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Jimbo Fisher retreats to Texas A&M rather than face Dan Mullen at Florida

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
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Fun fact: as opposing offensive coordinators, Mullen's teams have defeated Fisher's teams by a combined score of 90-27.
 

Leakfan12

VIP Member
I wonder whose on going to be the new FSU coach, I know it won't be as much as a joke in the search then that Tennessee job.
 

Escambia94

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Moderator
FSU could recover and grab Willie Taggart, who already recruits the Sunshine State very well and is also an offense guy by trade.
 

DRU2012

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(First of all, lemme thank ya for a good laugh just from my first reading of the title for this thread!)
My take on who FSU will actually get to replace Muschamp's good buddy (not like Jimbo ever had much to fear from his partner in their families' shared-ownership of a vacation home on the Gulf coast), is that it will likely be a "familiar name": Figure it'll come from a similar list to the ones we were hearing as "logical considerations" included in OUR "search" last few weeks--and in FSU's case and history, yes, gotta put Taggart at or near the top there: I don't THINK they'll promote an assistant, and Taggart seems the best fit.
That Tennessee thing WAS weird--something "new", the fans using social media to kill a hire, basically. Not sure that's a real good thing--for the Vols here, OR college football generally...but it's a precedent that prob bodes ill. Only the FIRST time, not the last.
As for us (and at least slightly related), like everyone else I kinda fell into the "Chip Kelly, he's the BIG FLASHY HIRE, everyone covets him and WE'RE UF, so we can get him"-thing there for awhile...But I had already cooled on whether he was the right guy for us by the end. Once the Mullen hire hit last Sunday, I was more than ok with it, albeit somewhat less excitedly so. As the week has continued though, with further consideration (for one thing, more I thought about it, less confidence I had that Kelly was that great a FIT here, nor that he would stay ANYWHERE long term--sorta the OPPOSITE being true of Mullen, in these and a number of OTHER ways--especially with regards to he and his own tight group "coming home" to UF), the more happy I am with the choice. Now that he's gotten here and hit the ground running, not just SAYING the right things (and he IS--all the focus on "scoring points" and so on, all PROVEN before at every stop)--but ALSO his acknowledging the fall-off in discipline and toughness, above ALL his stressing "Big Changes in strength and conditioning" from the moment the team regathers on the practice field in the New Year--and from then on. Hell--he's already DOING all he can to shake it up, clear away the wreckage, making important moves on his staff and in recruiting.
In retrospect, we can really SEE the contrast between him and the guy we just got rid of: Mac was a "TALKER", a kind of con-man/ "sonambulist" who stroked the crowd but didn't really DO anything much at ALL--while we were falling off in every area the whole time.
Oh well, I could go on and on in detail about what Mac didn't do, and hence all we now have to get done asap--but we can all just be thankful he's gone, and all the rest now begins to shrink in the rear view. All the more so with Dan Mullen in place and immediately making changes large and small.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
I am not sure what Texas A&M sees in Jimbo Fisher to guarantee him $75M. I am not sure it was worth dumping Kevin Sumlin.
 

Leakfan12

VIP Member
I am not sure what Texas A&M sees in Jimbo Fisher to guarantee him $75M. I am not sure it was worth dumping Kevin Sumlin.

Well Sumlin was going to be gone regardless, you don't go 5-0 or 6-0 and "only" win eight or nine wins. Would it been different if A&M beat the Gators in 2012 and winning the SEC championship against UGA maybe, not maybe. Probably not.
 

DRU2012

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FSU could recover and grab Willie Taggart, who already recruits the Sunshine State very well and is also an offense guy by trade.
As I say, that is one more reason--a smart "countermove"-- I put him at the top of their current list of targets. But, like us to a certain extent in terms of remaining "cache" (NOT in terms of money, though: Where WE have a whole slew of wealthy "go to donors" behind the scenes, along with a large hugely endowed ongoing fund givimg us deeper pockets than all but a handful of others, FSU has mainly just a relatively few "name-donors" they can turn to if and when a situation like this one arises), FSU realistically CAN go after someone who is hungry, experienced, well thought of AND seemingly ready for the "step up" to the "Annual Contender" level--and because of THEIR history the 'Noles will have a chance to get him. But at a certain point they CAN'T hold a successful Coach who is ready to listen to a "Best Offer" from someone else. Thus, A&M was able to throw ridiculous buckets of cash at the Noles' successful and apparently otherwise content Head Coach (or at least safe and settled in)...We don't KNOW much of the "behind the scenes" story there--how, why, or even IF there was any restlessness or discontent on Fisher's part; or was it JUST about a boatload of money? No matter what, UF has a history of avoiding such "threats" by quickly awarding even just moderately successful coaches big raises, tearing up contracts and voluntarily upping the ante on their own pretty damn early in a Coach's tenure--sometimes to our own detriment (to the point of misjudgement, even outright foolishness--as with MacEllwaine)...We could technically "AFFORD" that mistake, but it was going to mean not just a very expensive error with longterm consequences--but worst perhaps, at LEAST another year with a poor Coach taking us further down the road to decline, weakness and failure. The AD, power/money group around him and US (students, alumni and fans of Gator Nation) along with them, got a big break when Mac managed to give a clear reason to FIRE him "for cause".
FSU in rather less time than usual (WE are hoping to do more in even LESS time under Mullens) HAD their "next long term guy" in Fisher--yes he had a couple of off years (the larger "sin" being the latest, where he had the talent he wanted, and expectations were high coming into 2017 in Tallahassee)--but the Elder Bowden had his down years too; it didn't threaten him until everyone began to recognize a steady decline in all areas over SEVERAL seasons at what eventually became "the end of his career"...Again, in Fisher's case we don't know exactly how the stress etc of unexpected and extended decline affected relations and/or played out behind-the-scenes, but overall I doubt there was much danger of Fisher OR the powers-that-be in or out of the FSU Athletic Dept seriously pursuing even the THOUGHT of him leaving--WITHOUT another school/program (A &M) relatively suddenly finding themselves in the situation they were/are in--AND having the money in hand to go after him in the way that they did.
There are a LOT of weird, unexpected scenarios that can in turn unexpectedly threaten the stability in even successful programs' relationships with their Head Coach, obviously: Look at our rise and decline under Urban Meyer. We would have tried ANYTHING to keep him here (in fact DID)--and it cost us MORE than lots of cash (we all saw how that played out; no need to wander down that frustrating and disappointing "Fiasco Road" here now).
Point is, they (FSU) do have enough "rep/history of success" to lure the interest of a "rising, ready for the highest level" Coach, and enough money on hand to put him "in the neighborhood of the Big Guys" financially--but longer term they CAN'T outbid a Florida, Texas, USC, a very few others on money alone. But that ISN'T the only consideration for a Coach just moving into that rarified level.
FSU isn't "doomed" by any means. They'll get a good one, I think, no matter what--long as some measure of "patience and wisdom" prevails--or they could go through an extended period of self-delusion and false starts, eventually finding themselves in a much deeper hole than they are now. Like US after more than 7 years of poor choices and bad coaching!
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
I happen to be in Tallahassee right now for the Tallahassee Comic Convention. There are more Seminole fans at the convention than at the football stadium.
 

DRU2012

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I happen to be in Tallahassee right now for the Tallahassee Comic Convention. There are more Seminole fans at the convention than at the football stadium.
Comicon=The BEST reason by far to BE in Tallahassee today.
(I'm guessing those fans have gotta be in a state of numb shock at this point, right?)
 

DRU2012

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Meanwhile, pretty good "defensive struggle" in Atlanta at the SEC Championship, btw. Not bad offense, really--just toigh D goimg both ways.
Hard to know how to feel about this one. I mean, my natural inclination is to root AGAINST UGA, of course--but I'm hardly an Auburn fan. Can't work up any real "rooting interest' for either team.
But it IS a close, tough SEC game.
 

DRU2012

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Meanwhile, pretty good "defensive struggle" in Atlanta at the SEC Championship, btw. Not bad offense, really--just toigh D goimg both ways.
Hard to know how to feel about this one. I mean, my natural inclination is to root AGAINST UGA, of course--but I'm hardly an Auburn fan. Can't work up any real "rooting interest' for either team.
But it IS a close, tough SEC game.
...Well, it WAS a "close, tough" game--for about another 4 minutes after my making that observation, midway in the 3rd quarter in Atlanta. But there were signs of what was coming: Auburn mistakes, coming up short in drives, leaving points on the field, their star runner injured, sucking it up but WAY off 100%. But they'd managed to thwart a healthy and on this day seemingly stronger Bulldogs squad, kept it within 1 score right up til that point well into the 3rd--then of course it all kinda "broke down in slow motion" for the Tigers, accelerating into a full on collapse in the 4th.
Both are pretty good SEC teams, with UGA "better" on that day--but neither "world beaters". Neither is Alabama at this point, as we've seen. Tide prob still the overall class of the Conference, but I can at least see the POSSIBILITY of OUR program changing its heading--with a coupla good-to-great recruiting classes, an intense strength and conditioning program, return to discipline AND the implementation of hard work, imagination and determined planning under the guidance of coaches with experience and vision, see us fight our way back among those few contending for Championships.
LOL Not much to ask...But seriously, the people coming together and already beginning the task actually see what is required, have experience in doing it, and though still just beginning here, have shown more in seeing and actually starting DOWN that road than (as it turned out) EITHER of the last 2 guys managed in YEARS here.
So yes, though somewhat guarded in my hope, I have gone from "damn near hopeLESS" to "so far so good" and "NOT impossible" in just a short time.
 

DRU2012

Super Moderator
Staff member
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Main thing I'M getting from this whole end-of-season series of games, watching them from an unusually objective POV, is a wider version of the above point:
NONE of these playoff contenders are so intimidatingly superior. We can GET to the place a program needs to be to compete with them--get there relatively soon from where we are now. We are already on the way to putting together a staff that will be aimimg HIGHER than "able to compete"--which is what you gotta do, how you have to think to eventually RAISE THE BAR. We aim to be one of those programs once again.
 

Escambia94

Aerospace Cubicle Engineer (ACE)
Moderator
What I see is that Alabama's formula works, because three of the four teams use it: Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson. Georgia lacks the offense to go very far into the playoffs at this time, so I expect them to upgrade the offense next year. None of these teams is vastly superior to another, so it will come down to execution, and player availability (due to injury or NFL Draft preparations).

Oddly enough, I look at Georgia and realize that could have been Florida if it had found a better offense or more stability throughout the coaching staff.
 

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