Coach Jimbo Fisher has led Florida State to 29 consecutive wins and has the Seminoles in the hunt for a second consecutive national title. He's also in line for a big pay raise.
Warchant.com, a FSU-centric website, reported Thursday that FSU officials are finalizing a contract extension for Fisher. The new deal would likely pay him more than $5 million annually and make him one of the five highest-paid coaches in the nation, per the report. Well, one of the five highest-paid men currently coaching college football. If Jim Harbaugh accepts Michigan's offer, he would be the highest-paid head coach.
The report said Fisher's new deal would be in place before the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl/national semifinal with Oregon.
Fisher, 49, is in his fifth season with the Seminoles and owns a 58-10 career mark. He has been an assistant for both Bobby Bowden and Nick Saban, two of the most successful coaches in college history.
Fisher currently makes $3.6 million, which puts him in the top 15 nationally among highly paid coaches.
Before he became coach at FSU following the 2009 season, he served as the Seminoles' offensive coordinator from 2007-09. Before that, he was LSU's offensive coordinator from 2000-06. He has worked with three quarterbacks that have gone in the first round: LSU's JaMarcus Russell and FSU's Christian Ponder and EJ Manuel. Currently, he coaches Jameis Winston, a third-year sophomore who is eligible for the draft.
College football has at least five coaches making at least $5 million annually, USA Today research showed: Alabama's Nick Saban ($6.95 million), Michigan State's Mark Dantonio ($5.6 million), Oklahoma's Bob Stoops ($5.06 million) and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin and Texas' Charlie Strong ($5.0 million apiece).
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
