Who is national champion college football coach Jimbo Fisher
As Texas A&M begins its search for former head football coach Kevin Sumlin's replacement, the name of current Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher is surfacing as the possible hire.
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Fisher built a reputation around his offensive acumen through assistant coaching stints at the college level. Amazingly, Florida State is Fisher's first head coaching job over a career stretching 29 seasons.
Fisher, whose birth name is John James Fisher Jr., was born on Oct. 9, 1965 in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
He enrolled at Salem College in West Virginia as a quarterback under head coach Terry Bowden, whose father would encounter Fisher more than two decades later.
After two seasons at Salem College, Fisher transferred to Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, where he would graduate and hold passing records, which still stand to this day.
Fisher went on to play just one season of professional arena football in 1988, before transitioning to coaching as a graduate assistant to Terry Bowden at Samford.
Fisher coached the quarterbacks and later ascended to the offensive coordinator role. In 1993, Auburn hired Fisher as a quarterbacks coach. After five seasons with the Tigers, Fisher was hired as an offensive coordinator at Cincinnati and LSU.
In Baton Rogue, Fisher helped build a legacy of successful LSU quarterbacks who included JaMarcus Russell, Josh Booty, and Rohan Davey.
His success at LSU, which included helping the Tigers win the 2003 National Championship, translated into a head coaching opportunity at University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2006. The offer to coach at UAB, though, was vetoed by the Board of Trustees in that state.
Fisher then spurned a chance to assist again his former LSU head coach Nick Saban at Alabama. Instead, Fisher was hired to serve as the offensive coordinator at Florida State under coach Bobby Bowden. Seeing Bowden entering the twilight of his career, Fisher was labeled as the "head coach-in-waiting."
Fisher was promoted to the role after Bobby Bowden announced his retirement in 2009.
In eight seasons, Fisher has led the Seminoles to a 83-23 record, including seven postseason bowl berths, three ACC titles, and the National Championship in 2013.
Fisher is responsible for reeling in top recruits including Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston and former top-five draft pick Jalen Ramsey.
Fisher is being paid $5.7 million in 2017, making him the sixth highest-paid college football coach in the nation. His current contract runs through the 2024 season.
