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| Jimbo Fisher | |
| File:Jimbo A&M Press Conference.png Fisher being introduced as Texas A&M's head football coach on December 4, 2017 | |
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Texas A&M |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 10–4 |
| Annual salary | $7.5 million |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 9, 1965 Clarksburg, West Virginia |
| Alma mater | Salem International University Samford University (1989) |
| Playing career | |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 93–27 |
| Bowls | 6–2 |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (CFP) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships 1 National Championship (2013) 3 ACC (2012–2014) 4 ACC Atlantic Division (2010, 2012–2014) | |
John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach at Texas A&M University. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State University.
As a senior at Samford University, Fisher was the 1987 NCAA Division III National Player of the Year. From 2000 until 2006 he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Louisiana State University (LSU). From 2007 to 2009 he was offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and, beginning in 2007, head coach-in-waiting for the Florida State Seminoles. Bobby Bowden, Florida State's head coach of 37 years, retired after the team's appearance in its 28th consecutive bowl game on January 1, 2010.[1] Fisher succeeded Bowden in 2010 and served as Florida State's head coach for eight seasons before resigning to accept the head coaching position at Texas A&M.
Life and career
Early life
Born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Fisher attended North View Junior High School and Liberty High School. Fisher initially attended Clemson University to play baseball before going to Salem College (now Salem University) in Salem, West Virginia where he played quarterback under head coach Terry Bowden from 1985 to 1986. When Bowden left for Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, Fisher transferred with him to play his final season for the Bulldogs where he was named Division III National Player of the Year.[2] Fisher still holds multiple school records at Samford.[3]
Assistant coaching career
Fisher played a season in the Arena Football League in 1988 for the Chicago Bruisers, then rejoined Terry Bowden at Samford as a graduate assistant coach working with quarterbacks from 1988–1990. He was subsequently hired as the full-time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After two seasons, Fisher moved with Bowden to Auburn University where he coached quarterbacks. At Auburn, Fisher coached several successful quarterbacks including Patrick Nix. He continued at Auburn until Tommy Tuberville took over as head coach following Terry Bowden's 1998 mid-season resignation.
Fisher coached quarterbacks and was the offensive coordinator for one season at Cincinnati before joining Nick Saban's staff at LSU in 2000. When Saban left for the NFL's Miami Dolphins Fisher remained at LSU to continue his role with Les Miles. At LSU he helped to develop a number of quarterbacks, including Josh Booty, Rohan Davey, Matt Mauck, and JaMarcus Russell.
Fisher interviewed for the head coaching position at the University of Alabama at Birmingham after the 2006 season but the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees vetoed the contract offer, sparking controversy since the same board oversees the flagship campus in Tuscaloosa. He turned down an invitation from Nick Saban to join the coaching staff at the University of Alabama to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida State University, where he replaced Jeff Bowden, son of then-Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden.
His contract guaranteed a salary of $215,000 with incentives increasing the total package into the $400,000's.[4][5] After his first season as offensive coordinator at Florida State, Fisher was named "head coach in waiting," making him the eventual successor for Bobby Bowden.[6] The new contract paid Fisher around $600,000 per year with a $2.5 million buyout clause.[7] The university promised to pay $5 million to Fisher if he was not made head coach by January 2011.
On December 1, 2009 Bowden announced that he would retire from coaching after the Seminoles' Gator Bowl game on New Year's Day 2010 against West Virginia. Fisher began selecting his staff and recruiting players while preparing the team for its bowl game for the last time as a Bowden assistant. The Seminoles sent Bowden out with a victory on January 1. Fisher held his first staff meeting the following afternoon. On January 5, he became the ninth head football coach in Florida State history.
Head coach at Florida State
Fisher in 2014 at Florida State.
Jimbo Fisher's official introduction as head coach took place at a Florida State University press conference on January 7, 2010. "Empowered, confident athletes are winners," he said. "My goal is to get the structure, the staff and the support resources in place to facilitate a winning plan and get players into the structure and start affecting change. Now." Fisher then announced his 2010 coaching staff:[8]
Jimbo went on to coach at FSU for 8 years accumulating an 83–23 record, a 2013 BCS national championship, 3 ACC conference championships, 4 AP Poll top 10 finishes, and 4 bowl game victories. His 0.783 winning percentage is the highest in FSU history among former head coaches.
Although it was not apparent at the time, Fisher's tenure at Florida State crested with the 2013 national championship season. A year later, the Seminoles stormed through the regular season undefeated for the second year in a row. However, they suffered a humiliating 59-20 loss to Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Over the next three years, Florida State went 25-12, including 14-10 in ACC play. It came unraveled in 2017. The Seminoles never recovered from a 24-7 drubbing by Alabama, and finished with their first losing ACC record on the field since joining the league. They would have been ineligible for a bowl–and thus ended the longest active streak in FBS–if not for defeating Louisiana-Monroe in a game that had been rescheduled from September due to Hurricane Irma.
A 2019 article in Bleacher Report detailed a number of problems with the culture of the FSU program under Fisher. According to former assistants, the players seemed to lose their drive after the 2013 national championship season. Additionally, Bleacher Report revealed that Florida State had the worst Academic Progress Rate score of any Power Five program, and was actually on the verge of an automatic postseason ban. Reportedly, Fisher had given his assistants a mandate to "keep players eligible" above all else; athletic director Dave Coburn conceded as much. Fisher's successor, Willie Taggart, was stunned at the apparent laissez-faire attitude toward academics when he arrived, and instituted immediate changes.[9]
Head coach at Texas A&M
On December 1, 2017, Fisher resigned as the head coach at Florida State University to accept the same job at Texas A&M University.[10] Fisher signed a 10-year, $75 million contract with the Aggies.[11] During an August 2018 ESPN interview, when asked why he chose to take the A&M job, Fisher listed several reasons, including his connection with A&M athletic director Scott Woodward as well as the A&M culture, academics, and facilities.[12]
Personal life
Fisher and his ex-wife Candi have two sons, Trey and Ethan. Fisher's brother, Bryan, is the offensive coordinator at Fairmont State University and his mother, Gloria, teaches chemistry at Robert C. Byrd High School in Clarksburg, WV.[13][14] On Thursday, June 11, 2015, Fisher and his wife Candi announced that they had separated and were planning on a divorce.[15]
Fisher's son Ethan has Fanconi anemia. This was discussed on the ESPN Monday Night College Football game on September 2, 2013 between Florida State and the University of Pittsburgh as part of an effort by both schools to raise awareness of the disease.
Fisher became known as "Jimbo" as a child because his family already had several members who went by "Jim."[16] Some media outlets, following a Wikipedia hoax created by Fisher's son Trey, have asserted that Fisher was known as "Slim Jimbo" because of an "affinity for meat snacks" (such as Slim Jim brand beef jerky), and that Fisher planned to start an organic jerky company after leaving the coaching profession.[16] Fisher denied these reports in an interview, noting that while he enjoyed beef jerky, he had no intention of starting a company, and it had nothing to do with his nickname.[16]
Awards
- 1987: Division III National Player of the Year[17]
- 2001: Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year Award finalist[5]
- 2013: AFCA Regional Coach of the Year[18]
- 2013: Rawlings Football College Coach of the Year[19]
Head coaching record
Jimbo Fisher (left) and Frank Beamer (right) at the 2010 ACC Championship Game.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State Seminoles (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2010–2017) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Florida State | 10–4 | 6–2 | 1st (Atlantic) | W Chick-Fil-A | 16 | 17 | ||
| 2011 | Florida State | 9–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Atlantic) | W Champs Sports | 23 | 23 | ||
| 2012 | Florida State | 12–2 | 7–1 | T–1st (Atlantic) | W Orange† | 8 | 10 | ||
| 2013 | Florida State | 14–0 | 8–0 | 1st (Atlantic) | W BCS NCG† | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | Florida State | 13–1 | 8–0 | 1st (Atlantic) | L Rose† | 6 | 5 | ||
| 2015 | Florida State | 10–3 | 6–2 | 2nd (Atlantic) | L Peach† | 14 | 14 | ||
| 2016 | Florida State | 10–3 | 5–3 | 3rd (Atlantic) | W Orange† | 8 | 8 | ||
| 2017 | Florida State | 5–6[note 1] | 3–5 | 6th (Atlantic) | |||||
| Florida State: | 83–23 | 48–16 | |||||||
| Texas A&M Aggies (Southeastern Conference) (2018–present) | |||||||||
| 2018 | Texas A&M | 9–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Western) | W Gator | 16 | 16 | ||
| 2019 | Texas A&M | 1–0 | 0–0 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| Texas A&M: | 10–4 | 5–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 93–27 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl, Bowl Alliance or Bowl Coalition game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. | |||||||||
Notes
- ↑ "Head Coach Bobby Bowden Signs One Year Contract". Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110727034351/http://www.seminoles.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/012809aaa.html. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
- ↑ "Jimbo Fisher". LSU Athletic Department. http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=28715&SPID=2164&DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=174005&Q_SEASON=2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
- ↑ "2006 Samford Football History". Samford Athletic Department. http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/samf/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/History. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
- ↑ "FSU, Fisher come to terms". Tallahassee Democrat. http://tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/FSU0301/701080339. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "FSU Announces Jimbo Fisher As New Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach". FSU Athletic Department. January 8, 2007. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071103061952/http://seminoles.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010807aab.html. Retrieved July 28, 2007.
- ↑ "''ESPN.com'': Sources: Fisher to replace Bowden at FSU when he retires". Sports.espn.go.com. December 7, 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3142649. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ↑ "Fisher's coaching deal has $2.5 million buyout". ESPN. December 17, 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3158421. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
- ↑ "Jimbo Fisher takes over FSU football program seeking key to victory – St. Petersburg Times". Tampabay.com. January 7, 2010. http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/jimbo-fisher-takes-over-fsu-football-program-seeking-key-to-victory/1063734. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ↑ Matt Hayes (June 24, 2019). "The Mess Jimbo Left: Inside FSU's Fall and Willie Taggart's Plan to Rise Again". Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2841875-the-mess-jimbo-left-inside-fsus-fall-and-willie-taggarts-plan-to-rise-again.
- ↑ "Jimbo Fisher leaving for Texas A&M; won’t coach Florida State Saturday". Tomahawk Nation. https://www.tomahawknation.com/2017/12/1/16702442/jimbo-fisher-texas-am-florida-state-fsu-coach-saturday.
- ↑ travis.brown@theeagle.com, TRAVIS L. BROWN. "Fisher's $75-million contract is official". https://www.theeagle.com/aggie_sports/fisher-s--million-contract-is-official/article_75d0b718-a587-11e8-84f0-83b5bb47a7af.html. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ↑ ESPN (August 29, 2018). "Jimbo Fisher has big hopes - and big money - with Texas A&M - ESPN". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C21clg0l1Wo. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ↑ "Fairmont State Athletic Directory Bio". Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120111103025/http://www.fightingfalcons.com/directory/default/96/1099/.
- ↑ "West Virginia School Directory On-line". state.wv.us. http://wvde.state.wv.us/ed_directory/index.html?county_id=33&school_id=506. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- ↑ "FSU football coach Jimbo Fisher, wife Candi divorce". http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/jose-lambiet/article52299875.html. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Jimbo Fisher's purported dream to launch a jerky company is actually a hoax -- concocted by his son" (in en). 2018-06-27. https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/collegesports/2018/06/27/jimbo-fishers-purporteddream-launch-jerky-company-actually-hoax-concocted-son.
- ↑ "Player Bio: Jimbo Fisher". Seminoles.com. January 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110727034544/http://www.seminoles.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/fisher_jimbo00.html. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ↑ "Jimbo Fisher named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year". Seminoles.com. October 10, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131213085706/http://www.seminoles.com/blog/2013/12/jimbo-fisher-named-afca-regional-coach-of-the-year.html. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- ↑ "American Football Monthly – Letter from AFM: Crowning Achievement". americanfootballmonthly.com. http://www.americanfootballmonthly.com/Subaccess/articles.php?article_id=6178&output=article. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
Coaching tree
Assistants under Jimbo Fisher who have become NCAA or NFL head coaches:
- Mark Stoops: Kentucky (2013–present)
- Jeremy Pruitt: Tennessee (2018–present)
- Randy Sanders: ETSU (2018–present)
References
External links
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