Jimbo Fisher to WVU? 'Never Say Never, Home is Home'
Neal Brown isn't on the hot seat just yet, but he could certainly coach his way onto it if West Virginia fails to become bowl-eligible this season. AD Shane Lyons has a tremendous amount of confidence in the fourth-year head coach despite a rough first three years on the job.
"We got the right kids in the locker room. The culture is very good. They're all bonding together," Lyons said at Big 12 media days. "You know, but at the same time we've got a tough schedule coming up and we are one of a few institutions that are playing 11 Power Five institutions, along with one FCS institution. So, you know, we have a challenge in front of us. But if we can keep everybody healthy, we've got Graham Harrell now on the offensive side of the ball and I feel good about the players that we have on the offense. Same thing with the defensive side of the ball. I think we have 33 new players that come in, that are going to contribute that are hungry to show their talents. So, I'm optimistic about what we're going to do as a program and they continue to build off of that."
However, if things don't end up panning out for Brown at WVU, one big-time name could pop on the radar. No, not Nick Saban, but fellow West Virginia native Jimbo Fisher.
In a recent interview with Ally Osborne of WDTV5 in Bridgeport, Fisher left the door open to potentially one day lead the Mountaineers.
"You never say never in this business and home is home. West Virginia is always dear to my heart. I love them and I've always rooted for them my whole life. 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."
Fisher has had a tremendous amount of success as a college football head coach, dating back to taking over at Florida State for former WVU head coach, Bobby Bowden. Fisher went 83-23 in eight years in Tallahassee and led the team to a national championship in 2013. Now, the head coach at Texas A&M, Fisher holds a 35-14 record. He signed a long-term deal with A&M that runs through the 2031 season and has a buyout of $95.6 million which is the largest in college football history. Very few schools would be able to swing that, let alone West Virginia. If Fisher, 56, would ever be the head coach of the Mountaineers it wouldn't happen for another ten years.
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