With tensions running high in Tallahassee, Florida State’s wanting its head coach to spit or get off the pot.
Less than 24 hours after a fan was run off for questioning Jimbo Fisher‘s loyalty, his employer is seeking an answer to that very question as Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com is reporting that FSU officials “are urging Jimbo Fisher to decide whether he will remain the school’s football coach beyond this season or accept a lucrative offer from Texas A&M.”
Fisher had been connected to A&M even prior to Kevin Sumlin‘s dismissal this past weekend. After Sumlin’s official dismissal, the Fisher-to-Aggies rhetoric ratcheted up to the point where it’s now thought to be a matter of when not if Fisher heads to A&M, with the when seemingly pointing to very shortly after Florida State’s regular-season finale this Saturday -- or perhaps even before. From the Houston Chronicle‘s Brent Zwerneman:Also on Wednesday three top recruits announced they were backing off their verbal pledges to FSU based on not knowing who the coach will be next season. Those announcements are three more reasons FSU’s administration wants answers in a hurry from Fisher – and why he might not coach that last game on Saturday.
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Based on what’s going on at FSU, official news of Fisher’s move to A&M might come as soon as Thursday.
(Our emphasis added.)
It’s believed that A&M is willing to offer Fisher a contract that would pay him in excess of $7 million annually, a proposed deal that’s expected to be approved by the university’s regents at a Thursday meeting. It would then be up to Fisher to accept it or stay.
In addition to the upgraded salary -- he’s making $5.7 million with the Seminoles -- Fisher would be joining a football program that already has the upgraded facilities he’s been very publicly seeking at FSU.
On FSU’s part, they’ve already begun potential replacements, including Oregon’s Willie Taggart, in case Fisher does indeed decide to jump ship. Oregon’s already made a preemptive push to keep the Florida native with the Ducks if the Seminoles come calling.
