Jimbo Fisher has resigned from Florida State and is the new head coach at Texas A&M so who will be the next Seminoles head coach?
Florida State begins their first coaching search in football in 40 years now that Jimbo Fisher has resigned to take the job at Texas A&M. Fisher leaves Tallahassee as the owner of the top winning percentage in program history and a national championship on his resume. This season, however, was one to forget as the Seminoles enter their regular season finale with a 5-6 record in a game against Louisiana Monroe that was rescheduled after it was canceled due to a hurricane so Florida State has a chance to extend the nation’s longest active bowl stream. This nightmare of a season likely weighed heavily on Fisher’s decision to leave, as did the 10-year deal with $75 million guaranteed.
With Fisher gone, the search for his replacement doesn’t figure to be a long one, certainly not as long as the one going on at Tennessee. Florida State’s top target is Oregon coach Willie Taggart who just finished his first season in Eugene after leaving USF, where he built the team that Scott Frost has led to an undefeated record this year. Before that, Taggart built Western Kentucky into a top team in Conference USA and eventual champion. If not for an injury to Justin Herbert, Oregon probably has a couple extra wins on their record this year.
Needless to say, Taggart can build programs and he can take programs to the next level. He would be a home run for Florida State and is the betting favorite to get the job, according to Odds Shark. After Taggart, the second option is Virginia Tech’s Justin Fuente who finished his second year in Blacksburg with nine wins. Other candidates mentioned as possible candidates for the job include USF head coach Charlie Strong and former Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin.
I don’t see any scenario where Sumlin is the guy as the two programs swap head coaches. It’s just not going to happen and he’s not even among the top by Odds Shark to get the job.
Purdue coach Jeff Brohm was close to being the Tennessee coach but the Vols couldn’t get the deal done. Chad Morris has been another linked to the Vols who may be hitting the pause button on their search after hiring Phil Fulmer as the new AD on Friday.
Dave Clawson has done great things at Wake Forest and could be the wild card in the coaching search should Taggart stay in Oregon and Fuente stays at Virginia Tech. He’s tied for the third-best odds.
Matt Campbell signed a big extension at Iowa State so he’s not coming. Scott Frost is expected to take the job at his alma mater, Nebraska. James Franklin isn’t leaving Penn State and Dino Babers at Florida State would only happen if they turned into Tennessee and had a revolving door of people rejecting their overtures. Florida State is not going to let that happen.
Next: Best college quarterback born in every state
I think Taggart and Fuente would do outstanding things at Florida State and could compete with Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers, but I’m skeptical if there is a sure thing outside of those two for Florida State. Perhaps there is an outside-the-box candidate that emerges in the search if Taggart and Fuente aren’t the guys, but Florida State should go all-out in their pursuit of Taggart and bring him back to the Sunshine State.