Wednesday update: The deal is done. He's now under contract 10 more years, beginning Jan. 1, at $9 million per year. His salary rises to $9.15 million in 2023, and then $100,000 per year after that, keeping him under contract through Dec. 31, 2031.
The entire payment structure lays out as follows:
2022: $9 million
2023: $9.15 million
2024: $9.25 million
2025: $9.35 million
2026: $9.45 million
2027: $9.55 million
2028: $9.65 million
2029: $9.75 million
2030: $9.85 million
2031: $9.95 million
Total: $94.95 million
Including the 2021 season, A&M has committed $102.45 million to keeping Fisher employed as its head football coach through his 66th birthday.
"All other terms relative to performance incentives and other elements remain the same," the school said.
The only problem with Jimbo Fisher's 10-year, $75 million contract with Texas A&M was that the school wasn't committed enough to its coach.
That's the takeaway Tuesday night when, days before Fisher is to open his fourth season in Aggieland, Brent Zwernemen reports for the Houston Chronicle that the Aggies are working on an extension for Fisher.
Terms have not yet been decided, but the extension will come with a raise that will make Fisher competitive with Nick Saban's new salary of $9+ million.
The risk here on A&M's side is not the raise as its is the years. Fisher's contract was fully guaranteed the day he signed it, meaning A&M is still committed for another seven years and $52.5 million.
To be clear, Fisher has moved the program forward in his first three seasons. His first A&M team finished 9-4, second in the SEC West, and No. 16 in the AP poll. The 2019 outfit stepped back to 8-5, albeit with all five losses coming to teams ranked No. 8 or higher at kickoff. The 2020 season was A&M's best in decades: a 9-1 record, the program's first New Year's Six win since 2012, and its highest AP ranking (No. 4) since the 1939 national championship.
Recruiting has picked up, too. Fisher has booked three straight top-10 classes since his transition class of 2018, and the 2022 group is on track to finish among the top 10 as well.
To play devil's advocate. Fisher still hasn't beaten Alabama, and he still hasn't won a national, conference or division championship.
Tuesday's news confirmed the Aggies believe those are coming, though. In fact, the A&M believes they purchased those in advance, and commissioner John Sharp told us as much the day he hired Fisher.
"We couldn’t get him to agree to a 15-year deal, so this is the best we got."