When Christian Met Jimbo
The way Christian Ponder tells the story, he and Jimbo Fisher first met in the lunchroom, by chance. This was almost four years ago — back in January 2007 — on the first floor of the Moore Athletics Center on the Florida State campus. Fisher, now the head coach, was the Seminoles' new offensive coordinator; Ponder a little-known freshman quarterback.
"I don't even think he knew who I was," Ponder said Monday. "He was just talking — probably talking about hunting or something."
That was Ponder's first impression of Fisher. Fisher's first impression of Ponder?
"Very quiet, very serious," Fisher said Monday. "You could tell he was a smart guy — carried himself very well.
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"That first day," Ponder said, "I remember we had a run check, a zone check. And I checked it to the wrong side and he right away jumped on me — and it kind of caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting that.
"So ever since Day One, he's ridden me."
That's the thing about the Fisher-Ponder relationship. No matter how far Ponder has come during the past two seasons — from surprise starter in 2008 to confident leader a season ago — he still hasn't come far enough, according to the man whose opinion matters most.