Whitley: Fisher’s departure creates weekend of chaos.
TALLAHASSEE — It’s a good thing FSU doesn’t lose coaches very often. The Seminoles wouldn’t want many more days like Saturday. FSU played Louisiana-Monroe in a setting that was sad, weird, half-empty, funereal, amusing, emotional and ultimately poignant.
But most of all, it was unavoidable. That’s what happens when you can’t be honest.
If FSU and Jimbo Fisher could have spoken the truth, they would have held a press conference last week. They would have said their relationship had run its course and they’d both be better off moving on.
That would have turned Saturday into a celebration of an era worth celebrating. Instead, the Laws of the Coaching Search set in last week.
That meant nobody could say what they were actually thinking. Fisher had to tap dance and FSU was thrown into an untenable Jimbo limbo.
Fisher’s been painted as the money-hungry
culprit in all this, but I don’t know what else he was supposed to do last week.
Sure, FSU had already made him filthy rich. But Texas A&M wanted to give him the wealthiest coaching contract in college football history,
Semi-true confession: The Sentinel pays me $5.7 million a year (lie). But if the Buffalo News offered me $75 million guaranteed, I’d be packing my mittens (true).
“He made a business decision,” cornerback Derwin James said. “He did what had to be done. You can’t be mad at him.” Oh yes you could. It’s natural to feel jilted when a coach leaves, but Fisher’s exit really rubbed some people raw. FSU had improved its facilities, staff salaries and granted all his wishes over the years, and he still wasn’t happy?
The truth is Fisher’s a driven, semi-tyrannical perfectionist who will never be happy. But you know what all those demands produced?
A national title, a 29-game win streak, an 83-23 record and the resurrection of the program.
The other truth is that after eight years, his act had worn thin. Fisher needed a fresh start and a lot of people at FSU were ready for a new voice.
School officials couldn’t say that, of course. So the usual kabuki theater of rumors and evasions spun out of control.
“Man,” center Alec Eberle said, “to recap last week, it’d be hard to do.”
It led to a surreal Saturday. The announced crowd of 58,808 was the smallest to attend an FSU game in decades. You half-expected the Marching Chiefs to take the field at halftime and form a huge middle finger under the word JIMBO.
The video board showed a fan wearing a Fisher T-shirt. The name was crossed out and under it was “Odell Haggins.”
The crowd roared its approval as the afternoon turned into an Odell lovefest.
As a star player and longtime assistant, Haggins is about as Garnetand-Gold as they come. Nobody would ever question his loyalty, and cheering for him was cathartic for the masses.
“It’s not about Odell,” Haggins said.
He said it was about the players, the much-maligned assistants and a program that will endure and overcome the current weirdness.
“We are Florida State and we’re not going anywhere,” Haggins said.
The big question, of course, is where does it go next for a coach?
Willie Taggart’s the hot rumor. He’s currently in Oregon tap-dancing around FSU questions.
Like Fisher last week, what else is he supposed to do?
In the coaching business, there is no clean, painless exit strategy that leaves everyone feeling good. The situation almost never arises at FSU. That’s good because the Seminoles don’t handle them very well.
Bobby Bowden’s long farewell turned into a complete mess. Now Fisher. Next up, Taggart? He was born two weeks before Bowden’s first game at FSU. That shows you how rare it’s been to see the Help Wanted sign in Tallahassee.
Taggart might turn into Will Muschamp or he might produce ACC titles, a Heisman winner and a national championship.
Then some glorystarved school might offer him $125 million guaranteed or whatever the going rate for coaching saviors will be in about 10 years.
Hopefully by then people will be able to speak openly and honestly about coaching searches.
Goodbyes should not be as weird, painful and ungrateful as Saturday turned out to be.