I wonder what ever happened to the championship trophy Jimbo Fisher got from Texas A&M after he was hired... It is probably buried deep in a closet somewhere, but that precious artifact cannot be destroyed or melted down for scrap metal. We need it to serve as an ever-present reminder that you should not ever count your chickens before they hatch. The Aggies never even made it to Atlanta...
Now that Fisher is out in College Station, the Aggies must look for his successor, as he must look for another job. It seems hard to imagine now, but Fisher won a national championship a decade ago at Florida State with Jameis Winston as the Seminoles' star quarterback. If Florida State can bounce back after Fisher ran it into the ground shortly thereafter, he can almost certainly reinvent himself.
So what we are going to do today is to take a look at jobs that are either open or could open up that Fisher may not be a bad fit for. You factor in these schools' potential levels of desperation, and there you go. The strangest part in this exercise was that it went from a joke for me, to actually one where Fisher could have great leverage on the free agent coaching market. He could work at all these spots.
Without further ado, here are five potential landing spots for Fisher now that he is out at Texas A&M.
Jimbo Fisher fired: 5 landing spots for the former Texas A&M head coach
5. Cincinnati Bearcats can get a new step-dad after Scott Satterfield dud
No, it is not going to happen this season, but from the early looks of it, the Cincinnati Bearcats bought themselves a lemon in Scott Satterfield. His successor at Louisville in former Cardinals quarterback Jeff Brohm has his Birds With Teeth vying for a College Football Playoff spot in year one at the helm. In year one at the helm for Satterfield, the Bearcats are not even going bowling. They have struggled...
The Fisher connection to Cincinnati was a brief one, but he was on Rick Minter's 1999 Bearcats staff. That team may have only gone 3-8, but Fisher parlayed that job into being Nick Saban's offensive coordinator at LSU shortly thereafter. You could say the UC gig was a turning point in Fisher's coaching career. For that reason, he may hold some sentimental value from his time at Cincinnati.
What makes Fisher a good candidate to replace what looks to be an ineffective Satterfield is Fisher is a great recruiter in a fertile high school football state. Cincinnati is now the second Power Five team in the state of Ohio. Given that he has coached at very high levels in the SEC and ACC previously, what about the new-look Big 12 should be a major road bump for as proven of a head coach as Fisher is?
Cincinnati is not going to fire Satterfield after one year, but Fisher is actually an upgrade over him.
4. Michigan State Spartans' P5 job is getting worse with every opening
Although the Michigan State Spartans were the first Power Five team to have a vacancy in this coaching carousel cycle, it feels pretty toxic in East Lansing right now. Some Spartans fans are going big game hunting, hoping that Urban Meyer will leave the Big Noon Kickoff desk for a second time in an olympiad. Replacing Mel Tucker will be challenging, but Michigan State has the money to do this.
Fisher may like coaching football, but he most definitely loves money. If there is any program out there to pay a gross premium for the overrated head coach, it would be Michigan State. Having big boosters like Dan Gilbert and Mat Ishbia could be what it takes to write another big check to get someone like Fisher to East Lansing. He is not really a Big Ten guy, but Fisher is a business, man...
Truth be told, I don't know how Fisher would fare in a new-look Big Ten with Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington coming over from the Pac-12 next season. That being said, I think he can provide a level of stability to the Michigan State program the Spartans are needing. Recruiting is a huge advantage he has over other candidates. It may be like Texas A&M all over again, but who doesn't love a reboot?
The fit in East Lansing feels clunky for Fisher, but even he found a way to make it work at Texas A&M.
3. UCLA Bruins being led by Jimbo Fisher would be absolute comedy
Stop me if you've heard this one before. So UCLA does its best attempt to go big-game hunting to find a suitable head coach. They kind of, sort of get a guy who was a big name the decade prior, but he is a shell of himself. Of course, I am talking about Chip Kelly and Jim Mora before that. Both were solid coaches prior to arriving in Westwood, but they struggled to achieve what they set out to do.
Depending on how Saturday's game vs. USC goes, UCLA may go in a different direction at head coach with Kelly potentially being out. It would make sense in some capacity. UCLA has given Kelly a lot of time to make an impact, but you have to ask yourself, has he? Fisher may travel even further west to Westwood if he thinks he can be the secret sauce that turns the Bruins into a Big Ten power.
UCLA is not dripping with cash like other major programs are, but an influx in financial capital coming from the move to the Big Ten could be huge for the Bruins brand. Although they have a bad reputation for being soft, Fisher could help cultivate a new identity at UCLA if he was hired to replace Kelly. Yes, he could make it work in Los Angeles, but there is a great chance that the results will be so comical.
Who doesn't need a laugh? Fisher to UCLA would be nothing short of comedic gold for us writers.
2. Pittsburgh Panthers would actually be better off without Pat Narduzzi
Admittedly, this was the potential head-coaching vacancy that had my mind going into overdrive about where Fisher could land at next. Pitt needs to shake it up. Pat Narduzzi is not workin. Outside of the Louisville win, this team has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster this season. As with Cincinnati, we are two years removed from conference championship wins and a New Year's Six bowl.
What makes me think that Fisher would be a great fit at Pitt is that he is a great recruiter, a bit of a firecracker and he has had great success before previously in the ACC at Florida State, albeit with much greater resoursces in Tallahassee. I think the fact that he grew up in West Virginia and may have ties to the Appalachian region he grew up in could work. At the very least, he will make Pitt interesting.
In a way, I think Fisher would be able to get the best of both worlds from the Narduzzi era, as well as what Pitt was like when former Panthers lineman Dave Wannstedt was calling the shots. Recruiting and tenacity, but with an offensive vantage point could make Fisher the perfect hire for Pitt should they do what they need to do and move off Narduzzi at the end of the season. This one could work.
Fisher could have been a great fit at West Virginia too, but Neal Brown has WVU on the uptick of late.
1. Baylor Bears need a recruiter, and nobody can recruit like Jimbo Fisher!
The only job I think would be a better potential landing spot for Fisher in 2024 besides Pitt would have to be Baylor. Fisher is already in Texas. We have seen Baylor win the Big 12 three times in the College Football Playoff era, with three different head coaches at the helm of it to boot! With it becoming increasingly clear that Dave Aranda won with Matt Rhule's players, it is time to bring Fisher to Waco.
Jimbo Fisher in Waco. Let that sink in. Better yet, let that cascade over your dome like Pat McAfee swan-diving off a double-decker boat into the belly of the Brazos. Texas A&M can be cultish, and no city in the United States of America is more closely related to cults than Waco, Texas. Baylor has nothing to do with this, but I do think Fisher would do extraordinarily well at Baylor in the new Big 12.
If he can land the right offensive coordinator, preferably and up-and-coming hotshot, Fisher can not only get Baylor back to the top of the expanded Big 12, but could have the Bears in the College Football Playoff for the first time ever. Since Baylor is a private school, it would not have to disclose what the Bears are paying Fisher. That takes the pressure off him trying to turn the thing around there.
If Baylor wants to move on from Aranda, then Fisher must be a top-three candidate to replace him.