Nowadays, when you hear the words “Florida State football,” you think of none other than Jameis Winston. While he is a key factor of FSU football’s success — one in which I will discuss briefly later on — another man is just as important, if not more important than him, and that is head football coach Jimbo Fisher.
Fisher, who graduated from Salem College in 1989, has completely transformed the FSU football program. Fisher came to FSU in 2007 as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach under the helm of legendary coach, Bobby Bowden, who departed just a few years ago. Since then, Fisher has been able to secure back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 2013 and 2014, mold star athlete as we see in Heisman trophy winner, Jameis Winston, and have both previous starting quarterbacks, Christian Ponder and EJ Manuel, drafted in the first round to the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills, respectively. But it doesn’t stop there. He also has a head coaching record at Florida State of 58-11, winning 82% of those games, which is the highest percentage in ACC history as a head coach. Not to mention, the 2013 season was truly historic dominance for the Seminoles. The Seminoles set a national record for points in a season while also leading the nation in scoring defense. Who was man guiding them all to the road to victory of a National Championship title? None other than Jimbo Fisher. And that’s just the culmination of his athletic accolades.
But Fisher is far more than just a great coach with an acute athletic mind. I think that what really draws players to him is his dedication to their personal success on and off the field and his family-oriented mentality. He sticks by his players as if they are his very own blood, a remarkable quality to find, and one that you don’t often find in college football coaches. This probably has something to do with his close-knit family relationships with wife, Candi, and sons, Trey and Ethan, who are also extremely involved in the program.
As many people know, Fisher’s youngest son, Ethan, was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia, a certain type of blood disease that is extremely rare and life-threatening. Right now, there is no cure for Fanconi anemia, but the Fishers are on a quest to find one. They created Kidz 1st Fund, a campaign to collect research money in an effort to finally cure those diagnosed with Fanconi anemia. Fisher’s hands-on approach in being involved in not only his kids’ lives, but his extended family as well — the players — truly show the depth of his character and his admiration and dedication to all things FSU football.
For those of you wondering about how Fisher’s most recent success story is doing, check out the progress Jameis Winston recently made in the NFL combine http://bit.ly/1w4NQ6X. According to Michael Silver, an NFL media columnist, Winston is so high in the ranking that he is almost set to go as the overall number one pick in the first round of the draft. Go Jameis, go Jimbo, go Noles.
