COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- When Texas A&M fired Kevin Sumlin on Sunday after a 51-26 record over six seasons, the Aggies were sending a clear message. It didn't even require interpretation because athletic director Scott Woodward explicitly stated it.
"Our expectations at A&M are very high," Woodward said in a statement released following Sumlin's dismissal. "We believe that we should compete for SEC championships on an annual basis and, at times, national championships."
On Thursday, chancellor John Sharp had a similar sentiment. Asked what he's looking for in a head coach, he said, "Nothing serious, just want him to win a national championship."
In that pursuit, Texas A&M decided it would leave nothing to chance. It went out and hired someone who has done just that.
In one of the most surprising and impressive moves in recent college football memory, the Aggies -- a program that last won a conference championship in 1998 and won its only national championship in 1939 -- broke the bank to snatch Jimbo Fisher away from Florida State, making them instant contenders in the SEC.
Sources told ESPN that Texas A&M officials have approved a 10-year, $75 million contract for Fisher, which is the richest deal in college football history in terms of total value. He'll be the second-highest-paid coach in the FBS, with an average salary of $7.5 million, which ranks behind only Alabama's Nick Saban. The Aggies will pay Fisher more than double what they paid Sumlin, who made $35.5 million over six years, including his buyout.
The Aggies become the first SEC program since Tennessee in 1976 to hire a coach away from a school where he won a national championship; the Volunteers lured Johnny Majors away from Pittsburgh.
When the Aggies joined the conference in 2012, outside expectations weren't high. Most felt that after the program was inconsistent in its Big 12 days, membership in the SEC would be a rude awakening. It was the opposite. Upon hiring Sumlin, the Aggies went to a fast-paced, wide-open offense with a quarterback named Johnny Manziel at the helm. The Aggies shook up the conference in their debut season, going 11-2 and finishing the year ranked No. 5 in the country. Manziel won the Heisman, the Aggies were one of the biggest stories in college football and the future seemed bright.
In the last five years, however, the Aggies have been good but never have approached that type of success again. They won an average of eight games a season since under Sumlin, and though it is one of the best stretches in program history (Sumlin was only the second coach in modern A&M history to win at least eight games in each of his first five years), fans and alumni decided they deserved more. The Aggies felt that a trajectory similar to the one Clemson has enjoyed since Dabo Swinney took over is possible, and they were willing to do whatever it took to achieve it.
Given the massive financial investment in football since Sumlin took over -- nearly $530 million was spent to upgrade football facilities, including a massive renovation of Kyle Field; the football staff's annual salaries added up to roughly $10 million -- it's hard to argue with them. Texas A&M, as it sits currently, has almost everything one could ask for in a football program.
The Aggies have pristine facilities (the weight room, football headquarters and stadium were all upgraded in the past six years). They have immense fan support (they routinely draw 100,000 fans for home games and have one of the nation's best home atmospheres). They have seemingly endless financial resources (in 2015-16, Texas A&M athletics pulled in $194 million in total revenue, more than any other college football program). And the school's location is close to premium football talent (Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and East Texas -- all fertile recruiting grounds -- are just a short drive away).
What has been missing in that recipe is a coach who could take that and elevate it from good to great. From eight wins a year to double digits. From being irrelevant in late November to being a conference and national title contender
Texas A&M is making a massive wager that Fisher -- who went 83-23 at Florida State and won a BCS national championship in 2013 -- will do that.
He was the one and only target. If the Aggies fired a $5-million-a-year coach and wound up hiring another up-and-comer, it would have made many wonder why they made a move. Woodward and the A&M administration placed their chips at the center of the table. It's an expensive move to make, but championships aren't cheap. Texas A&M accomplished what its rival, Texas, could not in 2013 when the stage was set for an epic coaching search: land a big fish with a ring.
This is a byproduct of Texas A&M's "100-year decision" to change conferences at the start of the decade. The Aggies moved to the SEC in part to get away from Texas and a then-unstable Big 12, for more stability and more financial security in a league that seemed like a cultural fit. And the brief taste of success and national relevance in 2012 left them perpetually chasing it afterward, until they could wait no longer. So they opened their wallets and swung for the fences.
The Aggies pulled off something few believed they could by luring Fisher to College Station. Now they'll try to do what few thought they could when they joined the SEC: become a championship program.