to make $76 million.
04:02 Okay, one would ask this, do you know how much money
04:10 a university would have to have where they're gonna pay out
04:15 $76 million over a period of time,
04:18 and then you still got to go out and get a new coach?
04:22 - And not just a coach.
04:24 - No, and they won't.
04:25 They will go get a name brand, okay?
04:29 So here's the thing that people really got to understand
04:31 about, you talk about, this is big time sports.
04:36 This is big time.
04:38 You're paying 76 million, and then if you bring
04:41 another coach in that's a name brand,
04:43 you're gonna have to pay another,
04:46 God knows how much money to this guy.
04:50 - Blanket.
04:51 - Okay, and then we're talking about and complaining
04:55 about what we have in our situation, right?
05:00 So that's why when I look at this,
05:05 sometimes it bothers me, sometimes it doesn't
05:07 because it's par for the course,
05:10 it's business at the end of the day.
05:12 This is the cost of doing business at that level.
05:17 So no disrespect to coach, listen,
05:21 Timbo Fisher is a, please, he's earned his rightful spot
05:26 as one of the best coaches to ever do it
05:30 at the collegiate level.
05:31 Don't get it twisted, I get all of that.
05:33 I don't think anybody is worth, what was his contract?
05:39 $110 million?
05:41 - Something around there, yeah.
05:43 I think it was like a 10 year, $100 million deal.
05:45 - Okay, all right, so look, let me go find a brain surgeon
05:49 and give him that money.
05:51 - You're not kidding.
05:53 - So let me go find the guy that's trying to cure leukemia
05:56 and give him that money.
05:58 See, when it comes to that kind of stuff,
06:00 I'm the wrong guy to talk to
06:02 because that's a lot of freaking money
06:04 and there's a lot of things that could be done
06:05 with money like that, but at the end of the day,
06:09 that is the cost of doing business
06:10 at the major college level, I get it.
06:12 But man, you can buy a lot of fries
06:15 and put a lot of cheese on some burgers
06:17 for that kind of money, I'm gonna tell you.
06:19 - And this is a very steep thing for A&M
06:23 because again, they're not just gonna hire a coach,
06:25 they're gonna hire a coach with a big profile
06:27 and not only that, but they're gonna have to have
06:30 a lot of money to allocate toward their staff, right?
06:33 I mean, they're gonna want a top notch OC, top notch DC.
06:36 I mean, this is gonna be an expensive bill
06:38 that they're gonna have to pay to two different staffs,
06:41 essentially, so going to the West Virginia side
06:45 of this thing, it's not happening.
06:48 Like I understand why people are getting on this train
06:53 because look, you're coming off an ugly loss to Oklahoma,
06:56 you got embarrassed, it's year five of Neil Brown
06:59 and you're still kind of going through these,
07:01 is he on the hot seat, is he not?
07:02 As soon as he gets off the hot seat,
07:04 he kind of coaches his way back toward that direction,
07:07 but then he kind of coaches off of it
07:09 and now it's back and forth.
07:10 I understand that, I understand that the schedule
07:13 has been incredibly weak this year.
07:15 When you look at all of their wins, Pitt is two and eight,
07:18 TCU is in a down year, Texas Tech has had an up and down
07:20 year without their starting quarterback.
07:22 I get it, you lost to Houston, I get it.
07:26 But the big thing here is that no one is talking about,
07:31 the minute Ren Baker says, "Neil, you're done, get out."
07:36 The clock starts on Ren Baker
07:38 because the guy he hires as the head coach
07:43 is who he is going to be evaluated on.
07:45 And if that coach doesn't do better
07:48 than what Neil Brown has been doing
07:50 in these last five years, again, I know it's a low bar,
07:54 but if he doesn't do that well,
07:56 then Ren Baker's not going to have a job.
07:58 Just like Shane Lyons essentially got ran out, right?
08:01 So that's the thing here, if you're Ren Baker,
08:04 you got to be careful.
08:05 And I think that's why not only he, but the university
08:09 probably wants to see Neil Brown continue to be the coach,
08:12 at least through his contract.
08:14 Now, I think it's like through 25 or 26,
08:16 can't remember off the top of my head,
08:18 but the longer he sticks around or the closer he gets
08:22 to the end of that deal,
08:23 the more that buyout continues to drop.
08:26 Clearly it's not anywhere near Texas A&M level,
08:30 but it's still for West Virginia, that's a lot of money.
08:33 And the thing that I've kind of seen is,
08:36 can West Virginia even do it?
08:38 Can they?
08:42 Maybe.
08:43 I don't really think it's wise for them to do that.
08:46 And here's why.
08:47 If you spend all this money buying out Neil Brown
08:51 and you fire your staff,
08:54 obviously you have some money tied up there.
08:57 You're going to give this money to Jimbo.
08:59 And then what do you have left to retain players?
09:02 And I get that it's coming from two different shovels,
09:05 but guess what?
09:06 There's a lot of mini shovels that are shoveling
09:08 into those same two big shovels,
09:10 in terms of the MAC, the trust, whatever.
09:13 Those are the same donors that are going to be paying
09:16 for either your players or your coach.
09:19 So if the money's being spent on the coach,
09:21 you don't have any money to spend on the players.
09:23 And if you don't have good players,
09:24 it doesn't matter who the coach is, right?
09:26 - Bottom line.
09:28 - It's the cost of doing business at this level.
09:32 Now, okay.
09:36 I'm just going to be transparent.
09:39 - Yeah, go for it.
09:40 - West Virginia is a special place.
09:43 The culture of West Virginia is a special place.
09:47 You cannot bring just any coach,
09:51 the same way you can't just bring any student athlete
09:54 to Morgantown, West Virginia.
09:55 Let me be clear.
09:56 It is a special place.
09:59 Character speaks volumes.
10:02 And I've always said this.
10:04 I would rather our university
10:06 and the direction of our university
10:09 be headed by someone who understands the importance
10:14 of the principles of what West Virginia
10:16 has already been built on.
10:19 - Yeah.
10:20 - The Don Neillans of the world, man.
10:23 All right, and people may say,
10:24 "Oh, listen, the Don Neillans of the world."
10:26 You understand?
10:28 Bill Stewart.
10:29 Those type of men speak volumes
10:32 because they're going to recruit
10:35 the type of student athletes
10:36 that's not going to embarrass your program
10:38 or your university or the great state of West Virginia.
10:42 All right?
10:43 On top of that, the men that they bring with them,
10:48 they're going to hold them accountable
10:50 to be high character men
10:52 that's going to recruit high character individuals.
10:54 All right?
10:55 The thing I love about Neil Brown,
10:57 he reminds me of a young Don Neillan.
11:00 What he stands on as a man, I respect that.
11:05 You can't just bring anybody to Morgantown, West Virginia
11:07 just because you think they're going to win a few games.
11:09 I'm going to tell you why.
11:10 Because the minute that does not happen,
11:12 all the chaos in the middle of all that nonsense
11:16 is going to put a black eye on your program.
11:20 - Yeah.
11:21 - Who needs that?
11:22 Now, this is going to sound crazy to you, scholar.
11:25 I would rather have our program revered and respected
11:28 for what it stands for than to win football games.
11:32 I said it.
11:34 I said it.
11:34 I would rather, when I go places and they see this fly
11:39 in WV, it has value to it.
11:41 It has value to it.
11:44 When I bring guests on "Revolutionary Sports,"
11:46 you hear how we talk about Coach Neillan
11:47 and that entire staff.
11:48 You know why?
11:49 Because they're great men of character.
11:51 And we had some hell of five teams back then.
11:53 And we can do it again, but you build that
11:56 with bringing in the right person
11:58 that's going to recruit the right type of student athlete.
12:01 - Yeah.
12:03 - That's going to represent in the community,
12:05 on and off the field.
12:06 That stuff is important to me, man.
12:08 And it should be important to anybody
12:09 that's a West Virginia fan, alumni, donor, whatever.
12:13 - Yeah, and that's why I agree with,
12:15 look, Jimbo is a good coach, don't get me wrong.
12:18 And for those that say,
12:20 if West Virginia was interested, could he win here?
12:23 Yes, he could win here.
12:25 I mean, any coach that has had any sort of success
12:30 can win no matter where it's at.
12:33 It doesn't matter what level, what conference, what team.
12:36 And especially at West Virginia,
12:37 where there has been success at every level,
12:39 at every conference they've ever been in.
12:42 And you could argue with just about every coach
12:45 that they've had in the modern era.
12:47 So yeah, I think he could win at West Virginia.
12:50 And for the folks that are saying,
12:52 why would some of these fans want Jimbo?
12:55 Because he's getting fired.
12:57 Well, look, Texas A&M and West Virginia,
13:00 there's a little bit of a difference
13:01 in terms of the money that they have available to them,
13:05 and also the recruiting hotbed that they have,
13:08 versus the one that West Virginia lacks, right?
13:10 So there's a major difference in expectations.
13:13 Now, that's not to say that Texas A&M's a more,
13:16 storied program or that they're, whatever.
13:20 But they are just naturally positioned better
13:23 to have success long-term than West Virginia,
13:26 because of the resources they have in terms of money
13:29 and the talent that sits in their own backyard.
13:31 West Virginia does not have that.
13:33 That is the cold, hard facts.
13:35 But, I mean, plus, like Jimbo, look,
13:39 yes, he's getting fired, but he was, what, 45 and 25,
13:43 I think was his record at A&M.
13:45 And that's coaching in not only the toughest conference,
13:48 people note that out all the time.
13:50 - Right.
13:50 - Arguably the toughest division
13:52 in college football in the SEC.
13:54 West, you had Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss,
13:58 Mississippi State, I mean, these are not sleazeballs
14:01 by any stretch of the imagination.
14:02 So this is a very accomplished coach.
14:04 Yes, it may not have lived up to the expectations
14:07 of the folks at A&M, but that would certainly raise,
14:11 I think, people's eyebrows if he had that kind of success
14:15 anywhere else, certainly at West Virginia.
14:17 But here's what I wanna say.
14:20 The reason, again, going back to Ren Baker,
14:24 he's not gonna wanna make a move earlier than he has to.
14:27 If Neil wins one of these last three games,
14:30 including the bowl game, he's staying.
14:32 I'm just telling you now.
14:34 The only way, in my opinion, that he gets canned
14:38 is if he loses both of these games,
14:40 the Cincinnati and Baylor, and loses the bowl game.
14:42 Because now you're at six and seven, you can say,
14:44 "Uh, geez, seven losses in year five,
14:49 it's time to move on."
14:51 If he gets to win seven, which I think you and I
14:53 have talked about several times on various shows
14:56 throughout the year, seven kinda seems like
14:58 it's a little bit more of a safe spot.
14:59 You got a little bit of wiggle room
15:01 because now you can say, "Look, we played a lot
15:04 of true freshmen, a lot of redshirt freshmen,
15:06 a lot of sophomores, and we won seven games.
15:08 What can we do with a quarterback that now has a year
15:11 of starting experience under his belt with that young group
15:15 in year two?"
15:16 I think you can say that.
15:17 Yes, it'd be terrible to lose to one of these last two teams,
15:21 but that's what you can hang your hat on.
15:23 You're not gonna wanna spend that type of money
15:25 on Jimbo Fisher.
15:26 And Jimbo, I'm telling you,
15:28 if he's gonna get into another coaching job,
15:30 he's not gonna take a discount, why would you?
15:33 Just because he's getting paid 70-some million at A&M
15:36 doesn't mean he's gonna come home and take a discount.
15:38 He's not sitting down at any table,
15:40 unless a substantial amount of money is being.