Jimbo Fisher gets a blue chip recruit, then gets feisty

You’re the first year head coach of a big time college football program.  This particular program has lost to its arch rival six straight times by an average score of 34-12.  So how do you approach the season?

If you’re Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, you get right in that rival’s grill, which is exactly what he should do.  Andrew Carter of the Orlando Sentinel provides the particulars:

Just returned from the annual Florida State football kickoff luncheon. Some tidbits:

-So you know how Urban Meyer never refers to Florida State by name? Always calls ‘em that “school out west.” Well, seems like Jimbo Fisher has taken note. While Fisher was breaking down the schedule during his “State of the Seminoles” address, he finally got to the Florida game at the end of the season. But he didn’t mention Florida as “Florida” or even “the Gators.” No, Fisher called Florida “that little team down the road.” (Orlando Sentinel)

What other choice does Fisher have?  He’s been a coach in waiting for a legend who handcuffed the school because he didn’t feel like retiring at a reasonable age.  As a result, Florida State drifted into mediocrity, something a program with its resources, fan base, location and recent history had no business doing.

Florida State is still Florida State, the expectations haven’t dissipated despite a decidedly uninspired product that’s been put on the field the last few years.  Not so long ago, when Florida was wandering in a daze through the last few years of Steve Spurrier’s tenure and the train wreck that was the Ron Zook Era, FSU was the nation’s top program.

So Fisher knows he’s only got a limited amount of time to get the Seminoles at or near that level or else he’s heading to North Alabama to ask Terry Bowden about any potential job openings.  Patience is friggin’ non-existent in Tallahassee these days.

With that in mind, Fisher’s managed to energize the fan base a few weeks before the start of the season not only through his bravado but also by making a nice recruiting splash.  The verbal earlier this week from James Wilder (yes, the son of that James Wilder) out of Tampa not only gained Fisher a high profile recruit, but also one who happened to be very high on Florida’s wish list.

Here’s Mike Bianchi’s take on the commitment:

If you don’t think this was a huge victory for Florida State, I suggest you click on the UF recruiting boards and see all the whining about Wilder’s decision. Gator recruitniks are beside themselves, saying everything from Fisher deceived  Wilder and told him only what he wanted to hear about playing running back … to Wilder really isn’t all that good anyway … to Wilder just wants to be big fish in a small pond (the ACC). (Orlando Sentinel)

C’mon Mike, let’s not get too carried away with the reaction of Gator Nation.  After all, the fan base of any superpower program goes postal when a high profile recruit they thought was theirs ends up with an arch rival.  But the point was made, Florida State is still an extremely formidable recruiting foe for any school that’s angling for top Sunshine State talent, Florida included.

The next step for Fisher is the hardest, and that’s getting it done on the field.  It’s imperative that the Seminoles have a good showing on September 11 when they visit Oklahoma.  If not, then the new head coach will be hearing some heavy duty grumbling a scant two games into his tenure.