Jimbo Fisher details most impressive players he has ever coached

Texas A&M parted ways with head coach Jimbo Fisher last November in the midst of the 2023 season, putting an abrupt halt to his head coaching career that dates back to 2010 when he first became the head man at Florida State.

Fisher spent nearly 14 full seasons as a head coach at the highest level of college football between his time with the Aggies and Seminoles, preceeded by nearly two decades of assistant coaching experience. With that in mind, Fisher was asked on the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast who the best player he ever coached was (excluding Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston who was discussed previously during the show).

“Oh my God. You’re talking about Derwin James, you’re talking about Jalen Ramsey, you’re talking about Timmy Jernigan, you’re talking about Dalvin Cook,” Fisher said. “Rashad Greene is a guy in Florida State history that never got the credit. He’s the all-time leading receiver in ACC history yards, and touchdowns, and catches, and it’s Rashad Greene.”

Fisher also spent seven seasons as the offensive coordinator at LSU, shouting out some Tigers who were also among the greats he’s coached in his career.

“I mean then you go back to my LSU days. I mean [Andrew] Whitworth and [Marcus] Spears and [Michael] Clayton, I mean just the quarterbacks Rohan Davey, JaMarcus [Russell],” Fisher said.

The undefeated, 2013 Florida State team that Fisher won a national championship clearly holds a special place in Fisher’s heart, and was also a team loaded with talent. As Fisher went into detail about their greatness as a team and listed some more memorable players from that squad that stand out.

“I’m gonna tell you this, people don’t appreciate this. The 2013 team at Florida State, you realize it’s the biggest point differential in college football history for teams that played at least 10 games? Before that I think Army had like nine games and won by 52 points, that 2013 team won by 39.5 points a game,” Fisher explained.

“LSU broke the offensive record that year [2019], beat us by one point in total points scored in a season but had one more game, and we had Jameis out at five games at halftime. But we averaged 51 seven or eight and gave up 12, and Lamarcus Joyner, Telvin Smith, Timmy Jernigan, I mean Devonta Freeman. I’ve been able to be around so many unbelievable football players. I mean Ronald Darby, PJ Williams, Jalen Ramsey, Derwin James, Karlos Williams.”

With all the names Fisher listed, he would be remised not to mention any Aggies after spending the previous six seasons with the program, giving praise to some Texas A&M players who may maybe deserve more recognition for their impressive careers like quarterback Kellen Mond.

“And then A&M guys, I’ve been around some phenomenal — I mean I had great players. Trayveon Williams, people forget he ran for 1,700 yards for me. Erik McCoy‘s a center, our quarterback, people don’t give our quarterback the credit he did in the 2020 season,” Fisher said regarding Mond. “I mean what he was able to be able to do that season was unbelievable and how he played and the season he had and what he did. So I’ve been blessed to have so many of them it’s unbelievable.”

It’s clear that Fisher couldn’t keep his answer to just one player, but it’s hard to blame him after looking through the lengthy list of elite level players he’s coached during his career.

Fisher received the largest buyout in college football history after being fired by Texas A&M at $77.5 million, and it will be interesting to see if the 58-year-old ever returns to coaching and adds to his list of best players he’s ever coached.