Fisher: FSU-Alabama game 'good for college football'

PENSACOLA -- He is less than two weeks into his annual spring booster tour, and Jimbo Fisher undoubtedly senses a theme in the conversations he has with fans and media in each city he visits.

It’s Florida State-Alabama. The 2017 season opener in Atlanta. A likely battle of top-five teams.

Fisher, while speaking in Pensacola this past Thursday, said the excitement is not surprising. He knew what the buildup to the game would be like when he agreed to it two years ago.

“I thought it was good for college football,” Fisher said. “I thought it would be good for us.”

He didn’t jump into the game blindly.

When he took over as head coach at Florida State in 2010, Fisher knew he would be approached about a potential game with the Crimson Tide. It was a marketer’s dream. Not only did Fisher work for Alabama coach Nick Saban for many years, but the two grew up in neighboring communities in West Virginia. And the fact that they led iconic programs would just be the icing on the cake.

Gary Stokan, who pulled the game together as president/CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., told Warchant in an earlier interview that he actually reached out to FSU as soon as Fisher was hired.

"They're such great college football brands,” Stokan said of FSU and Alabama. “They have such a great fan base that follows them. They're such great programs. They're great brands for TV.”

Fisher said he originally balked at the idea of playing the Tide, but only because he knew he had some work to do in rebuilding the FSU program. The Seminoles had finished 7-6 in three of the previous four seasons, and Fisher knew they needed an infusion of talent before they scheduled a game like this.