Has Jimbo Fisher coached final game vs. Gators?

GAINESVILLE — When you combine the uncertainly of the Florida Gators’ coaching search with the vague and nebulous manner in which Jimbo Fisher addresses his future with the Florida State Seminoles, isn’t it just a matter of time before some blogger reports that Jimbo-to-the-Gators is a “done deal”?

Would anything surprise you in the wake of Saturday’s Afterthought Bowl between the hapless Gators and the not-quite-so-hapless Seminoles — a once-proud rivalry in which one team (the Gators) can’t seem to find a coach and the other (the Seminoles) might not be able to keep one.

Just before kickoff of Saturday’s 38-22 FSU victory, it was announced that Chip Kelly had signed a five-year, $24.9 million contract to be the next coach of UCLA. Yes, that Chip Kelly — the same Chip Kelly whom Gators athletics director Scott Stricklin and school president Kent Fuchs visited in New Hampshire last week and some UF-based bloggers reported was a “done deal” to be UF’s next head coach.

And just after the game, Jimbo once again refused to shoot down the USA Today report Texas A&M has targeted Fisher to replace embattled coach Kevin Sumlin. After a school-first fifth straight victory over UF and seventh in eight tries, I asked Coach Gator Killer if this was his last Florida-Florida State game.

Replied Jimbo: “I love this Florida-Florida State game, I hope not. That’s for sure.”

When I asked him if that meant he would be back at FSU next year, Jimbo quickly punted. “Don’t start that,” he said. “I ain’t talking about jobs. I ain’t getting into all that. You know how I go about things.”

And you wonder why there is so much misinformation out there. Could it be because school administrators and college football coaches try to be so secretive and clandestine about their intentions. This might have worked back in the days before tweeters and bloggers started masquerading as credible reporters, but it’s a bad strategy now.

Florida’s quest for a new coach is a perfect example. The Gators, in essence, allowed Kelly’s representatives, a couple of fan websites and a wannabe sports agents on Twitter to create the entire narrative of their coaching search. Even though I never felt Kelly was the right fit at UF, the public perception now is that the Gators were “spurned” by Kelly and now must settle for a backup candidate.

Sadly, this is the new wild, wild west media world we now live in — evidenced by the conflicting reports that came out during the UCF-USF game on Friday about the future of UCF head coach Scott Frost. One reporter from the Bleacher Report tweeted that Frost-to-Nebraska is a “done deal” while ESPN simultaneously reported that Frost’s representatives would be meeting with UF officials this weekend in Orlando.

When I asked Frost about the ESPN report after the thrilling victory over USF Friday night, he replied, “I’m my representative and I’m going to be with my wife and baby.”

“This is part of our world now,” Jimbo said during a good-natured jab session with a gathering of reporters at his post-game news conference. “Y’all create it with the articles and the criticisms of the players and coaches; and this guy should go and that guy should go; and we should make this change and that change. … Ain’t none of y’all ever coached. You have no knowledge of anything … but you guys create it so you can get the hits for your websites.” Preach, Jimbo, preach! Except you still haven’t told us whether you’re going to be back at Florida State next season.