By Jimmy Hyams
Jimbo Fisher knows what it takes to win a national championship.
He was on the LSU staff that won a title in 2003. He was at Auburn when the Tigers opened the 1993 season 11-0 but wasn’t eligible due to NCAA sanctions. He was Florida State’s head coach when the Seminoles took home the crystal ball in 2013.
So Texas A&M’s new coach knows what great football looks like.
He also knows what great coaching looks like and that’s one reason he’s confident Randy Sanders, his former offensive coordinator at FSU, will do well as head coach at East Tennessee State University.
“I think he’ll do excellent,’’ Fisher told WNML radio recently. “One, he’s very knowledgeable. He knows his players very well. He’s a hard worker. He gets the big picture. I think he’ll do an outstanding job.’’
Sanders, a former Tennessee quarterback and long-time assistant, is from Morristown, 66 miles from Johnson City. Fisher said it’s an advantage for Sanders to know the East Tennessee area.
“He’s a good recruiter and he relates to people well,’’ Fisher said.
Fisher said Sanders did a “great job for me.’’
How so?
“He took a lot of pressure off me when I wasn’t in the room,’’ Fisher said. “I knew the room was being run right as far as the plan we wanted. We had similar philosophies in a lot of things. He knows the run game. He knows the pass game.
“He was very authoritative when he had to be. He was everything you wanted an assistant coach to be.’’
Sanders isn’t the only former UT assistant who drew praise from another SEC head coach.
Chad Morris, hired from SMU to lead the Arkansas program, hired two former UT aides: defensive coordinator John Chavis and defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell.
Chavis is a veteran who has served 23 years as an SEC defensive coordinator—at Tennessee, LSU and Texas A&M.
Morris said he had one call to make when hired and that was to Chavis.
“He’s rejuvenated, he’s excited, he’s bouncing around,’’ Morris said.
Morris thinks Chavis likes the idea of joining a program at the same time as the new head coach, rather joining a coach who has been at a program several years.
“And I believe he sees the impact he has on young coaches we well,’’ Morris said. “We’ve got some young guys on our staff and his wisdom, his knowledge and his ability to learn will help.’’
Morris also said his wide open offense has Chavis “really excited’’ to help him grow and evolve as a coach.
Morris also had high praise for Caldwell.
“Steve is a fantastic recruiter,’’ Morris said, “and very well thought of in the state of Arkansas.’’
Morris said he was thrilled to put Chavis and Caldwell (an Arkansas State graduate) together again, as they were for years at Tennessee.
“As a matter of fact, when I started talking to Chief (Chavis) on hiring him, he asked,’ `Hey, look, I want Steve Caldwell,’’’ Morris said.
“I’ve heard nothing but great things about Steve. He absolutely fits what we’re about.’’
Auburn’s defensive coordinator is Kevin Steele, a former Tennessee player and assistant. A former head coach at Baylor, Steele more recently has been a defensive coordinator at LSU, Alabama and Clemson. He’s had mixed results, but his first year at Auburn, he did a terrific job as the Tigers ranked in the top five in the SEC in scoring defense, run defense, pass defense and total defense.
Auburn held high-powered Clemson, Missouri and Alabama to 14 points each and Georgia to 17.
“Kevin, he’s a professional,’’ said Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. “He’s a player’s coach. He’s so good with the relationship side and he is very smart and has done a super job for us.
“And he fits. He fits what I’m looking for as a coach. He’s a great example to our players. He’s what a great dad looks like. He’s what a great husband looks like. He’s a great person. He’s a great coach.’’
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