Jimbo, FSU president not on best terms

Florida State President John Thrasher believes his football facilities compare favorably to any in the country, and there is still bad blood between himself and former coach Jimbo Fisher.

When Fisher jetted out of Tallahassee to take the Texas A&M job, he fired some stinging parting shots, painting a picture of a Seminoles program in dire need of facility upgrades.

“My view of Jimbo was he wanted to model things after Nick Saban and the SEC and Alabama,” Thrasher said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m OK with that to a point, but I’m also not going to put Florida State at risk in terms of debt and the responsibility to other programs. Him and I had an understanding about that.”

They may have at one point, but Fisher has since made it clear there was a disconnect between them.

He jabbed at his former bosses during his introductory news conference at Texas A&M on Dec. 4, talking about the lack of progress to build a larger football complex.

“You can have the greatest coaches in the world, but if your administration doesn’t see things the way you see things and allow you to do things that way, nothing can be achieved,” Fisher said.

A year before he left when he signed a long-term extension at Florida State, Fisher had praised Thrasher for “seeing the big picture.”

Thrasher had lauded Fisher for being a perfectionist, though noted that dealing with Fisher could be complicated.

It’s apparent Thrasher believes Fisher crossed the line, and he defended the program.

“Our facilities are pretty good right now,” Thrasher said. “They’re not bad at all, and [new coach] Willie Taggart will tell you he wants to get kids to come here not because of the facilities but because of the education they’re going to get and leadership on the field.”

Thrasher has known Taggart for only two weeks, but he said the 41-year old coach — who grew up in Palmetto, Fla., as a Seminoles fan — has already made a positive impression on players and the faculty.

“His attitude toward the kids and approaching their success on and off the field. I hadn’t quite heard that in the way he expressed things,” Thrasher said of Taggart.