MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — I never really thought that it would be a realistic possibility for Jimbo Fisher to return home to coach the West Virginia Mountaineers because of his insane buyout at Texas A&M, but today, Fisher was fired and is expected to be paid a whooping $70-$80 million buyout.
With that, one of the most expereinced and accompished head coaches in the nation is available, and frankly, there’s no better place for Fisher to end his career than at West Virginia University.
Fisher, 59, spoke with WDTV’s Ally Osborne and was asked whether or not he could ever see himself as the head coach of the Mountaineers. Fisher, as he tends to do, spoke pretty freely about the possibility.
“You don’t ever say never in this business, and home is home,” Fisher said. “West Virginia’s always dear to my heart. I love ’em and I always have, always rooted for ’em my whole life. Hey, you never say never in this business where it takes you. I’m happy where I’m at and I love where I’m at, but home is home.”
To be clear, Jimbo Fisher didn’t live up to expectations at Texas A&M. The massive contract they paid him was expected to have better results than 45-25 overall. But it also needs to be said that the SEC is the toughest conference in the nation by far and he still went 45-25. In addition, Fisher is 127-48 overall as a head coach in Power 5 football and 8-2 in bowl games, and he’s won a national championship!
Coaches like this don’t just become available every day and if the people in charge at West Virginia have any brains at all, they will take the possibility of Fisher coaching the Mountaineers very seriously. This is a proven winner who would instantly help recruiting with his name alone, would give the football program a real leader who has won it all and he’s a West Virginian at heart who loves the state!
If Fisher has any intentions of continuing to coach college football, and I believe he does at age 59, West Virginia would be the spot that he would likely most want to end his career. He recently purchased a farm in Harrison County and it’s been rumored for years now that he intends to retire there with his family nearby.
If West Virginia loses to Cincinnati next weekend or at Baylor the following weekend, it would be a no-brainer to fire Neal Brown, who is 28-29 as the head coach of the Mountaineers, and start the Jimbo Fisher Era in Morgantown.
