Being a fired college football coach can be a lucrative business. You sit at home, your favorite drink in hand, feet kicked up. Once a month (or year, depending on the contract terms), you walk to your mailbox and in it is a six-or seven-figure check. There are worse fates in this world.
Bought-out college football coaches are still raking in the dough across the country. It's a hot topic, particularly after the House vs. NCAA settlement was reached, opening up the door to a new, revenue-sharing era in the sport.
Now that athletic departments are going to have to make direct payments to players - upwards of $20 million for power-four programs - the days of massive buyouts could be coming to a close. Or, at least, you have to think programs with financial constraints might be more calculated when choosing when to fire a coach.
In this new era, it would have been hard to imagine Nebraska firing Scott Frost a month before his buyout dropped 50% back in 2022. They've fulfilled their obligations to the now UCF head coach, but the decision to let him go in September instead of October cost the school an additional $7.5 million.
How programs handle buyouts in the future will be fascinating to watch. For now, there are still plenty of fired coaches who are collecting big paydays to not coach their teams anymore.
These former coaches are still costing programs millions of dollars
Jimbo Fisher - Texas A&M, 2018-2023
The former Texas A&M coach holds the record for the largest buyout in the history of college sports. To poach Fisher away from Florida State in late 2017, the Aggies awarded him a 10-year, $75 million contract that was fully guaranteed.
Following an impressive 9-1 season in 2020, where A&M finished 4th in the final AP Poll, he was awarded another fully guaranteed contract extension for 10 years and $95 million.
Three seasons later, Fisher was fired by Texas A&M in November of 2023 with the Aggies sporting a 6-4 record. His buyout number: $77.5 million. By far the largest amount in the history of college football. And the Aggies will be paying that buyout until 2031.
According to the terms of his contract, Fisher received a lump sum of $19.3 million immediately. He now receives an annual installment of $7.2 million. There's a reason he hasn't been in any hurry to return to coaching.
Bryan Harsin - Auburn, 2021-2022
If it wasn't for the ridiculous amount of money that Texas A&M was on the hook to pay Fisher, Auburn would get more grief for the amount of money they frequently have to set aside to pay fired coaches. The big difference being, too, that the Tigers hardly have the athletic budget bestowed upon College Station.
At one point, Auburn was paying both Guz Malzahn and Bryan Harsin not to coach their program anymore. Malzhan was paid out over $21 million. Harsin's buyout was less, but still significant at $15.3 million. Harsin received half of that number within 30 days of his termination in 2022, with the remaining $7.65 million paid out in four annual installments.
Auburn will be cutting Harsin a nearly $2 million check for two more years.
Another disappointing season on the Plains for Hugh Freeze could lead Auburn back down the buyout path, with another $20 million or so on the hook for a fired coach.
Neal Brown - West Virginia, 2019-2024
West Virginia fired Neal Brown in December after a disappointing six-year run. Brown went 37-35 in Morgantown, finishing out his tenure with a 6-6 mark in 2024 that finally forced the hands of the administration that had flirted with letting him go for several years.
That decision will cost the Mountaineers $9.5 million over the next four years.
Ryan Walters - Purdue, 2023-2024
Joining Brown with a big buyout from being fired last season is Ryan Walters, who was let go after just two seasons at Purdue and a 5-19 overall record. Walters bounced back quickly, joining Washington as the school's defensive coordinator.
Along with the salary he will make at that post, the Boilermakrs will pay Walters over $9 million in monthly installments over the next three years.
Tom Herman - Florida Atlantic, 2023-2024
Not many coaches have enjoyed the buyout life more than Tom Herman. Texas paid Herman more than $15 million to let him go in 2021. That's mere chump change for a program that passes out Lamborghinis like candy.
Perhaps more significantly is the $4.1 million Florida Atlantic owes Herman after firing him in November of last year. That's not chump change for a smaller, American Athletic Conference program that is still sorting out how to compete in the revenue-sharing era.
Ed Orgeron - LSU, 2016-2021
Last, but certainly not least, is Ed Orgeron. I don't think there's a fired-coach in the history of the sport who has enjoyed the buyout life more than Coach O. Orgeron got to live out his dream of being the head coach at LSU, led them to the National Championship in 2019, and then collected nearly $17 million to not coach the Tigers anymore.
LSU will finish paying off Orgeron's buyout this month (July). In good time, too, because if things go south for LSU in 2025, they could be tempted to fire Brian Kelly, and they'd owe him over $50 million to do so.