Florida State Football: Comparing Jimbo Fisher to Other Second-Year Head Coaches

It is said that the finer things in life are like wine—they get better with age.

That might be the case for the newbies that got hired after the 2009 season because the wine is currently bitter. Out of the 22 head coaches hired since 2009, the new hands on deck have averaged a hair above 10 wins over two years. On the whole, these guys aren’t even captaining their teams to bowl bids.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. And that’s why, despite injuries and offensive line issues, Jimbo Fisher has come out as the best hire in America.

Fisher has won 19 games since succeeding legendary Bobby Bowden as Florida State’s head football coach. The ‘Noles have won one conference division title and have triumphed in two straight bowls. Of course, Seminoles fans expect (at the minimum) this caliber of performance, and rightly so.

FSU’s matchup with Notre Dame was the school’s 30^th consecutive bowl appearance. The school hasn’t had a losing record since 1976, which was Bowden’s first year at the helm of a perennial cellar dweller. Florida State also has among the best crops of athletes in the country.

Fisher was also head-coach-in-waiting for two years, so he had a distinct advantage in reforming the program’s offense before he was able to take over the team. But so did Joker Phillips, who followed Rich Brooks as Kentucky’s leader. Unlike Fisher, though, Phillips has gone 11-14 and had the Wildcats’ record five-year bowl streak snapped.

And it’s not like his more successful contemporaries are beating down the doors. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame has not returned to a BCS bowl. Lane Kiffin’s second-year turnaround with USC has been excellent, but Jimbo has still won more outings than the Trojans head coach.

This article might seem trivial, especially given the promise Fisher has given the Seminoles. But for the disgruntled (and for the past decade in Tallahassee, who hasn’t been?) last year’s 9-4 season was an aberration. The Seminoles should play in a BCS bowl as early as next January, and a new dynasty will finally begin.