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Fennelly column: Tapping Jimbo Means FSU Is Ready When Bowden Leaves

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Martin Fennelly/The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

It has been the elephant in the room for years.

Who would replace Bobby Bowden at Florida State?

And when would he do it?

It appears we have answered one of those questions.

Meet the new elephant.

It's not Dumbo.

It's Jimbo.

The school and boosters who brought you buying out the coach's son now bring you "You Da Man - Eventually."

It appears Florida State will make offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher Bowden's successor to keep him from running off to another job between now and then.

The "then" remains a deep mystery.

Put away that stopwatch.

Bobby Earned The Final Say

"When Will Bobby Leave?" is on the minds of Seminoles fans, even those who worship him, who know FSU doesn't become FSU without him.

But this move says Florida State is ready for Bobby to leave. Not that it wants him to leave or would ever make him leave, but that it's ready.

One year?

Three years?

Exit strategy, thy name is Jimbo.

Bobby, 78, holds the final say. He earned that right. The championship trophies outside his office say so. The 10-win seasons and top-five rankings say so.

Granted, this would all be easier if that infernal Joe Paterno would quit winning games, assuring that Bobby would leave as Division I's all-time winner.

I can't see Bowden departing if the wins race remains in doubt.

And then there's his talk about 400 wins. It would take nine wins per season over the next three seasons to get there. He'd be 81.

Then there's his memory of one of his heroes, Bear Bryant, keeling over about 19 minutes after he stopped coaching.

But what if he goes 7-6 next season?

It's tricky.

How tricky?

There's a statue and a stained glass window of the man at the stadium.

Repeating: stained glass.

FSU boosters reportedly will underwrite the sizable raise Jimbo will get to stay offensive coordinator. And should he never become FSU head coach there will be a sizable garnet and golden parachute. And Jimbo would have to pay out if he leaves before Bobby does.

Naming a successor before he's close to succeeding is where FSU is at right now. It's not a state of panic, but it's a bordering state. This program is slipping away. You saw the Florida game. The Seminoles couldn't match the Gators in talent.

But putting Fisher in position lends stability. FSU couldn't let him walk in the door one season and walk out after it, a distinct possibility given the head coaching jobs out there. There had to be a bigger carrot.

This is it.

A Message To Recruits

Fisher has never been a head coach, but has gotten the most out of his players. He has been folksy with fans and honest with media, which would ease any transition. And Jimbo has known the Bowdens forever. He respects Bobby too much to step on his toes. That helps, too.

It says something about Jimbo that he had sense enough not to go back to work for Nick Saban, the anti-Bobby, and that he plans to stay in Tallahassee when he could get more money elsewhere, today, as a head coach. He thinks FSU is a dream job.

The real question: Has Bobby taken FSU as far as he can?

He has taken it to unimaginable heights. He changed the face of football in this state. He's one of the greats. Even now, has FSU slipped the way a Nebraska has?

But this move is a message to recruits who might waver, to fans who love Bobby but secretly or not so secretly wonder about the program.

It was Bobby Bowden who made this school a power.

Jimbo is a big part getting back to that.

You know, eventually.

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