The Coaching Carousel

Last fall, in the aftermath of Rich Rodriguez's rather puzzling bolt from West Virginia to Michigan, Florida State fans had a weekend of uneasiness as offensive coordinator and "coach in waiting" Jimbo Fisher was strongly considered for the job at Morgantown, which is close to where his mother resides.

Now, with an opening at Auburn (it is like a soap opera out on the plains), where Fisher spent time as an assistant under Terry Bowden, rumors persist that FSU is in yet another battle to keep Fisher, even though agreements were made after last year to prohibit this type of flirting.

Who knows what is going on behind the scenes? If Jimbo is a Nole, than great. If not, he should be on his way. What I do know is I have grown tired of these developments.

At any rate, it looks as though Florida State is heading to the Champs (Tangerine) Bowl here in beautiful downtown Orlando. Back in 1958, FSU was scheduled to take on Buffalo in the Tangerine Bowl, but the The Orlando High School Athletic Association, leaseholder of the stadium, would only allow Buffalo to participate if it left the two African American players on the team home. The Elks Lodge, sponsors of the game, protested this ruling to no avail. Buffalo's coach let the team vote, and they unanimously rejected the bid, for they were a team and would not be the team if they did not have all their players. ESPN recently did an outstanding lengthy story on this.

Buffalo had since endured decades of losing and had never been to another bowl game, until 2008. Former Nebraska all star quarterback and later assistant coach Turner Gill was hired two years ago. Since joining the MAC conference in 1999, the Bulls were 9-56 in conference play prior to last season where the Bulls, even with a 5-7 record, shared the divisional title.

The outstanding coaching job Gill has done has not gone unnoticed. On Friday night, Buffalo defeated previously undefeated Ball State, who has two first round NFL draft picks on their offense in quarterback Nate Davis and tight end Darrius Hill, to capture the MAC Championship. Buffalo will finally be bowling, led by an African American coach, who as gifted as an athlete he was, is even a better person. What goes around comes around.

Should Jimbo Fisher take the money and run to Auburn, it would be a serious blow to Florida State as the 'Noles would have to start from scratch searching for a replacement for the legendary Bobby Bowden and the recruiting implications could be staggering. Hopefully Fisher stays put, but if he does leave, I know how to do some quick damage control, and that would be to hire Turner Gill as the new coach in waiting. Someone is fixin to, and for darn good reason.