Florida State Football: 5 best coaching candidates to replace Jimbo Fisher

4. Charlie Strong, USF

Charlie Strong is a great coach and a great man that took the job at Texas behind the 8-ball. It was clear from day one that many boosters didn’t agree with the hire and it was a massive rebuild to fix the issues Mack Brown left behind in Austin. The Longhorns had become a country club atmosphere and Strong was too militaristic too quick.

He was 37-15 including a 12-1 season at Louisville and he finished his three years in Austin at 16-21 without a single winning or .500 season. Strong recovered quickly, came back to Florida, and took over the South Florida Bulls program that was left in good shape by Willie Taggart. Strong improved the defense, kept the offense in tact and got the Bulls to a 9-2 regular season finish losing only to the undefeated UCF Knights and a 4 point loss to Major Applewhite‘s Houston Cougars.

He has the ties to Florida recruiting, the confidence back after a good year at USF, and the experience in major conference football. I can see the FSU brass really liking the idea of a former Florida Gator national champion coordinator beating up on the Gators every year in garnet and gold.

However, Strong did flop at Texas and that’s why he’s only at the four spot on my list.