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ATTN FLO::: FSU NEWS!!!
from TBO.com (tampa bay online)
Jimbo's Mission: Help Seminoles Regain Swagger
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By JOE HENDERSON
Published: Jan 13, 2007
After years of watching Jeff Bowden X-and-Oh-No Florida State's offense back to the Stone Age, things are looking up in Tallahassee.
Jimbo Fisher was formally introduced Friday as the new ball play-caller for the Seminoles. Or, as he will become known, the offensive coordinator not named Jeff.
Praise the Lord and pass the football. Not only that, but actually complete the pass. And protect the quarterback! It's a miracle!
Fisher is everything Jeff wasn't - experienced, respected and capable. That will satisfy Seminole Nation for a while, but there's something else just as important to his boss. Fisher isn't a blood member of the Bowden clan, but he might as well be the next-door-neighbor kid who kept showing up at suppertime.
He played and coached under Terry Bowden. He was on the offensive staff with Tommy Bowden at Auburn before coaching with Nick Saban at LSU. He has developed top quarterbacks (cue the happy dance for Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee) and has a reputation as an innovator. The LSU offense he leaves behind was ranked 18th nationally and averaged more than 400 yards a game.
He allows Bobby Bowden to feel as good as he can about the departure of his son from the coaching staff. And if this works out, it could be the beginning of a long, fruitful relationship between Jimbo and FSU.
Bowden's Successor?
Even Bobby Bowden can't coach forever - really, he can't.
In Jimbo Fisher, Bowden would seem to have the perfect candidate for a seamless transfer of power when Coach Dadgummit hangs 'em up in, oh, 15 or 20 years.
There's no formal agreement in place for Fisher to take over eventually, not even a "nudge, nudge, wink, wink." But there doesn't need to be. If Fisher restores FSU's offense to anything close to the glory days, he'll be at the head of any list when the time comes to replace the legend.
Bowden nor Fisher would talk about any such thing just yet, of course, and we shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves. All Fisher has done now is take the headsets away from Jeff. The old man will hold on to the big-boy headsets as long as he pleases.
"I had some opportunities, ones I was very flattered by. But it still goes back to where you want to be. We make decisions on principle and hopefully the future in what you want to do. We all have career goals. I've always said I have a great respect for Florida State the program. I have the ultimate respect for Coach Bowden," Fisher said.
"As a young coach, the ability to work under the winningest coach in college football history, I mean not many folks get to do that. Hopefully, as Coach Bowden has quite a few years left to coach, we can help turn things back around and put him back on top where he's always been."
The stakes couldn't be much higher. FSU is coming off its worst season in years, one in which Bowden was openly questioned by the Seminole faithful because he allowed Jeff to preside over an offense that was comically bad at times. Empty seats became an epidemic at Bobby Bowden Field.
And the Gators won a national title.
That's a lot to put on Jimbo Fisher, but if he turns this thing around he could be in line for a bonanza.
Plan Ahead
When the inevitable does occur and Bowden steps away from the sideline and into immortality, hopefully he has learned a lesson from the Gators. You have to have a plan in place when a legend hangs it up, lest the program you built dissolve into a Zookian darkness.
If Fisher works out as Seminole Nation plans and hopes, he could be the prince-in-waiting as Bowden moves gracefully onward into official sainthood. At age 41, Fisher is young enough to be patient, yet experienced enough to be ready for a task like this.
That's getting ahead of things, of course. The first order will be to reacquaint the Seminoles with the notions of blocking, pass routes and quarterback mechanics.
Then they'll be out to regain some swagger in the ACC. Maybe they'll even score next season against Wake Forest.
Anyone who has seen FSU play offense the last few years knows that's a lot to hope for, but they probably should have parade plans.
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