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Jimbo Fisher says there is only so much hunting and fishing one man can do before they get bored. Eventually, they’ll want back in.
On Monday, the former Texas A&M coach told ESPN Radio he will be watching film throughout the upcoming college football season to determine if there is the “right opportunity” to return to coaching for the 2025 season.
“I miss the relationships,” he told ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike with Evan, Canty and Michelle. “I miss practice. I mean you miss the games and the competition. You want to do that, but, as a coach, you miss the day-to-day interactions with our players.”
Fisher won a national championship with Florida State and then moved to Texas A&M hoping to lift the Aggies over the hump. While talent flocked to College Station, it never worked. Fisher went 45-25 overall and 27-21 in SEC play. He was fired 10 games into last season, ousted despite an exorbitant contract buyout.
College football is a land of second opportunities. And there are only 3 active head coaches with a national championship to their name. If Fisher wants to get back in, some team will give him an opportunity. It’s just a question of whether Fisher wants to kind of job that will come calling.
So who might come calling?
We can look at the hot seats and various weird situations around the Power 4 level, but we should also look at the lower levels that might lose coaches to those big jobs. Below, you’ll see an eclectic grouping of programs. Some of them are schools treading water financially with underperforming coaches. Some of them have high-level coaches who haven’t reached higher standards. Some of them are Group of 5 schools that could be forcing a change. Some of them are Group of 5 schools that might be forced into change against their will.
Fisher played his college ball at Samford University in Alabama. He was a GA there in the late 80s before taking a job at Auburn. After a brief run with Cincinnati, Fisher returned to the south and spent the next 2 decades there.
Fresno State technically has an opening with Jeff Tedford stepping away, but it’s hard to envision the fit. Marshall might be in the market for a new coach, but, again, Fisher’s buyout from A&M ensures he doesn’t have to just take any job to scratch the apparent itch. If he wants to, he can be a little picky. That could mean staying in his comfort zone. Or, at least, staying where he’s regionally comfortable.
Cal Golden Bears
Current coach: Justin Wilcox
Similar to Fresno State, there’s very little that would seemingly align Fisher with Cal. Unless the Golden Bears hit their “screw it” button and decide to throw gobs of cash at football, Wilcox is going to continue as the coach. Cal, it should be said, does not presently have gobs of cash to throw at football. Cal reported an operating deficit in Fiscal 2023, according to Jon Wilner. The school’s expenses will inevitably rise due to travel associated with the new ACC membership, and Cal is only getting a 30% share of media rights revenue in the ACC. Simply, Cal can’t afford to fire Wilcox no matter how stagnant his program might be. And Fisher won’t be enticed by a place with expectations and no resources.
Pitt Panthers
Current coach: Pat Narduzzi
The Panthers went 3-9 last year but Narduzzi’s reported buyout is north of $40 million — a byproduct of the lengthy extension he received from the school after winning 20 games and an ACC title between 2021-22. This one doesn’t make a ton of sense for Fisher, either.
Never say never, but probably never.
Baylor Bears
Current coach: Dave Aranda
Aranda was the next big thing when he left LSU to take the job in Waco. He was dealt a tough hand to open and managed just 2 wins in 9 games during the COVID-impacted 2020 season. But the Bears roared to 12 wins and a Big 12 Championship in 2021. Aranda was linked to huge jobs but stuck around. Baylor has won 9 games since. The program has made investments on the NIL front this offseason and the chance for Fisher to stay in the state of Texas where he already has established relationships might be a huge plus for the Bears. The appeal from Baylor’s side is obvious as well. Fisher is a brand name coach with recruiting chops. Can he coach? That’s a fair question Fisher faces, but his .643 winning percentage at Texas A&M would be the third-best in Baylor history.
If Baylor does move on from Aranda, Fisher would absolutely be linked to this job. And it would make a fair bit of sense.
USC Trojans
Current coach: Lincoln Riley
You get differing opinions on the Riley-USC marriage depending on who you talk to. For years at Oklahoma, Riley was linked with the NFL. Now, you have media types just outwardly questioning if he’ll get canned by the Trojans should another faceplant ensue. USC won 11 games in Riley’s first year, then backslid into an 8-5 season in 2023 that featured a 6-0 start and a 1-5 finish to the regular season. In the Big Ten now with games against 4 teams in the preseason AP top 13, USC faces the prospects of a challenging year. If USC goes 7-5 again, what is the conversation like in Los Angeles? The Trojans hired Riley to contend for titles. They’d have nothing to show from his first 3 years. Does Riley look to the NFL as a means of self-preservation? The Trojans could be pretty good in 2024, but if they’re not, I don’t think Fisher is an absurd name to throw out there.
He has a national championship to his name. USC would like that. He’s a big name. USC would like that. He’s a talented recruiter. USC would like that. Would he be motivated to attack a job that would, from an expectations standpoint, be similar in so many ways to the one he just had? “I’m still young enough,” Fisher, 58, said during his ESPN Radio spot. “I’ll be ready to roll again pretty soon.” Just something to keep in mind. This feels like a Hail Mary type of move.
Florida Gators
Current coach: Billy Napier
In nearly all of the “Which Power 4 coaches will be fired” columns that were written this offseason, Napier’s name was the first to come up. The Gators haven’t won double-digit games in a season since 2019. They haven’t had a winning record in conference play since 2020. Napier is just 11-14 as the head coach and the deck is stacked against him in 2024. The schedule is among the toughest in recent memory and vocal parts of fanbase are already out.
After pulling a rising talent from the G5 ranks, would Florida turn to a more established name? Seeing Fisher with the Gators after leading the Seminoles to a national championship would be weird, but the program showed Dan Mullen the door because he wasn’t recruiting well enough. A re-energized Fisher would check that box. Maybe Florida gives a coordinator in the region a shot, but this program also pursued Chip Kelly several years ago so stranger things have happened. The situation in the athletic department is important here as well. Scott Stricklin hired Mullen and fired him. He hired Napier and might have to fire him. You don’t typically see major ADs get 3 cracks at getting the football hire right.
Arkansas Razorbacks
Current coach: Sam Pittman
Pittman is 23-25 as the Arkansas head coach, and despite a 4-8 season last fall, he was brought back for a fifth year. Pittman made changes, though, bringing back Bobby Petrino to run the offense and hitting the portal hard to rebuild that side of the football.
It feels like Arkansas has its next coach already in waiting. If Pittman is able to save his job, the school will be happy. If things go sideways, they can pivot to Petrino or throw some money at Jeff Traylor. There are cleaner options for Arkansas, but the chance to get right back into the SEC might at least grab Fisher’s attention. And the idea of Jimbo Fisher sharing town with John Calipari is fun as hell.
*****
Now we’ve reached the level that feels more realistic for Fisher’s first foray back into coaching. For him to take a year off and then walk back into a Power 4 head coaching gig, Fisher would really have to convince a school his time away led to growth. Fisher’s offenses got stale over time and his NFL-style system caused headaches. When Petrino joined Fisher’s staff in 2023, he said he “didn’t sleep for months” because he was trying to figure out the offense.
“Jimbo wanted to keep his terminology,” Petrino said last year. “I was studying every night, trying to figure this out, and wondering why are we calling it this way?”
Ideally, the film study Fisher takes part in over the next few months will also feature some self-scouting and some reflection. Why did things not work at Texas A&M? Why did things end poorly at Florida State? Where can he be better? Those will be questions any self-respecting Power 4 school will want answers to.
Maybe Fisher goes the route of the analyst. Maybe he takes an OC job on a friend’s staff. If he wants, though, there will be G5 opportunities available.
Charlotte 49ers
Current coach: Biff Poggi
Charlotte hasn’t had a winning season since 2019. More accurately put, Charlotte’s only winning season since making the jump to the FBS level is 2019. Poggi was an unorthodox hire in 2023 and it didn’t quite work in Year 1. The 49ers went 3-9 and just 2-6 in conference play. This is a random one that comes with a really low floor and a chance for Fisher to rebuild his reputation as a program builder.
Liberty Flames
Current coach: Jamey Chadwell
Chadwell replaced Hugh Freeze and went right to work. Liberty won 13 games last season, won the CUSA, and secured a berth in a New Year’s 6 bowl game. The Flames were demolished by Oregon in that game, but that might not matter much this season if Chadwell can steer another unbeaten run.
The Flames are set up nicely to challenge for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. (They have the shortest odds, +400, of any G5 school to make the CFP at DraftKings.) If they’re able to grab a bid, Chadwell is a candidate to move up the ladder and Liberty becomes an attractive job for any coach looking for a bridge. Hugh Freeze used 4 successful Liberty seasons to get back to the SEC. Chadwell is likely the next to make a jump. Fisher could rehabilitate his image in a league that offers him the chance to compete for conference titles.
Texas State Bobcats
Current coach: GJ Kinne
San Marcos is a 2-hour drive from College Station and Kinne doesn’t seem long for the job at Texas State. He went 8-5 in his first season with the Bobcats and has them poised to challenge for the Sun Belt in 2024. Kinne has a senior-laden team with a solid quarterback in Jordan McCloud. If Texas State exceeds expectations and has a 10-win season (current win total is 8 at DraftKings), Kinne will get calls for bigger jobs. If staying in Texas and reopening those recruiting pipelines is of interest to Fisher, this would be a job to keep an eye on.
UTSA Roadrunners
Current coach: Jeff Traylor
Jeff Traylor has been on just about every coaching candidates list that has come up for the last 3 or 4 cycles, yet he continues to kick it down in San Antonio. The Roadrunners have won 32 games under Traylor over the last 3 years. He needed a 7-5 season in year 1 to get up and running, but his UTSA program has been really good since. Sooner or later, Traylor is going to get a job offer he can’t refuse and UTSA (+450 to win the American; DraftKings) is in line for another good season.
In 2021, Traylor signed an extension with UTSA that runs through 2031 but the buyout isn’t a barrier to any major school that might want to make a run at him. It’s just a matter of the right school finally convincing him to leave town.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
