Nearly nine years ago, a 10-foot-tall Christmas tree was spotted in the trash outside of then-Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher's house. Hours later, he accepted the job at Texas A&M, cutting off a successful tenure with the Seminoles. Fisher dominated the ACC after replacing the legendary Bobby Bowden, recording an 83-23 record with three ACC titles and the 2013 national championship.
In the years since, the Seminoles have fallen into disarray. It started with Willie Taggart, who was poached to Tallahassee after only a year at Oregon. With primarily Fisher's leftover players, Taggart recorded a miserable 9-12 record before he was fired in his second season.
On Sunday, Mike Norvell was fired, setting up the third-highest buyout in the history of college football at $50.3 million. Fisher at Texas A&M ($77.6 million). Now, Fisher has become a rumored candidate to return to Florida State after a hiatus.
But after he played a role in Florida State's collapse, would the Seminoles really pull the trigger? Fisher emerged as one of the most respected college football coaches early in his career. Few coaches have worked for both Bowden and Nick Saban, and Fisher leveraged that know-how and relationships into a monstrous operation at Florida State.
If he returned to Tallahassee, he would come with major booster support and financial backing. Fisher would also be able to quickly mend relationships, especially by showing contrition for leaving in the first place. Fisher is also a relentless recruiter and would quickly be able to recreate recruiting inroads in the state of Florida.
Will it be enough with Miami and Georgia emerging as recruiting superpowers? During his time at Texas A&M, Fisher emerged as one of the top recruiters in the country. The Aggies signed the No. 1 recruiting class in 2022, the best in history at the time, headlined by eight five-star players.
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