This was in 1982, when the Aggies had just given Jackie Sherrill the first contract with a total value exceeding $1 million in college football history, luring him from Pitt after three consecutive 11-1 seasons. 'It costs that much money to get a top-caliber football coach.'
'It comes to a matter of market conditions,' an A&M spokesman told The New York Times. 'I just wonder how they can do that,' said the athletic director at Arizona.
It was a coup, but the gaudy contract called into question the priorities of a university.Ī Michigan mathematics professor said it was a 'sad sidelight on American society.' A Wisconsin professor predicted a faculty revolt if such a deal were made in Madison. Texas A&M found its man, price be damned, and the outrage came swiftly.ĭetermined to place its football program among the nation's elite after winning just one conference title in the previous two decades, the Aggies went out and paid a record sum to land one of the nation's best coaches. Jimbo Fisher is Texas A&M's latest, boldest big-money bet You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
