FSU's Fisher channels coaching greats

By Charlie Barnes, Executive Director - Seminole Boosters

John Wooden died in June, a long way from basketball season and generations removed from UCLA's ten national championships in twelve years. This year, UCLA finished 14-18 and unranked in the final poll. Still, the masthead at the top of the Bruin's website trumpets their faded glory: "#1 in NCAA Team Championships." It is a tribute not just to Wooden's legacy, but to Wooden's method.

Jimbo Fisher talked about Wooden's method this spring. "Before a game, Coach Wooden didn't talk to his team about the opponent," Fisher said. "John Wooden talked about the process of preparing to play your best."

Jimbo believes that the pathway to championships navigates a road that only begins with recruiting great players. Once those players are on campus, coaching includes the tedious but supremely important business of proper nutrition, professional strength training, and understanding why success happens.

"When an elite athlete makes a mistake on the field, he understands what happened; he knows what he did wrong," says Fisher. "But, let's say that same athlete beats a defensive back, makes a great catch and scores a touchdown." Fisher says if you ask the athlete why he did that, he might shrug and say, "I don't know; I guess I did what you coached me to do."

Fisher wants all his players to understand that success is the end product of a process. Our new coach has hired a team of nutritionists and strength coaches to guide his players through the process. "All of our players now eat all their meals together," he explains. "And when a player enters the cafeteria he goes straight to a specific coach who will tell him what to eat. Each man is on one of three plans: weight gain, weight loss or maintain."

Fisher believes that proper nutrition is one reason the team has no players in academic trouble. In fact the team GPA this spring was nearly a 2.8. Some players say that they're doing better in school because they feel better and have more energy.

Fisher had another message for the Seminole Boosters this spring. "All this costs a lot of money, and you know how I'm paying for it?" he asked. "I'm using the difference between what I make and what Coach Bowden made." As the Seminoles win and Jimbo's coaching star ascends, the overall cost of the program will increase. Winning solves problems but winning is also expensive.

Coach Fisher has a gift that may serve him well: he seems to be able to absorb the signature talents of other great coaches. He has Bobby Bowden's charm and character, Nick Saban's unerring instinct for the jugular, and he is a disciple of 'the process,' a key element of Wooden's success.

Fisher's own legacy is yet to be realized, but if he succeeds in reproducing the glory of his teachers, we'll be just fine.