Colleges

For Fisher, stability is top priority

By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 13, 2007

TALLAHASSEE

For Jimbo Fisher, it wasn't all about the money.

Sure, the new three-year deal he agreed to that designates him as Bobby Bowden's eventual successor at Florida State will mean a couple of hundred thousand dollars more than the $425,000 package he received this past season, and that ain't bad.

Still, he said his decision to stay on as the offensive coordinator instead of hotly pursuing a head coaching job elsewhere had more to do with deepening his roots here than deepening his pockets.

"Money has never been a big, overriding factor for me. Don't get me wrong, I like it, I'm not going to complain about it, but that's not the reason you get in this business," Fisher said. "This is the place I want to raise my kids. I want to raise my family."

As he looked at his wife, Candi, and their children Trey, 6, and Ethan, 2, he said there's something important about "putting roots down" so they all can develop lifelong friends.

"That's a big part of the decision," he said.

Other than a one-year stint in Cincinnati in 1999, Fisher's major coaching stops have been longer runs - six seasons in Auburn with Terry Bowden (1993-98) then seven at LSU (2000-06) - and the Fisher family talks as if this will be longer.

"We've been very, very blessed, lucky; a lot of coaches do bounce around a lot," Candi said. "When we came here, I think a lot of people thought we only did because this was going to happen. This was never mentioned. This just came about recently. We came here because we thought it was a great opportunity, a great direction for the future and great place for our family to be."

"One day, hopefully, I'll be sitting here," added Fisher, 42, "and you'll be trying to kick me out the door."

FLUELLEN UPDATE: After injuring his left elbow, senior defensive tackle Andre Fluellen played much of the season as if he were a slot machine: one-armed. The last few games, he played with injured fingers on his right hand, which might explain the stingy, er, payouts. He had just 16 tackles.

"I feel the best I've felt all season right now, with all the rest and the rehab," he said. "The elbow still bothers me a little bit, it's maybe 90 or 95 percent, but everything else is good to go. I'll be back to the old me now."

CISMESIA HONORED: Senior kicker Gary Cismesia, who has had a stellar season highlighted by an ACC-record 60-yard field goal against Florida, was named a second-team All-American by SI.com.

FUTURE SCHEDULE: FSU's 2008 football schedule is seemingly just about done, at least in terms of opponents. Assuming the contracts are signed, the Seminoles will host Division I-AA teams Western Carolina and Tennessee at Chattanooga, where the athletic director is Rick Hart, the son of FSU's Dave Hart.

The Seminoles continue to look at moving a Sept.20 game against Colorado to Jacksonville so they can avoid eight home games. One other potential question involves whether FSU would be asked or would consider playing on Labor Day again. Bowden is a fan of the exposure, not one of the short turnaround it forces.

NO WORD: Basketball coach Leonard Hamilton declined to comment on the status of sophomore forward Ryan Reid and junior forward Casaan Breeden as the team prepares for a critical nonconference game against No.18 Butler on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Reid, who had been starting, has missed the past three games. Breeden wasn't seen at Saturday's game against Maine. Hamilton says he treats team matters like family matters and doesn't talk about them.

"If you discipline your child, you don't go and tell the next-door neighbor when he can come back outside and play," Hamilton said.

Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3347.

[Last modified December 12, 2007, 20:46:49]