128-win head coach predicted to return to college football after two-year absence

A former Power Four college football coach has been predicted to return to college football in 2027 by a major media outlet.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher looks on during warm-ups prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The 2025-2026 college football coaching carousel saw nearly 20 different changes at the Power Four level. From DeShaun Foster's firing at UCLA in mid-September to Michigan's hiring of Kyle Whittingham in late December, the changes were constant throughout the college football season.

Since the last college football coaching carousel was so busy, the 2026-2027 carousel figures to feature less movement. However, there are still several Power Four programs, particularly those near the bottom of the ACC and Big Ten, that are approaching stalemates with their sitting head coaches.

28 writers at The Athletic compiled a list of way-too-early predictions for the 2026 college football season. Grace Raynor predicted that former Florida State and Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher would find his way back into a head coaching role in the next coaching carousel.

Fisher would bring 36 years of college football coaching experience to whatever program decides to hire him next. He made his way up the coaching ladder as an offensive assistant, making stops at Samford, Auburn and Cincinnati from 1988 to 1999.

In 2000, Fisher joined Nick Saban's inaugural staff at LSU as an offensive coordinator. During Fisher's time in Baton Rouge, the Tigers won a pair of SEC Championship games (2001 and 2003) and a BCS National Championship game in 2003. He stayed at LSU for the first two seasons of Les Miles' tenure before taking the same role at Florida State.

Florida State Seminoles linebacker Matthew Thomas (6) celebrates with Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

When longtime Seminoles head coach Bobby Bowden announced his retirement after the 2009 season, Fisher was named his successor.

In Fisher's eight seasons as the head coach, the Seminoles won 10 or more games six times, three ACC Championship games (2012, 2013 and 2014) and the final BCS National Championship game on Jan. 6, 2014.

Sensing growing discontent from the fan base, Fisher resigned from his post at Florida State at the end of the 2017 season to take the head coaching vacancy at Texas A&M. The Aggies won no less than eight games in each of Fisher's first four seasons, peaking at 9-1 with an Orange Bowl victory in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

2022 was the beginning of the end for Fisher at Texas A&M. Despite bringing in a historically great recruiting class, the Aggies fell to Appalachian State in the second week of the season and never recovered from it. Texas A&M finished 2022 at 5-7, its worst mark in 15 years.

The failures from 2022 created extremely high pressure for Fisher to win in 2023. After he posted a 6-4 mark in 10 games, Texas A&M decided to part ways with Fisher in the middle of November. The Aggies were coming off a 51-10 win over Mississippi State.

Fisher has expressed a desire to get back into the college football coaching world since his firing at Texas A&M. He worked as a college football analyst for the ACC Network during the 2025 season.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher on the sideline before the game against the Massachusetts Minutemen | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images