Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire
A lot of what Jimbo Fisher said Monday in his press conference Monday was correct. But the arrogance with which he conducted the presser, and the refusal to take the blame for his team's performance, couldn't have been more wrong.
Derp. Jimbo Fisher duff'd this one. Standoffish, egotistical, defiant. Immature. It's hard to imagine the presser going worse.
Fans complain about playcalling entirely too much. They don't understand the nebulous concept and are usually wrong. Fisher didn't call a bad game against N.C. State (the issue was execution). But the way about which he expressed that sentiment just doesn't work.
"No. No, I go back and if we execute, no," Fisher said in response to being asked after reviewing the film if there was anything he'd have done differently.
He may be speaking honestly and accurately. And after reviewing the film, he may sincerely believe that the plays were there to be made, but that a lack of execution sunk Florida State.
But when his offense scored zero points in the second half of a loss to a team over which the Seminoles were favored by 16 points, that was not the right way to handle the situation.
It comes off as way too egotistical.
It comes off as passing the buck to the players over which, as the offensive coordinator, he is ultimately responsible.
And it comes off as out of touch with his constituency. Reasonable Florida State fans aren't asking for Fisher's firing. But they are absolutely (and justifiably) angry over his fourth loss as a double-digit favorite.
Either Fisher doesn't have someone he trusts who could have told him how to handle (or not to handle) the presser, or he didn't bother to ask them.
The right way to handle this situation was to accept the blame, address some concerns, give a few specifics and generalities of how they would be fixed, and get out of there.
As the head of the organization, that is his job.
If the issue was really much more execution than play calling, Fisher should have spent more time talking about how he can fix execution and focus issues that have plagued the team during his time in Tallahassee.
That didn't happen.
Instead, Fisher rhetorically asked how many undefeated seasons Florida State has [one]? "What are the odds you're going to lose one,?" he wondered aloud.
Simply a terrible way to handle the press conference and placate the fans.
Plus, the rhetorical conveniently ignores the fact that in 1979, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, the losses came to an end of Year top 10 team and/or national champ. In other words, those celebrated seasons rarely involved losing to a 16-point underdog.
There's plenty more from Fisher here today, and you'll probably be even more appalled if you choose to click it.
The bottom line right now is that Fisher, a first time head coach, has not grown and improved enough both on and off the field required to keep Florida State in the national title conversation and to keep fans happy.
At the very least, Fisher needs to review press conference and damage control strategy so that if (when?) this happens again, he'll not draw more ire from the base for his handling of the press conference than for the loss itself.


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