Whenever a College Football coach is on the brink of being fired, oftentimes the first thing that's brought up is what the coach's buyout figure is. For years we heard that a coach wouldn't be fired simply because his buyout was too big. In this new era with NIL and Revenue Sharing, the expectations at each program are higher and those buyout that once seemed too big are no longer an issue.
The largest buyout ever was paid to former Texas A&M Head Coach Jimbo Fisher, who received $77 million to no longer coach the Aggies. That decision has paid off perfectly as Mike Elko is 8-0 in his second season in College Station, as he has performed far better than Jimbo Fisher ever did.
It seemed impossible that we'd ever see a team come close to paying a buyout as big as Jimbo Fisher's. It turns out that in this new revenue-sharing and NIL era, where more money is invested in a program than ever before, having the right coach at the helm is more important to the teams than waiting for a buyout to drop.
Brian Kelly and James Franklin's exits should alarm every Head Coach
After the Penn State Nittany Lions dropped their first three games of the season, the Penn State Nittany Lions cut bait with James Franklin. It seemed almost impossible for James Franklin to get fired with a $56 million buyout, yet the Nittany Lions ponied up the money to find a Head Coach who could take the team to the National Championship.
On Sunday Evening, the LSU Tigers made their massive move as they moved on from Brian Kelly, who carried a buyout of $53 million. The Tigers fired Kelly after they went All-In on the roster, as you simply can't waste the resources Brian Kelly wasted missing the Playoff before November.
Every coach around the country should look at what unfolded in Brian Kelly's situation, as well as with James Franklin, and realize the pressure to win has never been. Curt Cignetti and Mike Elko have proven how quickly they can turn around a program and saying you need more time is no longer an excuse.
Moving forward, we may not see these mega deals that head coaches have gotten for years, as it's becoming a massive issue for programs. After an offseason loaded with programs firing big-name coaches, we're truly set for a new era of College Football as money has never been more of a factor.