Florida State fans, your suffering may not end with head coach Mike Norvell's imminent dismissal. The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported Friday that former Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher "really wants the job" should the program finally send Norvell packing.
Fisher spent eight seasons in Tallahassee and led the team to the 2013 BCS title, its first since 1999. However, he also abruptly resigned to take the head coaching gig at Texas A&M, which ended with a record-shattering $77.5 million contract buyout after six seasons. Fisher never saw another college sideline and has since been making appearances on television to fill his free time.
Apparently he's bored of that lifestyle (or the buyout cash is drying up) and he wants to be able to drop Thanos' iconic "You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me" line when he's interviewed by Florida State's new athletic director. Whoever takes up that role should be advised that the sequel is never better than the original.
Jimbo Fisher won't break the streak of second-chance CFB head coaches
They say you should never go back to your ex, and nowhere does that ring most true than in college football coaching hires. There has just been a conga line of guys who had good or decent tenures with a program only to believe they could repeat it or improve upon it the second time around. Spoiler alert: They never did.
The latest example of that trend is Greg Schiano at Rutgers. He owned a mediocre 68-67 record (.504) from 2001-11, but after returning from a brief stint in the NFL and with Ohio State, the Scarlet Knights must be feeling intense regret bringing him back. The team is 31-49 (.419) over the last six years and this season Rutgers is 0-2, including an embarrassing loss to previously winless UMass in Week 1. Schiano is a cautionary tale to say the least.
Some other terrible second-chance flameouts in college football also include Mack Brown at North Carolina (.599 win percentage to .579), Bobby Petrino at Louisville (.820 to .581), and — probably the worst of the worst — Randy Edsall at UConn (.514 to a dismal .158).
The only exception to this trend was Mike Riley at Oregon State. He, of course, had an opposite trajectory with an 8-14 record (.364) across two seasons before leaving for the NFL and then returning. Rather than realize football coaching just wasn't for him, Riley had an exceptional resurgence and led the Beavers to an 85-66 record (.563) across 12 seasons and earned six bowl wins.
Fisher is not going to be the next Riley. In fact, he's probably just going to be an even sadder Dabo Swinney, who won't be able to keep up with the rapidly shifting landscape (especially since everyone else can pay players now too). He doesn't have the name recognition with recruits that he used to and he can't point to alumni in the NFL, especially when the biggest name remaining is New York Giants backup QB Jameis Winston.
Here's a novel idea. Why doesn't Florida State take its eventual coaching search seriously? There will be plenty of young, talented assistants looking to make the jump and rather than overpay a washed up, should-be retiree, take a chance on someone who will try to rebuild the program's culture from the ground up. The way out is forward, not back.
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