Rece Davis floats Jimbo Fisher as sleeper candidate at LSU

The LSU Tigers‘ job wasn’t expected to open this cycle, but now that it has, it’s quite arguably the best open head coaching job on the market. Plenty of coaches are expected to put their hats into the ring, and ESPN host Rece Davis thinks that could even include Jimbo Fisher.

Fisher has been out of coaching since he was fired by Texas A&M in 2023. He was then paid a $77 million buyout, adding to speculation that his time in coaching may be over. However, he has recently made it clear he wants back in, and as Davis explained on the College GameDay Podcast, that could make him a sleeper candidate at LSU.

“Things can change over time, things can become politically untenable,” Rece Davis said. “But do you know who the athletic director at LSU loves? And this is not just because he gave him a big, fat contract at Texas A&M. He has loved him since he was the offensive coordinator at LSU under Nick Saban years and years ago.”

There is a notable and deep relationship between Jimbo Fisher and LSU athletic director Scott Woodward too. It was Woodward who initially hired Fisher at Texas A&M, and then it was his move to LSU that prompted the Aggies to give Fisher his massive extension, hoping to avoid seeing him get poached.

“You know who wants back in? John James Fisher. I think I got the John James right, but what do they call him? Jimbo. You get down to a level. I know you can’t. I know you kind of can’t… He loves him,” Davis said. “I know that for a fact.”

Jimbo Fisher would win a national championship as the offensive coordinator at LSU under Nick Saban, though he eventually left to become the offensive coordinator at Florida State. Eventually, he worked his way to being the head coach, winning another national championship before he made that jump to Texas A&M. For his career, Fisher has a 128-48 record, but in his final two seasons at Texas A&M, he went just 11-11.

“If you don’t hit, and no matter who you are, sometimes you don’t hit on your first couple of preferred candidates. They might go elsewhere. They might choose not to come. Whatever. It’s a different era, as we’ve pointed out. That guy won games. I know it got a little squirrely at the end at Florida State and A&M didn’t quite do what he thought. I mean, can you even imagine? Politically, I don’t think Woodward can do that again after he’s already done it once and after the BK thing, he probably can’t do it again,” Davis said. “But I bet there would be some people in Louisiana that wouldn’t balk at that. They remember the glory days of when he was running the offenses.”

One thing is clear, Jimbo Fisher wants back into coaching. He recently made that very clear while talking to Ross Dellenger. There, he noted that just because he has money isn’t going to keep him out. He wants to coach and misses the relationships that come from it.

“It’s a far out there notion. But it just crossed my mind when I saw it,” Davis said. “Because I know of the affinity that Scott Woodward and the regard that Scott Woodward has for Jimbo Fisher.”