Fisher takes familiar path
Former Florida State coachwon same game before national title
COLLEGE STATION — Jimbo Fisher has been a head coach at two programs, and in his third season at each, he’s landed in the Orange Bowl.
A renowned bowl has Texas A&M fans excited, but it’s that next step Fisher previously enjoyed that has Aggies at full-throttle “wait until next year” mode.
“Hopefully we can keep heading in the same progression we had at Florida
State,” Fisher said. “We had great success there.”
A year after the Seminoles defeated Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl following the 2012 regular season, Florida Statewon a national championship. The No. 5 Aggies, who narrowly missed on competing in the four-team College Football Playoff for a national title this season, face No. 13 North Carolina at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Orange Bowl.
“You have to get in these situations and play these types of games to understand how to be the team that you really want to be, and win championships,” Fisher said. “This is a huge stage for us, and hopefully we can keep on the same track.”
Fisher and North Carolina’sMack Brown are two of the nation’s six active coaches with at least one national title. The others are Alabama’s Nick Saban, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Kansas’ Les Miles (while at
LSU) and LSU’s Ed Orgeron. Brown won his title at Texas in 2005.
From 1998-2011, Brown was 10-4 against A&M, so he’s quite familiar with the opponent on the other sideline in the Orange Bowl — just not Fisher’s Aggies.
“Jimbo haswon a national championship, and to do that you’ve got to have a plan,” Brown said. “Jimbo knows exactly what he wants in his football team. He gets the (Aggies) in the right place, and they’ve recruited as well as anybody in the country.”
While Brown was still at Texas in 2012 and 2013, he didn’t coach against A&M because the Aggies had left the Big 12 and entered the SEC. Brown, from his view in Austin, curiously took in A&M’s daring move to a conference that in 2012was on itsway to a seventh consecutive national title.
The SEC won every championship from 200612, with Brown’s Longhorns winning the title in 2005 and Fisher’s Seminoles stopping the SEC streak in 2013.
“When we were at Tex
as, and A&M went to the SEC, I said, ‘I don’t know… I don’t know if I would do that or not,’ ” Brown said Friday. “But they’re (now) a factor in probably the hardest division in college football, and they’ve done a very, very good job in that area, and they’re recruiting well.
“I applaud Jimbo and A&M for all the success they’re having.”
When the matchup was announced Dec. 20, A&M was favored by about a touchdown. Since then, four of the Tar Heels’ top players — their top two running backs, leading receiver and top defender — have chosen not to compete in the season finale.
“We love and applaud the four guys because they played so well for us we wouldn’t be here without ’em,” Brown said. “(But) that’s 4,000 yards worth of offense and our leading tackler on defense, and two captains. This is new for me because I’ve never had a guy (choose) not playing in a ball game.
“What we’ve done is handle it like guys are in
jured, it’s next man up and you’ve got to do the best youcando.… Youtrytofigure out what you can do to be the best you can be with the players that are available and not talk about what you don’t have.”
Wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon, linebacker Anthony Hines III and cornerback Elijah Blades, all projected starters, opted out of the season before a game was played, but since then, theAggies have not lost any key contributors to choosing not to finish out the season. Blades even returned to the fold last month.
“With your great teams, it’s like I tell the (players), youwon’t even realize how close youwere until five, 10 years downthe road,” Fisher said. “How much you meant to each other, because sometimes you’re going through it, and you don’t realize it.
“But I think this group does, and they’re extremely close. It’s hard to have as much success as we’ve had, and not be close.”