It won't be another Sexton shakedown; Fisher has more to consider this time

It might as well be an official annual tradition.

The calendar flips to November, and rumors begin to surface about other college football powers preparing to make a run at Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher.

First there were Texas and Auburn. Then there were LSU and … well, LSU. West Virginia has been mentioned through the years as well, as have others.

And seemingly every year, FSU fans stew while waiting for Fisher to definitively say he has zero interest in leaving Tallahassee. They want him to come out publicly and declare that those schools are just wasting their time because he’s not going anywhere.

Of course, that never happens right away. And it doesn’t appear to be happening this year, either.

When Fisher was asked on Thursday about media reports claiming Texas A&M and Tennessee are interested in his services, he said he never comments publicly on other coaching jobs. That’s essentially true -- he typically avoids answering those questions at all costs.

For a while, anyway.

Then at some point, presumably after his agent, Jimmy Sexton, has reached some new agreement with FSU’s administration, Fisher comes out and proclaims he is not going anywhere. That he was never going anywhere. That he wants to be in Tallahassee for as long as the Seminoles will have him.

Most years, that dance has resulted in a new contract for Fisher or extra funding for his assistant coaches and staff. It was during those discussions last year -- when LSU came calling for the second time in 12 months -- that Fisher started making his push for a new standalone football facility (on top of the raise and contract extension that he also received).

It is because of those annual negotiations that many FSU fans are irritated by this latest round of reports. They hear Fisher’s name mentioned in connection with jobs at schools like Texas A&M and Tennessee, which would not appear to be steps up from Florida State, and they assume it’s merely another ploy by Sexton to get something new for his client.

Their consternation is understandable. They’ve been through this routine practically every year since Fisher has been in Tallahassee, dating back to his days as offensive coordinator and “head coach in waiting.”

Given the current circumstances, however, I actually don’t believe that will be the case this time around.

* ALSO SEE: Five Takes -- Why FSU wasn't prepared to weather 'perfect storm'

From everything I can gather, there is no major discord between Fisher and the university’s administration right now. His top priority is that standalone football facility, and FSU President John Thrasher and athletics director Stan Wilcox have both gone on record as saying that it needs to get done. It might not have all the bells and whistles of others when it’s completed, but it will be a huge upgrade over what they currently have. And it should suit Fisher’s needs just fine.

It also sounds like FSU’s administration will back Fisher on making changes to his coaching staff, which will call for buying out contracts and then likely paying more for new assistants. That won’t be cheap, but we’ve talked to several people behind the scenes, and it doesn’t sound as if anything is going to gum up the works there.

If those two issues are taken care of, and it seems certain that they will, then what is left for Sexton to negotiate? A bigger, longer contract for Fisher? That seems highly unlikely considering Fisher is one of the five or six highest-paid coaches in the country and FSU is 4-6 this season despite entering the year with a No. 3 national ranking.

Could you even imagine the hubris it would take to ask for more money after a year like this? Not even Jimmy Sexton would push hard for that.

No, if Fisher really does get serious interest from schools in the SEC or elsewhere -- and I fully expect that he will -- I think Sexton’s demands will be much smaller in nature. They’ll make their annual requests for more support staff. They’ll push for improvements in academic support and other areas.

But I don’t think there will be any big battles like there might have been in years past. This won’t be another Sexton shakedown.

At the same time, I don’t know if that means Fisher is guaranteed to stay, either. After a brutal 2017 campaign, during which he has come under steady fire from media and fans, the Seminoles’ eighth-year head coach absolutely has to be doing some serious soul-searching. He has to be wondering if there’s more to this disappointing season than some bad injury luck and other unfortunate circumstances. He must be considering whether his messages and methods are getting stale with at least some of his players. And if that is the case, he has to question whether he can be the one to effect the necessary change.

To me, those will be the determining factors in Fisher’s mind this time around. Not whether FSU meets all of his -- or his agent’s -- demands.

In prior years, I’m fairly certain Fisher was mostly concerned about leverage in these situations. He always believed he had a better chance to win conference and national championships at Florida State, so why not take advantage of those opportunities to get some resources he wanted for the program, his staff or himself? It was the smart play.

But is that still the case today? Will FSU in 2018 and 2019 be better positioned to win at a high level than a Fisher-led Texas A&M or Tennessee? My guess would be yes, but we also have to consider the alternative: If he stays and doesn’t turn things around right away, will these big-name suitors eventually stop calling?

Those are the questions Fisher will have to ask himself.

We all know that it’s easier to come from the outside and rebuild a program quickly than it is to maintain one over the long haul. There are numerous examples of the former, and not many of the latter -- at least not at the highest levels.

I have absolutely no doubt Fisher could go into one of those struggling SEC programs and turn things around in short order. He would improve the talent level, the player development and the organizational processes in the first two years. Maybe they would go from seven or eight wins a season to 10 or 11. Perhaps after a few years, he’d lead them to a championship the way he did Florida State.

On the flip side, it’s not quite as easy to turn around a program in Year Nine of your tenure, which is where Fisher will be in a couple of months. He won’t have a new voice and a fresh message for the players to rally around.

So, what will he do?

I actually think this will be a pretty tough call when the time comes.

On the one hand, I do believe Fisher loves Florida State. I think he’d be perfectly content to coach here for the rest of his career, as long as he continues winning at a very high level. And I don’t think he has soured on the situation, as some have suggested.

Just this past Saturday, there were a number of obvious signs of his commitment to -- and fondness for -- these players. When junior walk-on Justin Motlow hauled in his first career touchdown pass, Fisher made a point to find him on the sideline and give him a congratulatory hug. And when sophomore tailback Amir Rasul fumbled late in the game, Fisher had a staffer go find the clearly frustrated running back and usher him back toward Fisher so the head coach could give him a pep talk.

Fisher didn’t have to do that. That’s something you do with a young player when you’re coaching for the future.

On the other hand, the idea of starting fresh can be extremely appealing. Just like with employees and employers in the business world, a clean slate can make a world of difference for coaches and players, too.

We can only speculate about whether Fisher might be attracted to that type of opportunity. Does he believe he can win more as an agent of change at another school, or does he think he can get FSU back on track with some subtle (and maybe not-so-subtle) tweaks?

It’s too soon for any of us to know. Heck, the Texas A&M job isn’t even officially open yet.

But rest assured, we all will learn the answer soon enough. If Fisher stays put this time, it won’t be because FSU’s administration has bowed down to his agent’s latest demands. It will be because Fisher is confident Florida State can be a championship contender again in the very near future.

Conversely, if he leaves, it could only mean a couple of things. Either he received an offer that was simply too good to pass up -- something astronomical financially -- or it means he has real concerns about how quickly he can turn things around at FSU. And if that’s the case, the Seminoles might need their own agent of change.

Contact managing editor Ira Schoffel at ira@warchant.com and follow @IraSchoffel on Twitter.