In early January of 2010, Jimbo Fisher was named head coach at Florida State, where he took the reigns from the legendary Bobby Bowden. In that first year in Tallahassee, Fisher led the team to a 10-4 mark, a first place finish in the ACC Atlantic division, and a win over South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Those accomplishments in the first season leading a college program, while immediately succeeding one of the most accomplished coaches in college football history, are impressive any way you slice it. Jimbo and Florida State had a ton of momentum heading into 2011, but as Fisher pointed out in an exclusive interview with the Palm Beach Post, heading into his second season he considered stepping away from football altogether.
To understand why that would enter Fisher's mind, you have to first have a better picture of Fisher's family and how high of a priority it was, and continues to be, for Jimbo.
Just before his sixth birthday, Jimbo's son Ethan was diagnosed with a very rare, life-threatening disease named Faconi anemia. The disease is a genetic disorder which causes bone marrow failure, which leads to a higher risk for leukemia and other life-threatening cancers. Life expectancy of those affected is mid-30's.
“Yeah, it did cross my mind, without a doubt. I didn’t know what (Ethan’s condition) required, what it meant." Fisher told the Palm Bach Post, which caused him to think about stepping down. "‘Should I coach? ‘Should I not coach?’
“I don’t know if we ever got to that point where we thought about it seriously but it crossed my mind to think about that because I didn’t know until we found out everything.”
Upon learning of Ethan's diagnosis, Jimbo and his wife Candy went into research mode, where they found a lot of outdated information, and "everything was doom and gloom. There was no hope, no chance, no nothing. It really knocked us for a loop.” Fisher then decided to take a short break from coaching during spring ball to further research the best course of action for treatment for Ethan. They eventually decided on the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital, and Ethan returns there to this day for annual checkups.
Fisher and wife, who divorced late last year after 22 years together, later decided that instead of stepping away, the best thing they could do for Ethan (on top of treatment and continued research) was to use his platform as a coach to raise money and awareness about the disease, and they also started a foundation, which has raised well over $3 million to date. But when he came back to coaching, Fisher admits he found himself distracted at times -he is human after all.
“That spring I was distracted. I was in practice and I would catch myself every now and then thinking about something. I have never done that before but I did occasionally that spring."
“I thought, ‘how am I going to do it? Am I doing it justice not being with him as much and feeling guilty every time? We got to learn to manage and every second I got a chance to be with my family, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Fisher added, "any time I'm away from my kids it hurts because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about."
Five years after Jimbo decided against taking a step away from football, his story serves as a great reminder of there being so much more to each coach's story than what we see on the field on game days.
Read the full piece here, including insight from his assistant coaches at the time who shared what it was like to be around Fisher and his family during this difficult time. It's a very well written, and fascinating story.