Jimbo Fisher facts for kids
Fisher being introduced as Texas A&M's head football coach on December 4, 2017
|
|
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 9, 1965 Clarksburg, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Samford University (1989) |
| Playing career | |
| 1985–1986 | Salem |
| 1987 | Samford |
| 1988 | Chicago Bruisers |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1988–1990 | Samford (GA/QB) |
| 1991–1992 | Samford (OC/QB) |
| 1993–1998 | Auburn (QB) |
| 1999 | Cincinnati (OC/QB) |
| 2000–2006 | LSU (OC/QB) |
| 2007–2009 | Florida State (OC/QB) |
| 2010–2017 | Florida State |
| 2018–2023 | Texas A&M |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 128–48 |
| Bowls | 8–2 |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (CFP) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 BCS National (2013) 3 ACC (2012–2014) 4 ACC Atlantic Division (2010, 2012–2014) |
|
| Awards | |
| Division III National Player of the Year (1987) AFCA Regional Coach of the Year (2013) Rawlings Football College Coach of the Year (2013) |
|
John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is a well-known American college football coach. He recently coached the Texas A&M football team from 2018 to 2023. Before that, he led the Florida State team to win a huge championship, the BCS National Championship, in 2014.
Contents
Jimbo Fisher's Life and Career
Early Life and Playing Football
Jimbo Fisher was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He went to Liberty High School. At first, he went to Clemson University to play baseball. But then he switched to Salem College (now Salem University) in Salem, West Virginia. There, he played as a quarterback for the football team from 1985 to 1986.
When his coach, Terry Bowden, moved to Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, Fisher went with him. He played his last season for the Samford Bulldogs. Fisher still holds many school records at Samford. In 1987, as a senior at Samford, he was named the NCAA Division III National Player of the Year.
After college, Fisher played one season of professional football in the Arena Football League. He played for the Chicago Bruisers in 1988.
Starting as an Assistant Coach
Jimbo Fisher began his coaching career by rejoining his old coach, Terry Bowden, at Samford University. He worked as a graduate assistant coach, helping with the quarterbacks from 1988 to 1990. Later, he became the full-time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
After two seasons, Fisher moved with Bowden to Auburn University, where he coached quarterbacks. He worked with several successful quarterbacks there, like Patrick Nix. Fisher stayed at Auburn until 1998.
Fisher then coached quarterbacks and was the offensive coordinator for one season at the University of Cincinnati. In 2000, he joined Nick Saban's coaching staff at LSU. When Saban left to coach in the NFL, Fisher stayed at LSU and continued his role with coach Les Miles.
After the 2006 season, Fisher was offered the head coaching job at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. However, the university's board did not approve the contract. This caused some debate because the same board also oversees the main University of Alabama campus. Fisher then turned down an offer from Nick Saban to join the University of Alabama staff. Instead, he chose to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida State University. He took over from Jeff Bowden, who was the son of Florida State's coach at the time, Bobby Bowden.
His contract at Florida State guaranteed him a salary of $215,000, which could increase to over $400,000 with bonuses. After his first year as offensive coordinator, Fisher was named "head coach in waiting." This meant he would eventually take over from Bobby Bowden. His new contract paid him about $600,000 per year. The university also promised to pay Fisher $5 million if he wasn't made head coach by January 2011.
On December 1, 2009, Bobby Bowden announced he would retire after Florida State's Gator Bowl game on January 1, 2010. Fisher started choosing his coaching staff and recruiting players while also helping prepare the team for Bowden's last bowl game. The Seminoles won the game 33–21. Fisher held his first staff meeting the next day. On January 5, he officially became the ninth head football coach in Florida State history.
Head Coach at Florida State
Jimbo Fisher was officially introduced as the new head coach at a Florida State University press conference on January 7, 2010. He said, "Confident athletes are winners." He also stated his goal was to create a winning plan with the right staff and resources. Fisher then announced his coaching staff for 2010.
In his first year, Fisher led the Seminoles to win 10 games. This was their first 10-win season since 2003. They also beat their rivals, Miami and Florida, for the first time since 1999. They also defeated South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The next year, 2011, they had a 9–4 season. They beat Miami and Florida again and won against Notre Dame in the Champs Sports Bowl.
Fisher and the Seminoles continued to do well in 2012. They won their first conference title in seven years. The team also played in a major bowl game for the first time in seven years, beating Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl.
A year later, in 2013, the Seminoles had an amazing season. Led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, they went undefeated. They then defeated Auburn in the 2014 BCS National Championship Game to win the school's third national championship. It was their first national title since 1999.
After the 2013 national championship, Fisher's time at Florida State seemed to reach its peak. In 2014, the Seminoles had another undefeated regular season. However, they lost badly to Oregon in the Rose Bowl, 59–20. This was the most points Florida State had ever given up in a bowl game. In the next two years, the team had 10–3 records. They lost 11 conference games in total during these years. One of these losses was a 63–20 defeat by Louisville in 2016. At the time, this was the most points the Seminoles had ever given up in school history.
The challenges for Fisher's time at Florida State began in the first game of the 2017 season. Their starting quarterback, Deondre Francois, got a serious knee injury during a 24–7 loss to Alabama. The backup quarterback, James Blackman, was new and not very experienced. This showed that FSU had not recruited many strong quarterbacks since Jameis Winston. A close loss to NC State a week later meant they were no longer ranked in the top teams. They ended up with their first losing record in conference play since joining the league. They were only able to keep their long streak of playing in bowl games alive by beating Louisiana-Monroe in a game that had been moved because of Hurricane Irma.
In 2019, an article in Bleacher Report talked about some problems with the team's culture under Fisher. Former coaches said that players seemed to lose their motivation after the 2013 championship. The article also mentioned that Florida State had low academic scores for its athletes. This meant the team was close to being banned from postseason games. It was reported that Fisher had told his assistants to focus on keeping players eligible to play above everything else. Fisher's successor, Willie Taggart, was surprised by this relaxed attitude towards academics and made immediate changes. Some former assistants believed this casual approach to academics led to a general lack of discipline among the players.
In his eight years at Florida State, Fisher had a record of 83 wins and 23 losses. He won a BCS national championship, three ACC conference championships, and four Atlantic Division titles. His teams finished in the top 10 of the AP Poll four times and won four bowl games. His winning percentage of .783 is the highest in Florida State history.
Head Coach at Texas A&M
On December 1, 2017, Fisher left his job as head coach at Florida State University to take the same job at Texas A&M University. Fisher signed a 10-year contract with Texas A&M for $75 million. In an August 2018 interview, Fisher explained why he chose Texas A&M. He mentioned his connection with the school's athletic director, Scott Woodward, as well as the school's culture, academics, and facilities.
In his first season at Texas A&M (2018), Fisher led the Aggies to a 9–4 record. They finished second in their conference division, which was their best finish since joining the conference in 2012. This season included an exciting 74–72 win in seven overtimes against LSU. This was the first time Texas A&M had beaten LSU since 1995. This game also had the most combined points (146) ever scored in a Division I football game. The Aggies then defeated the NC State Wolfpack 52–13 in the 2018 Gator Bowl.
Fisher's 2019 Aggies team started the season ranked 12th. However, they lost to several top-10 ranked teams, including Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and LSU. Texas A&M became the first team to play against three different teams ranked #1 at the time of their games. The Aggies were invited to the 2019 Texas Bowl, where they beat Oklahoma State 24–21.
During the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, which only included conference games, Fisher led the Aggies to a 9–1 record. This earned the team the No. 4 ranking in the AP Poll, which was the highest postseason ranking for the Aggies since 1939. Texas A&M finished fifth in the College Football Playoff final poll, just missing out on the playoffs. The team qualified for the Orange Bowl, where they defeated North Carolina 41–27.
Before the 2021 season, the Texas A&M Board of Regents voted to extend Fisher's contract until the 2031 season. Starting January 1, 2022, Fisher would be paid $9 million each year. If he were fired without cause before December 1, 2021, he would have been owed $95.6 million. This was the largest contract buyout in college football history at the time. However, if Jimbo chose to leave Texas A&M for another coaching job, he would not owe the school any money.
Fisher's Aggies started the 2021 season ranked No. 6. They started with a 3–0 record, but then their starting quarterback, Haynes King, got injured. They lost to then-ranked No. 16 Arkansas and unranked Mississippi State. After these two losses, the Aggies defeated the No. 1 ranked Alabama at home. This win broke several records. Fisher became the first former assistant coach of Nick Saban to defeat him, ending Saban's perfect 24–0 record against his former assistants. The Aggies followed the Alabama win with three straight conference victories. They beat unranked Missouri, South Carolina, and then-ranked No. 13 Auburn. However, they then lost to then-ranked No. 15 Ole Miss and unranked LSU. The team was invited to the Gator Bowl, but they decided not to play, reportedly due to COVID-19 issues. The 2021 team finished with an 8–4 record.
The Aggies had high hopes for the 2022 season, starting ranked #6 in the country. But they lost six of their first nine games, including a surprising loss to unranked Appalachian State in their second game. The Aggies had a six-game losing streak during the season. This was the first time the Aggies had lost six games in a row since 1972. The team finished with a 5–7 record, missing out on a bowl game. However, they ended the season on a positive note with a 38–23 upset victory over #5 LSU.
Fisher was fired as head coach on November 12, 2023. At that point, his team had a 6–4 record after 10 games. His contract was bought out for $77.5 million, which was the largest buyout in college football history at the time.
Personal Life
Jimbo Fisher met his second wife while coaching at Florida State. They got married in the summer of 2020 and live in College Station, Texas. Fisher has two sons from his first marriage. Fisher's brother, Bryan, used to be an offensive coordinator at Fairmont State University. He is now a teacher and helps run the family farm.
Fisher's younger son, Ethan, was diagnosed in 2011 with Fanconi anemia, a rare disease. Because of this, Jimbo and his former wife, Candi Fisher, started Kidz1stFund. This foundation helps fund important research for the disease. The University of Minnesota's Masonic Children's Hospital even renamed its Fanconi Anemia program the Kidz1stFund Fanconi Anemia Comprehensive Care Center.
Fisher's older son, Trey, went to the University of Tennessee at Martin and played quarterback for their football team. He later transferred to Florida A&M.
Jimbo Fisher became known as "Jimbo" when he was a child because there were already several "Jims" in his family. Some news reports, based on a Wikipedia hoax created by Fisher's son Trey, claimed that Fisher was called "Slim Jimbo" because he liked meat snacks, like Slim Jim beef jerky. These reports also said Fisher planned to start an organic jerky company after coaching. Fisher denied these stories in an interview, saying that while he enjoyed beef jerky, he had no plans to start a company, and it had nothing to do with his nickname.
Awards and Recognition
- 1987: Division III National Player of the Year
- 2001: Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year Award finalist (meaning he was one of the top candidates for this award for assistant coaches)
- 2013: AFCA Regional Coach of the Year
- 2013: Rawlings Football College Coach of the Year
Head Coaching Record
| 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 | 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 | 8–5 | 4–4 | 4th (Western) | W Texas | ||||
| 2020 | Texas A&M | 9–1 | 8–1 | 2nd (Western) | W Orange† | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2021 | Texas A&M | 8–4 | 4–4 | T–3rd (Western) | Gator | 25 | |||
| 2022 | Texas A&M | 5–7 | 2–6 | T–6th (Western) | |||||
| 2023 | Texas A&M | 6–4 | 4–3 | (Western) | |||||
| Texas A&M: | 45–25 | 27–21 | |||||||
| Total: | 128–48 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Expression error: Unexpected >= operator.
|
|||||||||
See also
In Spanish: Jimbo Fisher para niños
