Members of the Catholic Student Union took time off studying from midterms Wednesday night to listen to Florida State head football coach Jimbo Fisher talk. Fisher talked about his life, faith and son before answering questions from the crowd. Fisher repeatedly brought up how students need to live life without fear.
“Live life,” Fisher said. “We sit and we worry sometimes about what we can’t do. And we all follow by the rules, which we all have to have. And there’s a certain way we have to live our life; but we also have to live it.”
Fisher said his faith has grown over his life and especially over the last year with his youngest son, Ethan, fighting Fanconi anemia – a genetic disease that heavily increases the chance of the sufferer developing acute mylogenous leukemia.
“I thought I was on top of the world,” Fisher said. “We won ten games, first year here, everything is going great. I’m a head coach at one of the most dominate universities in the country, you can win national championships, you can do everything you ever wanted to do as a coach; everything is going great. Except this, bang, my youngest son gets ill. It’s a gut check; it’s a check about reality. Life will find that for you every time. When you think you’re bigger than life, it’ll bite you; it’ll bite you hard.”
Fisher said he thought God was prepping him to become a great Head Coach but now believes God was actually placing him on a platform to bring awareness to Ethan’s disease.
“God gave me a platform to be able to expose this disease, attack this disease, and beat this disease,” said Fisher. “And that’s how I will approach it everyday of my life.”
Growing up on a farm in West Virginia, Fisher has known hard work all his life. The son of a coal-miner and schoolteacher, he said his parents made sacrifices so that he and his brother could have what they didn’t. Every time he thinks things are getting too hard, Fisher said he reminds himself of what his parents did to give him every opportunity.
“The most important people in my life [growing up] were my parents,” said Fisher. “They gave me the ambition and desire to go on and try to do something. They believed in me sometimes when I didn’t even believe in myself.”
Fisher presented a challenge to the students: “Make your life make a difference,” he said. “If you make a difference for one person, that’s enough. One person can’t save everybody but you can save one […] I think that’s the important thing. We are on this earth to make a difference.”
Fisher said he wants students to go after their dreams. He said he wants young people to not be afraid to reach for their goals.
“God has put us here for a reason,” Fisher said. “As we grow, I think those reasons become more abundantly clear. He gives you signs and He gives you direction. I think it is very important that you follow that direction and you’re not scared to follow it.”
A final message Fisher promoted was that God will always be there for you, even when He gives you unexpected and unforeseen roadblocks. He said God will never put anything on your plate that you are not capable of handling.
“God has a way of doing things,” said Fisher. “He hit me and knocked me down. But I’m gonna tell you something, I’m gonna live. It’s tough. I’m not gonna lie, it’s tough. But He brings it to people who can handle it. And I believe that whole-heartedly. If I didn’t I couldn’t get through the day.”