Michigan fired offensive coordinator Jason Beck on Sunday, one day after a 15-6 home loss to Michigan State, and the buyout can run as high as $10.1 million. ESPN reports that is believed to be the biggest buyout ever for a college assistant.
Read that again. An assistant. Ten million dollars to stop working.
And look, I get why Michigan did it. Here is what the Wolverines have been watching:
- Michigan is 5-4 and has scored 6 points in two of its last three games: 13-6 at home to Indiana, 15-6 at home to Michigan State.
- The offense averages 19.6 points a game and has scored more than 21 points twice all year (52 against UTEP, 28 at Rutgers).
- Against Michigan State, Michigan went scoreless for more than 58 minutes and, per ESPN, lost a game without allowing a touchdown for the first time in 30 years.
- Beck followed Kyle Whittingham from Utah, where his offense ranked No. 4 nationally in scoring.
Whittingham said there was “just too much regression” in that game, and offensive line coach Jim Harding takes over as interim coordinator. Whittingham says he will not call the plays himself.
Here is my problem. It is not with the firing. It is with the number. Michigan didn’t lose $10 million because Beck failed. It lost $10 million when it signed the contract. Schools are handing assistants guaranteed money like they are first-round draft picks, and then acting shocked when the bill comes due in November. Same sport that just voted to go to 24 playoff teams for more TV money. Nobody in this business is worried about running out.
Michigan goes to Oregon on Saturday needing one more win to be bowl eligible, then gets UCLA and Ohio State. Good luck to Coach Harding. He just became the most expensive interim hire in America without getting a raise.
Meanwhile, Tennessee hung 34 on Kentucky last Saturday and nobody in Knoxville is writing an eight-figure goodbye check. Bring on Kyle Field.
Faders: is a $10 million buyout for an assistant crazy, or just the cost of doing business in 2026? Also covered by USA Today via Yahoo.
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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.
Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade. He writes a weekly Tennessee Vols preview and the Five and a Fade picks column. All of Jeremy’s columns · jeremyrdurham.com · Newsletter · X · Instagram
