By signing a contract extension that had been on the table for about a month, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher made sure all distractions would be eliminated when the No. 1 Seminoles arrived in Southern California on Tuesday.
The new five-year contract, which runs through the 2018 season, was announced by the university just before the Seminoles left Tallahassee for the West Coast to continue preparations for Monday night’s BCS title game in Pasadena, Calif., against No. 2 Auburn.
The deal should put to rest speculation that Fisher still could be lured to Texas to replace Mack Brown.
Fisher, 48, will earn about $4.1 million per season, sources told the Palm Beach Post. The contract ranks Fisher among the 10 highest-paid coaches in the nation. Fisher’s previous deal ran through 2015 and paid $2.75 million annually. That salary was the 21st highest nationally this season.
The contract was agreed upon the week before the Seminoles defeated Duke in the Dec. 7 ACC championship game and was first reported by the Post.
“We are extremely pleased with the direction of our program and believe that this new contract will assure that coach Fisher is in place to lead the Seminoles for a long time to come,” FSU Athletic Director Stan Wilcox said in a statement.
The timing could not have been better for Seminoles fans considering recent reports that Fisher was among the candidates Texas was targeting to replace Brown. Fisher’s name was on a list that includes Louisville’s Charlie Strong, Vanderbilt’s James Franklin and Baylor’s Art Briles.
“I was hoping he would stay where he is,” Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden, who was succeeded by Fisher, told the Associated Press. “I really think, to win, there’s a better opportunity at Florida State than Texas. That’s because of the strength of schedule and everything they have to play out there and the competition in that state. I was glad he chose to stay here because that money can really attract you.”
Fisher becomes the third high-profile coach whose name has been linked to Texas to receive a raise. Alabama’s Nick Saban, the country’s highest-paid coach this season with a base salary of $5.55 million, agreed to an extension worth more than $7 million a year. Auburn’s Gus Malzahn received a six-year extension, bumping his salary from $2.4 million this season to $3.85 million next season with a raise of $250,000 each subsequent year.
The top 10 coaches made an average of about $5 million this season. Of them, only Saban and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, who makes $4.6 million, had their team in the top 10 of the final BCS standings. Michigan’s Brady Hoke was paid the eighth-highest amount this season with a base salary of $4.15 million.
Fisher, who is in position to earn at least $675,000 in bonuses this season if the Seminoles defeat Auburn and win the national championship, has a lower base salary this season than Louisville’s Strong ($3.7 million), Cincinnati’s Tommy Tuberville ($3.1 million) and TCU’s Gary Patterson ($3.1 million), among others.
Fisher has FSU in the national title game in his fourth season since succeeding Bowden and for the first time in 13 years. He is 44-10 and has led the Noles to consecutive ACC titles and conference championship game berths in three of his four seasons. FSU was 30-22 in the four years prior to Fisher taking over as head coach.
Fisher’s .815 winning percentage is the highest in ACC history, and he is 7-1 against FSU’s biggest rivals, Miami and Florida.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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