Jimbo Fisher reflects on FSU exit in new podcast Interview

The relationship between FSU fans and Jimbo Fisher is...complicated at best. Time seems to heal some of the wounds, but there remains a large portion of the fanbase that vocally dislikes Fisher and a smaller portion that still likes him. I put myself in the latter category.

No one likes the way Fisher left the program and the controversy surrounding it. To be fair, it did feel like he was struggling to keep the program under control on and off the field. The former FSU and Texas A&M coach sat down with former Seminoles fullback Freddie Stevenson for his 'Trials to Triumph' podcast and talked about his departure and his future on the ACC network.

"Most difficult thing I've ever done. I never wanted to go. I did not ever want to leave," Fisher said. "I don't want to get...it's kind of the situation the ACC is in now. I saw those things and tried to get us to get ahead of that a little bit."

"I grew up a Florida State fan. I loved Florida State. I grew up loving Florida State," he continued. "The Bowdens were like family to me, and I was like family to them. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. And the players, I loved the players, we had so much success."

And I do believe he loved FSU. He was a vocal defender of the program during the snub in 2023. He knew what he had at FSU and how difficult it was going to be to match that success anywhere else.

There's no question that FSU hasn't been the same since Fisher left. No one can deny his success in Tallahassee - 83-23 overall record with six 10-win seasons (three with 12+ plus wins), three ACC titles, one College Football Playoff appearance and, of course, the 2013 BCS National Championship. 

​FIsher's legacy at FSU is also complicated. He's the most successful FSU football coach in the 21st century. There's no question about that. But he could rub people the wrong way. He had an open feud with the administration, notably athletic director Stan Wilcox, because he felt like FSU was not investing in the football program at the level the other top programs in the nation were.

Fisher wasn't wrong, and the following years proved that, but he struggled to "play the game", so to speak, when it came to communicating with the administration and Andy Miller, who was the president of Seminole Boosters.

At some point down the road, FSU is going to honor Fisher, and it'll be interesting to see how the crowd at Doak Campbell Stadium will receive him that day. It's still too soon and there needs to be more time to repair the relationship on both sides, but the day is coming.