Jimbo Fisher Call-In Show takeaways/updates: Boston College week

Jimbo Fisher returned to his weekly call-in show on Wednesday night, fresh off of FSU’s come-from-behind road victory at NC State last Saturday. What did the Seminoles’ head coach have to say about his team with a matchup against Boston College in less than 48 hours?

Targeting

One audience member asked Fisher whether the targeting penalty takes into account intent or if it just comes down to contact with the head or neck area, alluding to Brian Burns’ ejection late in the win over NC State.

Fisher said that it purely comes down to contact, regardless of intent, which is why Burns was ejected. However, he expressed his desire for a rule change which takes intent into account, using an analogy that two people who committed the same crime often get different penalties because the situation in which it occurred must be taken into account when assessing punishment.

Dealing with potential early departures

An astute question from a caller in the middle of the show inquired as to how Fisher deals with players who are talented enough to potentially leave early to enter the NFL Draft. Fisher discussed how his first course of action is always to find out where the player is projected to be drafted, an action he is able to take thanks to his agent. From there, he sits down with the player and asks what the player is hoping to accomplish, where they want to be drafted, and gets all of the information on the table before the player consults with his family and makes the decision.

Senior Day not the final home game?

Late in the show, Fisher was asked why Senior Day will be celebrated against Boston College on Friday instead of against Florida two weeks later. Fisher stated that his decision to not put Senior Day on the UF game has been in effect since after the 2012 season. His reasoning is simply that he knows the ceremony can be an emotional moment for a lot of the people involved and he has seen an emotional ceremony before an emotional rivalry matchup such as Florida lead to poor results on multiple occasions before. So, on years in which FSU hosts the Gators, it would seem that the Seminoles will celebrate Senior Day during their penultimate home game.

For a full rundown of the questions and answers from Wednesday’s show, check the comments section at the bottom of the page.