Football
Fisher, Jimbo
Jimbo Fisher
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Alma Mater:
- Salem University '90
FISHER UP CLOSE
PERSONAL
- Birthdate: October 9, 1965
- Hometown: Clarksburg, West Virginia
- Wife: Courtney
- Children: Trey, Ethan, Keller (stepson)
- Education: Salem (WV) College, 1990
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
- 1984-86: Salem
- 1987: Samford
- 1988: Chicago Bruisers (AFL)
COACHING HISTORY
- 1988-89: Samford (Student Assistant/QBs)
- 1990: Samford (Graduate Assistant/QBs)
- 1991-92: Samford (Offensive Coordinator/QBs)
- 1993-98: Auburn (QBs)
- 1999: Cincinnati (Offensive Coordinator/QBs)
- 2000-06: LSU (Offensive Coordinator/QBs)
- 2007-09: Florida State (Offensive Coordinator/QBs)
- 2010-17: Florida State (Head Coach)
- 2018-: Texas A&M (Head Coach)
- Overall (13 years): 122-44 (.735)
- at A&M (5 years): 39-21 (.650)
POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE
- 1991: Division I-AA Semifinals (Samford)
- 1992: Division I-AA Playoffs (Samford)
- 1995: Outback (Auburn)
- 1996: Independence (Auburn)
- 1997: Peach (Auburn)
- 2000: Peach (LSU)
- 2001: Sugar (LSU)
- 2002: Cotton (LSU)
- 2003: Sugar (National Championship) (LSU)
- 2004: Capital One (LSU)
- 2005: Peach (LSU)
- 2006: Sugar (LSU)
- 2007: Music City (Florida State)
- 2008: Champs Sports (Florida State)
- 2009: Gator (Florida State)
- 2010: Chick-fil-A (Florida State)
- 2011: Champs Sports (Florida State)
- 2012: Orange (Florida State)
- 2013: BCS National Championship (Florida State)
- 2014: Rose (CFP Semifinal) (Florida State)
- 2015: Peach (Florida State)
- 2016: Orange (Florida State)
- 2018: Gator (Texas A&M)
- 2019: Texas (Texas A&M)
- 2020: Orange (Texas A&M)
- 2021: Gator (Texas A&M)
Fisher endeared himself to Texas A&M fans the moment he agreed to leave Florida State for College Station. He further won over Aggies by immersing himself in the school’s traditions and by winning football games.
He flashed a Gig ‘Em at his introductory press conference. He linked arms with his son and team during the Aggie War Hymn at the spring game. He handed out Aggie Rings to his players on Aggie Ring Day.
“This may be the only place where the book of traditions is thicker than my playbook,” Fisher said.
During his first spring drills in Aggieland, Fisher displayed an A&M helmet and asked his players what it meant.
“Does it stand for anything?” he continued. “Does it put fear in your opponents? Does it stand for a team that’s unbelievably physical, team-oriented, tough, has discipline, grit, can execute, play under pressure, play in big moments, play in the rain, play in the snow, play on the road?
“What does it stand for?”
His questions were met with blank stares.
“They couldn’t tell me,” Fisher said. “I said, ‘When our helmet means the same thing as that ring, we have a chance to be good. That helmet represents everybody who wears a ring.’”
A&M hired Fisher to create a new Aggie tradition: The school’s last league title came in 1998 and its lone Associated Press national title in 1939.
Aggies are starved for championships, and Fisher has the recipe.
In his first season in Aggieland (2018), Fisher led the Aggies to nine wins and a second-place finish in the SEC West, which was the program’s best SEC finish since joining the league in 2012. The Aggies closed out the year with four straight wins including an epic 74-72 seven-overtime victory over LSU, the program’s first win over the Tigers in more than 20 years, The bowl victory was a 52-13 win over North Carolina State in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
The second year included a schedule with five Top 10 opponents and three of those teams were ranked by the Associated Press as No. 1 at the time A&M faced off, a first in collegiate football history. The Aggies accepted a bid to the Texas Bowl and the Aggies beat Oklahoma State to notch Coach Fisher’s 100th victory as a collegiate head coach.
With COVID interrupting everything in 2020, all Fisher did against an all-SEC schedule regular season was go 8-1, finish second in the SEC West, and earn a spot in the Capital One Orange Bowl against North Carolina. The Aggies won 41-27 and finished the year 9-1 and a final national ranking of No. 4 in both polls. It marked the highest finish for an Aggie football team since Texas A&M’s 1939 National Championship team. Fisher was a finalist for the Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year.
Despite losing several experienced starters to injury on both sides of the ball, including his starting quarterback, the Aggies posted an 8-4 record in 2021 and defeated the top-ranked Crimson Tide at Kyle Field, 41-38. Texas A&M qualified for the Gator Bowl but due to COVID was unable to participate in the bowl game.
The 2022 campaign saw 49 different players start a game, including 10 different offensive linemen and three quarterbacks. A total of 25 true freshmen played with an additional 10 redshirt freshmen seeing action.
Fisher brings an overall record of 122-44 (.735) into his 14th season as a collegiate head coach and a 39-21 (.650) ledger into his sixth campaign in Aggieland. Fisher has a 9-2 (.818) bowl record, which is among the best winning percentage ever, including a 3-0 mark as the Aggies’ head man.
To go along with success on the gridiron, Fisher and his staff have done a great job of recruiting and developing young men into professional football prospects and outstanding individuals.
After Fisher’s first season, seven Aggies were drafted and all seven made the final cuts as well as a couple of free agents. Running back Trayveon Wiliams set the school single-season rushing record with 1,760 yards in 2018 while tight end Jace Sternberger earned All-America honors and center Erik McCoy was a second-round choice by New Orleans and became a starter as a rookie. Defensive linemen Kingsley Keke and Daylon Mack were drafted along with defensive back Donovan Wilson. Even the 12th Man from 2018, Cullen Gillaspia was drafted by the Houston Texans and made the club as a fullback.
After the 2019 season, defensive lineman Justin Madubuike was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens and made the club along with 2018 Guy Award winner and All-American punter Braden Mann who was drafted and stuck with the New York Jets.
The starting quarterback at Texas A&M under Fisher’s first three seasons was Kellen Mond who was drafted and signed with the Minnesota Vikings in the spring of 2020. Defensive lineman Bobby Brown III was drafted and signed with the Los Angeles Rams while offensive lineman Dan Moore Jr. and linebacker Buddy Johnson were both drafted and signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Several other Aggies signed free agent contracts and all but one stuck on NFL rosters.
Four Aggies were drafted in 2022 with offensive lineman Kenyon Green becoming the first-round pick of his hometown Houston Texans. Six other Aggies signed free agent contracts and will report to training camp.
Three juniors declared for the 2023 NFL draft with De’Von Achane going to the Miami Dolphins and Antonio Johnson Jr. heading to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Jaylon Jones to the Indianapolis Colts.
In his eight seasons in Tallahassee, Fisher established himself as one of the elite coaches in college football. He led the Seminoles to an 83-23 record, winning three Atlantic Coast Conference championships, four Atlantic Division titles and five bowl games, including the 2013 National Championship.
His .773 winning percentage ranked fourth-best among active head coaches (minimum five years) and was the best in ACC history.
Fisher, 57, won at least 10 games in six of his seasons and went 48-16 in the ACC.
He recruited top prospects, sent many onto the pros and graduated many others. His recruiting classes ranked in the top 10 each of his last seven years at FSU, with the 2011 class ranked No. 1 or 2 by every major recruiting service and the 2016 class ranked first.
Twelve of Fisher’s FSU players earned consensus All-America honors, with quarterback Jameis Winston winning the Heisman Trophy in 2013.
Fisher saw 83 of his student-athletes graduate, and NFL teams drafted 51 of his players, including 21 first- or second-round selections. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Winston the No. 1 overall selection in 2015, one of three quarterbacks who played under Fisher to go in the first round. The Minnesota Vikings selected Christian Ponder 12th overall in 2011 and the Bills took EJ Manuel 16th overall in 2013.
The Seminoles set a modern-day NFL draft record with 29 players selected over a three-year period (2013-15), and Fisher had a first-round NFL draft choice every year he was head coach in Tallahassee.
In 2017, 34 Seminoles made opening weekend NFL rosters, tying for the seventh-most alumni in the league.
In the Beginning
Fisher grew up obsessed with winning. He treated everything -- grades, the race to the lunch line, cards, barrel racing, sports – as a competition. It seemed a natural, then, that Fisher would choose a career with a scoreboard.Fisher spent 17 years coaching for the Bowden family -- Terry Bowden at Samford and Auburn and Terry’s father, Bobby, at FSU -- and five years working for Nick Saban at LSU. While Fisher lauds Bobby Bowden and Nick Saban for influencing his career, Fisher credits his parents with leaving the biggest impression on him.
Fisher describes his father, John James -- affectionately known as Big Jim -- and his mother, Gloria, as “hard-working, very down-to-earth people.”
Big Jim and Gloria, who grew up in rural north-central West Virginia, met at a fair when he was 23 and she was 18. Gloria was showing horses in a ring when Big Jim vowed to marry her the moment he set eyes on her.
Gloria taught chemistry and physics in the West Virginia public schools system for 51 years. (The Dallas A&M Club endowed a scholarship in her name at Texas A&M’s College of Education.) Big Jim was a farmer and cattle rancher by day on the family’s 16-acre farm in Glen Falls and a coal miner at night. He developed black-lung disease, had several strokes and died from a heart attack in 1992 at the age of 62.
John James Jr. was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on Oct. 9, 1965. He answered to Jimmy and J.J. -- because of the many Jims in the family -- before his great aunt began calling him Jimbo. It stuck. Jimbo’s only sibling, Bryan, arrived six years later.
Five days before Thanksgiving in 1967, Big Jim was injured in a mine explosion. A flash-fire blast slammed him into the mine wall, breaking Big Jim’s leg in three places and leaving him with severe arm and facial burns. His family thought Big Jim might not make it, but after rehabbing for months, he returned to work in the coal mine and later earned a promotion to night foreman.
In West Virginia, coal mining is a way of life. Jimbo figured out when he was only 10 that it wasn’t for him. That’s when Jimbo let his school work slip, prompting Big Jim to have his own take-your-son-to-work day. After they descended into the bowels of Clinchfield Mine No. 3, Big Jim handed his son a shovel and told him to start digging. Big Jim’s life lesson worked.
Jimbo saw sports as a way out. He became the starting quarterback at Clarksburg Liberty High School as a sophomore and ended up earning all-state honors in football, as a point guard in basketball and as a middle infielder and pitcher in baseball. Big Jim dissected games with Jimbo during the car rides home while also providing psychology lessons and motivational talks.
Jimbo earned a baseball scholarship to Clemson but lasted only one semester before returning home.
Fisher played quarterback at Salem College for Terry Bowden for three seasons and followed Bowden to Samford for his final season. Fisher became the NCAA Division III National Player of the Year in 1987 and recently earned induction into Samford’s Hall of Fame as well as Salem.
Big Jim always believed Jimbo had a future in baseball. Instead, Jimbo pursued professional football. But his Arena League career ended when he injured a knee in a game at Madison Square Garden while playing for the Chicago Bruisers. It began his coaching career.
Coaching Tree
Fisher returned to Samford as a grad assistant/quarterbacks coach in 1988 before earning a promotion to offensive coordinator in 1991. He followed Bowden to Auburn in 1993 and stayed there for six seasons before becoming offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Cincinnati in 1999.In 2000, Fisher joined Nick Saban’s staff at LSU as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. LSU made seven consecutive bowl appearances, won two SEC titles, went 70-20 and won the 2003 National Championship while Fisher was the Tigers’ offensive coordinator. Fisher was a finalist for 2001 Frank Broyles Award, presented annually to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Fisher developed a reputation as a perceptive play-caller and a quarterback whisperer. He developed Stan White, Patrick Nix and Dameyune Craig at Auburn and helped Josh Booty, Rohan Davey, Craig Nall, Matt Mauck, JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn get drafted in the NFL while at LSU. Russell, the No. 1 overall pick of the Oakland Raiders in the 2007 draft, and Davey were the first two 3,000-yard passers in LSU history.
In 2007, Fisher joined Bobby Bowden’s staff at Florida State as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was tabbed as Bowden’s eventual successor by the end of his first season in Tallahassee. Fisher impacted FSU’s recruiting and its offensive play during his three seasons as coordinator, with the Seminoles’ offense improving statistically each season.
Succeeding Bobby Bowden
Florida State named Bobby Bowden its head coach in 1976. He became the second-winningest coach in major college football. Bowden retired after the 2009 season, making Fisher the Seminoles’ first new coach in 35 years and only the ninth in school history.Fisher had no problem following a legend.
He led the Seminoles to a 10-4 record in 2010, the most victories for a first-year coach in program history, as FSU won the first of four ACC Atlantic Division titles. Florida State went 9-4 in 2011, 12-2 in 2012 and 14-0 in its national championship campaign in 2013. The Seminoles finished 13-1 in 2014 before back-to-back 10-3 campaigns in 2015 and 2016.
The 2013 season was historic as the Seminoles set the national record for points in a season (723), led the nation in scoring defense (12.1 points per game) and kicker Roberto Aguayo broke the national mark for points by a kicker (157).
The Seminoles rewrote school and conference record books. They set FSU and ACC records for single-season total offense (7,267 yards), points per game (51.6) and yards per play (7.67). Their nation-leading 94 touchdowns also established new school and ACC marks. Florida State’s 42 passing touchdowns was a school and conference record, while its 42 rushing scores set a new school mark.
In winning the third national championship in school history in the final Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game, FSU needed the largest comeback in the game’s 16-year history. The Seminoles overcame an 18-point deficit to rally for a 34-31 victory over Auburn. Winston led an 80-yard, game-winning drive, throwing a 2-yard touchdown to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds left.
Fisher earned the 2013 Rawlings National College Football Coach of the Year honors and the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year for Region 1 as the Seminoles became the sixth team ever to win 14 games and the first ACC team to accomplish the feat.
The Seminoles continued their winning ways into 2014, with their third consecutive ACC Championship. The 37-35 victory over Georgia Tech in the conference title game was FSU’s school-record and ACC-record 29th win in a row. It was the nation’s second-longest winning streak over the past 20 years.
Only 13 other teams in college football history ever have won as many games in a row.
Welcome to Aggieland
Texas A&M stunned the college football world Dec. 4, 2017, when it announced Fisher had agreed to a 10-year, $75 million deal. He replaced Kevin Sumlin, becoming the school’s 29th full-time head football coach.“Gone are the days when we settle for a good football team,” John Sharp, Chancellor of the Texas A&M System, said. “We expect to compete soon for championships. Our Board of Regents and 12th Man fans are to be commended for devoting resources to facilities and now to the coaching staff to do just that. Beat the Hell Out of Everybody!”
Fisher previously received calls from big-time programs, but until Texas A&M’s, he was never enticed enough to leave Florida State. When Fisher was the Tigers’ offensive coordinator, former Texas A&M Athletics Director Scott Woodward served as LSU’s director of external affairs.
It was Fisher’s relationship with Woodward, combined with A&M’s potential, that got him out of Tallahassee.
Luring a national championship coach – something that hadn’t been done since Johnny Majors left Pittsburgh for Tennessee in 1977 – was a “heavy lift.” At the time, only three other active Bowl Subdivision coaches won national titles – Saban, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer. Saban and Meyer both left after winning national championships, but Saban went to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and Meyer retired for a year.
Fisher and the Aggies have lofty expectations. A&M had gone 16-20 against SEC West opponents since joining the conference in 2012, but as a head coach at FSU, Fisher was 9-2 against SEC teams.
Fisher calls the Aggies a sleeping giant.
“I definitely do [think a national title is an attainable goal] or I wouldn’t be here,” Fisher said. “We have to get there, and we have to prepare the players for that situation so when it’s there, they can take advantage of that situation. Do we have a timetable? I don’t have patience, but we still have to do the things we have to do. It’s a huge challenge, because of the people you play and the conference you’re in and all the things you do, but hey, that’s why you’re in this business. If you don’t like competition, and you don’t like competing, you’re in the wrong business.”
Family
Jimbo and his wife, Courtney, reside in College Station.Fisher enjoys spending his free time with his sons, Trey, Ethan and stepson Keller. The family can often be found at their ranch or on Lake Conroe during the off-season. Trey attends Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, where he is a member of the football team. Ethan, a high school senior, is a kicker on his football team. Keller, a high school junior, plays both school and club basketball. Ethan and Keller are avid hunters, fishermen and co-founders of @americas_bass_fishing Instagram.
Kidz1stFund
In 2011, doctors diagnosed Ethan with a rare genetic disease, Fanconi anemia, which may lead to bone marrow failure, leukemia or other cancers. It prompted Ethan’s parents, Jimbo and Candi, to begin a national foundation, Kidz1stFund. The non-profit, founded to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for Fanconi anemia, has raised over 12 million for FA research in the 12 years since. Including over $375,000 that was raised when a fan started a $41.38 donation campaign after Texas A&M beat Alabama in 2021 and continued into the 2022 season.Minnesota’s Masonic Children’s Hospital rechristened its FA program the Kidz1stFund Fanconi Anemia Comprehensive Care Center.
Finding a cure for Fanconi anemia is the focus of the foundation, so Ethan and others with Fanconi anemia can lead full, healthy lives. Providing the funds to the doctors and researchers is crucial to making this goal a reality. That is why Fisher is committed to 100% of the funds given to Kidz1st go directly to research. Not a single dollar is spent elsewhere.
For decades, the disorder was considered untreatable. Promising advances in medical research have improved the prognosis. The average life expectancy of Fanconi anemia patients has risen 11 years, to the mid-30s, since Kidz1stFund began.
Most children fighting Fanconi anemia will require a stem cell transplant, either bone morrow or cord blood. Although not a cure for the disease, it aids in extending the quality and quantity of life. Yet, many wait years to find a donor who is a perfect match, and some never do. Kidz1stFund hosts bone marrow donor drives throughout the year and has registered over 7,500 new potential donors into the National Marrow Donor Registry and has had at least 14 matches go on to save a life. Those between the ages of 18-40 can register for the registry by texting the word Kidz to 61474. For more information visit Kidz1stFund.com.
Year-by-Year Head Coaching Record
| Year | School | Record | Conf (Finish) | Championships | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Florida State | 10-4 | 6-2 (1st/Atlantic) | Chick-fil-A Bowl (W) | |
| 2011 | Florida State | 9-4 | 5-3 (2nd/Atlantic) | Champs Sports Bowl (W) | |
| 2012 | Florida State | 12-2 | 7-1 (1st/Atlantic) | ACC Champions | Orange Bowl (W) |
| 2013 | Florida State | 14-0 | 8-0 (1st/Atlantic) | National Champions ACC Champions |
BCS National Championship (W) |
| 2014 | Florida State | 13-1 | 8-0 (1st/Atlantic) | ACC Champions | Rose Bowl/CFP Semifinal (L) |
| 2015 | Florida State | 10-3 | 6-2 (2nd/Atlantic) | Peach Bowl (L) | |
| 2016 | Florida State | 10-3 | 5-3 (3rd/Atlantic) | Orange Bowl (W) | |
| 2017 | Florida State | 7-6* | 3-5 (6th/Atlantic) | Independence Bowl (W)* | |
| 2018 | Texas A&M | 9-4 | 5-3 (2nd/West) | Gator Bowl (W) | |
| 2019 | Texas A&M | 8-5 | 4-4 (4th/West) | Texas Bowl (W) | |
| 2020 | Texas A&M | 9-1 | 9-1 (2nd/West) | Orange Bowl (W) | |
| 2021 | Texas A&M | 8-4 | 4-4 (t3rd/West) | Gator Bowl (DNP-Covid) | |
| 2022 | Texas A&M | 5-7 | 2-6 (t5th/West) | ||
| career (13 seasons) | 122-44 |
* — Jimbo Fisher resigned as the FSU head coach on Dec. 1, 2017 and did not coach the Seminoles in their final two games. His overall record does not reflect the victories.
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