Jimbo Fisher leaving Florida State for Texas A&M has been college football's worst-kept secret for weeks now, and the lingering rumor-turned-fact has soured an already tenuous situation between Fisher and FSU officials.
The plan has been to wait until after Florida State's game with Louisiana-Monroe to make anything official, but the situation has devolved so much this week that Fisher's lingering presence in Tallahassee makes things worse by the day.
On Wednesday night, a fan -- "Mike from Tallahassee" -- was escorted out of Jimbo's call-in radio show for asking where the coach's loyalty was. Florida State has also lost three of its 2018 commits due to the ongoing uncertainty and, with Dan Mullen on the ground at Florida, you can bet the wolves are howling at Florida State's other commits.
ESPN's Mark Schlabach reports that Florida State officials are urging Fisher to make his final stay-or-go decision, though they can't fire him, since that would cost the school $44 million versus Jimbo paying $7 million should he leave on his own.
Meanwhile, Texas A&M's board of regents will meet Thursday afternoon to discuss coaching matters.
Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chroniclereports A&M is expected to approve a contract for Fisher paying $7.5 million a year over a term lasting between five and 10 years, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that a deal gets announced today. He writes:
Based on what’s going on at FSU, official news of Fisher’s move to A&M might come as soon as Thursday.
A similar report has emerged from the Florida State side.
"(S)ome form of an announcement from Florida State University about the future of their football head coaching position is being discussed for some point on Thursday," Josh Newberg writes for Noles 247. "Fisher, who at this time is set to speak with the media on Thursday evening, also potentially could comment on his status, something he has been unwilling to do over the past week."
We have not heard of an imminent public decision from Jimbo and really don't know what he would gain from making his plans known.
Fisher's desire to see the season through is understandable and falls within industry norms. Jimbo's next move, whatever it may be, will begin to truly set the carousel in motion.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.