Jimbo Fisher’s advice for Miami in FSU rivalry game: ‘Once you get them down, don’t let them up’

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Jimbo Fisher knows a few things about the Florida State-Miami rivalry, and he knows what it’s like when the rivalry feels one-sided.

The former Florida State coach, now an analyst with the ACC Network, went 7-1 against the rival Hurricanes during his tenure with the Seminoles, winning the first seven matchups against the Hurricanes before UM picked up a victory in his final season.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. The No. 3 Hurricanes (5-0, 3-0 ACC) are 21.5-point favorites to win their third straight game against the Seminoles (3-3, 1-2 ACC) when the two teams face off Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium.

“You never want to let them off the ground,” Fisher said in an interview Friday with the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Once you get them down, don’t let them up and start swinging at you, dadgum. You’ve got to keep them down. And that’s part of it because you want to keep those rivalries, you want to keep those wars and the recruiting battles and all that ahead of you. And listen, it’s important to not only you, your players and their neighborhoods, but the alumni. … That’s a big part of your success as a coach. How did you do against our main rivals when you were a coach?”

Fisher, who will be part of the “ACC Huddle” live broadcast on UM’s campus on Saturday morning, was wildly successful against the Hurricanes, beating Miami 45-17 in his first try. He won the next six games against Miami, though most of them were closer than his first victory.

“When you really research the history, has there been a rivalry with better players in it?” Fisher said. “I’m talking about when you go back to the ’80s and the ’90s and the 2000s and our run in 2010s. I mean, there are some teams that have rivalries that are phenomenal, but these two teams right here, you’re talking about not only some of the best in college football — the best in pro football history. And the coaches and the personalities and they know the national championships and how those games were won and lost: missed kicks, made kicks, tipped balls, runs, blocked kicks. … I just think to truly appreciate the coaches and players that have walked on that field and participated and competed against each other.

“Listen, Miami’s a rivalry, and you want to beat them, and there’s nothing like it,” Fisher continued. But at the same time, you have tremendous respect for how they play the game and how Florida State plays the game and how physical and tough these two teams really are.”

Current FSU coach Mike Norvell has not had the same results against the Hurricanes. UM won the first matchup in blowout fashion in 2020, but the Norvell-led Seminoles won three straight games from 2021-23, including a blowout victory at Hard Rock Stadium in 2022 — Mario Cristobal’s first year at the helm in Coral Gables. As FSU has struggled over the past three seasons, the Seminoles have dropped the two most recent games against Miami.

“Sometimes, it’s never as good as it seems or never as bad as it seems,” Fisher said. “But they’ve had injuries. They’ve had different things happen to them. And it’s hard. People don’t realize — like you get momentum in a game, it’s hard to change momentum once it goes against you. Well sometimes it is, in a program, once momentum goes against and the recruiting battles start going down. And all of a sudden, in today’s world, you miss on the portal one time, it can bite you for a year or two.”

Part of what makes the FSU-Miami rivalry so intense is how many Florida athletes who grew up as fans of one of the teams and were recruited by both schools. Fisher cited Miami native Dalvin Cook (“He was a true ‘Cane killer”) as a South Florida player who always performed well against his hometown school.

“I remember all those battles,” Fisher said. “Getting Lamarcus Joyner, Dalvin Cook, Devonta Freeman, Rodney Smith from down here … Rashad Greene. I’m sure I’m missing some guys. Just getting into South Florida to get him. But then get in the Orlando area and get in the Jacksonville area and get those guys, the Tampa guys, because that was always a strong Gator area. You know what I mean? If you won those games, (it) at least gives you some street cred to go in there and talk to them.”

Miami will try to take advantage of the recruiting aspect of the rivalry game, hosting dozens of top prospects on Saturday night.

“If you were the state champion — if you could beat Florida and Miami — you were in the national title hunt,” Fisher said. “You were playing for a championship or right there close to it. And then the recruiting wars all over the state, where Florida was much stronger in the Jacksonville through Tampa and Orlando area. And Miami was, of course, down south. And [FSU] had the Panhandle. But you had to be able to go in their areas, in their home areas, to get players. And, you know, whoever won that game carried a lot of weight. That meant a lot to them.”

The last time Florida State had sustained success was under Fisher, and with Norvell on the hot seat, some have proposed that Fisher, who last coached at Texas A&M in 2023, and the Seminoles could reunite soon. Fisher did not rule out the possibility.

“They have a coach in Mike,” Fisher said. “And I truly think Mike is a tremendous person and a tremendous football coach, and I pray and hope nothing but the best. … It is a place that I love and truly love. And I’ve always been a Florida State fan, even was before I came here when I was with [Bobby] Bowden. And it’s something you would always have to think about, for sure, if they were kind enough … if that scenario ever happened. But that’s something I hope doesn’t happen because I don’t ever want any coach to lose his job. And I think Mike is a tremendous person, a good guy.

“But if those things open, then you definitely would listen. That’s for sure.”

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