In 2016, Florida State signed head coach Jimbo Fisher to a mammoth contract that would keep him in Tallahassee through the 2024-25 season. In fact, his 5.5 million dollar salary at the time made him the highest paid college football coach in the world. What’s more surprising is the fact that the university extended the contract for almost a decade.
After all the dust settled in 2017, the truth was that Florida State couldn’t afford to fire Jimbo Fisher. If so, he would be owed the full amount of his contract. Now, with Fisher freeing himself of his deal, the buyout only is the sum of all the money remaining on the contracts of his assistant coaches. That is if they are not kept after he leaves to coach the Aggies. The dollar amount is believed to be in the ballpark of about $7,000,000. Fisher would owe the university that cash within a month. Obviously, Texas A&M would pay the fee directly to Florida State University.
With all that being said, the Seminoles lost themselves a heck of a coach. Jimbo Fisher was always being compared to the mighty Nick Saban. In part because he was a Saban disciple and also because he was so damn successful at what he did.
When Jimbo Fisher took over as head coach at FSU the Seminoles were mired in mediocrity. The program went 7-6 for three of their four previous campaigns. After the change, the Seminoles went 9-4 the next season and that was with starting quarterback E.J. Manuel going down. Since then, the Seminoles have finished with at least 10 wins in five straight seasons. By the way, Fisher coached them to a BCS National Title in 2013. The club went 14-0 that year.
In all, Florida State has a 78-17 record under the coach’s tenure. Only Nick Saban, his mentor is better at 86-11. Let’s not forget, Saban his entering into his 23rd year of head coaching. Jimbo Fisher is only in his eighth. Along with his gaudy numbers, Fisher also has produced three conference championships. Furthermore, he has a 5-2 bowl record to go along with 42 players that have made it onto NFL rosters. If that isn’t enough, he also had 12 Consensus All-Americans he brought into the fold at Tallahassee.
So let the naysayers and fans of coach Jimbo Fisher debate until the cows come home whether this was a good thing for the Seminoles or not. I promise you this, Texas A&M is happy about the decision he made. With the move to the SEC in 2012, the Aggies are more than happy to welcome a football mind such as Fisher’s. Besides, it will give all of us college football fans the chance to watch Nick Saban square-off with his former assistant on a yearly basis now.
It will be interesting to see who Florida State brings in to keep up with the Joneses. Somebody is going to get a chance to make a name for themselves like coach Jimbo Fisher did. On the other hand, maybe it will be a seasoned coach with a lot of experience. Either way, they will have their work cut out for them if they hope to replicate the job that Fisher did while he was at the helm.
