Jimbo Fisher tells story of Jameis Winston dressing out while suspended

Jimbo Fisher made plenty of memories with Jameis Winston at Florida State, including one famous moment in the 2014 season. Winston was supposed to be serving a half-game suspension for the Seminoles’ clash with Clemson.

However, the night before the game, the suspension was changed to be for a full game. That led to some miscommunication between the equipment crew and Winston, who ended up trotting out in full unform and pads much to Fisher’s surprise. It also led to some confusion for fans and the broadcast crew as to whether Winston would play in the game.

Fisher sent the QB back to the locker room and he returned without his pads on. Now nearly a decade after the mishap, the coach joined Pardon My Take to look back on the moment.

“It wasn’t his fault,” he said. “It was actually our equipment guy’s fault. His uniform was not supposed to be in his locker. When he came down to the locker, it was there. If your uniform’s in your locker, you dress. He was supposed to be suspended for a half of that game. The night before the game, administration changed it to a full game. The equipment guys didn’t get that memo. So they put his jersey in his locker thinking he was gonna play the second half.

“When Jameis came down, he said, ‘if the uniform’s in my locker I guess they want me to dress. He was just gonna go on the sidelines and stand. Because the whole night before when he found that out, he spent the whole time trying to get Sean Maguire ready.”

Winston’s advice seemed to help Maguire, who threw for 304 yards and a touchdown against the Tigers. FSU won the game 23-17 to maintain their No. 1 spot in the AP poll. Winston returned the following week and led the Seminoles to an undefeated season and spot in the College Football Playoff, where they lost in the semifinal to Oregon.

It was a rough end to the season, but Jameis Winston and Jimbo Fisher did win a national championship together the year prior. The quarterback ended his career third-leading passer in school history but has since been surpassed by Jordan Travis. Winston’s 7,964 career yards still ranks fourth all-time and his 65 touchdowns are tied with Travis for second-most.

Fisher moved on from Florida State a few years later to become the coach at Texas A&M. He was let go this offseason after six seasons. That was two less than he spent at FSU, which he led to an 83-23 record.

Of all the players he’s coached throughout his career, it’s memories such as the one he had with Winston that make the quarterback among his favorite.

“Jameis was fun to coach,” Fisher said. “He’s maybe the smartest individual I’ve ever coached and teammates loved him to death. So when he came down, he just wanted to put the uniform on instead of saying ‘I don’t want to dress’ or being embarrassed. If we hadn’t had the uniform in the locker room, he wouldn’t have dressed. Really he got a bum rap for that. I said, ‘Jameis, you can’t do that’ and he said, ‘yes, sir’ and immediately ran in so it wasn’t a big deal.”