Jimbo Fisher Fired: Do Texas A&M Aggies Already Have 'White Whale' Head Coach In Mind?

According to Paul Finebaum, the Texas A&M Aggies may already have their new head coach in mind - and it could be a big one.

Matt Galatzan | Nov 12, 2023

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Texas A&M Aggies

The Texas A&M Aggies fired head coach Jimbo Fisher on Sunday afternoon after six underwhelming seasons at the helm in College Station.

Fisher's firing came just hours after the Aggies attained bowl eligibility with a 51-10 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, with two games remaining in the regular season.

However, even though the move came earlier than most expected, ESPN radio personality Paul Finebaum believes that the Aggies made their decision to part ways with Fisher because they could already have their eyes set on a 'white whale' replacement.

"They're already at it. They called Jimmy Sexton, who represents Jimbo, and you wanna be the first one out and there will be a domino effect," Finebaum said during an appearance on The Matt Barrie Show. "Because 2 weeks from today, that's the end of the regular season. The ADs want to move in there and they want a coach by tomorrow. There's a very narrow window. It tells me they've got their eyes on somebody. Because they've been looking around, and if they didn't think they could land a white whale so to speak, I don't think they would've made this move."

Former Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher / © Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

The Aggies will have no shortage of candidates to sift through as they attempt to replace Fisher, with names like Lane Kiffin, Dan Lanning, Jeff Traylor, and even Urban Meyer and former Aggie Dan Campbell making the rounds in the media.

That will be easier said than done, however, with the Aggies now set to pay Fisher a record $76 million buyout, along with a substantial sum to the assistants on staff.

One way or another, with players already beginning to flirt with the transfer portal and the Early Signing Period quickly approaching, the Aggies would like to find Fisher's successor sooner rather than later.

But if Finebaum is to be believed, that could be exactly what the Aggies are planning.

Published Nov 12, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.