Charlie Fisher

[GV Dad]

Tyler Stockton had a tweet this morning and it said Macomb is home

At the very least, this bodes well for keeping most of the coaching staff if there is a change at the HC position. At this point, I'd have to imagine we probably won't hear anything official until the 26th.

[tweet][/tweet]

OK, Christmas is in the rear view mirror. Hopefully we hear something meaningful soon about the future of Coach Fisher.

[Neckfansince71]

My mother always said that "patience" was a virtue. Not sure why and I never really bought into that comment anyway. Guess we all have got to let it work itself out. jc

[Neckfansince71]

I know its been very very quiet to say the least, but I have got to throw my 2cents in once again regarding Coach Fisher and the WIU football program. My daughter and son-in-law gave me a brand new turntable for Christmas and I am currently sitting down stairs in my man cave listening to the music of my childhood. I have two albums by Elton John that are very much a part of my WIU lore, Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water. This music for me is not only full of memories of past relationships now past but also of dreams, the reasons why I chose WIU in the first place. You see, I wanted to be a head basketball coach! Not assistant, although I knew that I would have to move up the ladder to reach my goal, but head, the boss, the man, Virgil Fletcher, Dolph Stanley, Eugene Delacy who lived down my street, Johnny Wooden. I wanted to hold the rolled up program or game plan. I wanted to make the good decisions, wanted to coach my team, my way, the way I felt it should be done. WIU had a Coaching minor along with a wonderful Biology department and that folks is how I landed in Macomb. I became a head coach a lot sooner than a lot of people, especially at a AA school in the suburbs. Oh sorry, it was AA when I coached and now is a 4A school. I grew up in Dundee, a town that had enjoyed success throughout the 30's, 40's, and 50's! A state championship in 1938, and third place in 1946. By the time I reached high school those success were a thing of the past, they split my school in half and we were awful. Of course I played with a gentleman named Roger Morningstar who made All Conference and went on to play at Kansas and the final four, but I was just an honorable mention all conference player on a piss poor team with a head full of dreams. The school that hired me, Glenbard East had had some success when it first opened but that was in the past too. Some how, after 8 years of being an assistant, someone took a chance on me. I am not going to say that I had a wonderful career with wins and losses, but I had a wonderful career helping youngsters become men. I had some really nice ballclubs, but more not so good although I think I ran a very competitive program that made the most out of the talent that walked in the door. I was lucky enough to have a team go 24-4 with a conference championship and a trip to the Sectional Finals. I also had a club that finished 2-23. But, when it comes down to it, I guess I thought I was making a difference and I learned I was one afternoon in 2009 when one of my former players who played for me my final year when we got beat by a West Aurora team that went on to with the state championship, stopped by to say hi. At the end of our discussion I asked him if I had been too hard on him, and with a smile he said, "Coach, I thought you were a crazy white man when I played for you, but your were right. Pull your earring out, pull your pants up, tuck your shirt in, play team defense and offense or sit down, you were right." I realized at that moment that I had had an effect on a young man who was now very successful. He got it.

Okay, so where am I going with this. The one thing I just loved about Coach Fisher when he took over and ran spring drills on day one was his connection with the players. As they warmed up, he was among them, chatting, kidding, chiding, but no matter getting his point across. Everyone of those players knew from day one that it was Coach Fisher's way. Be a gentleman, a student, a competitor, and believe that a higher power had given them the talent to be apart of such a program. Coach Fisher's team!!! He had a similar experience early in his career at West Georgia. But after all those stints as an assistant, he was finally running the show. I know what that is like. I loved running the show and after 14 years of ups and downs it was time to spend time with my family and so I left coaching. So Coach Fisher is left with a decision which he may have already made at this point. Sure the money is pretty sweet and maybe tough to pass up, but the decision is not about money. The decision is about whether you want to continue to directly influence young men as a head coach, or you are ready once again to be an assistant. I am not saying that you will not help the young men you coach ala Wide Receivers, but you will be following someone else's team lead. Guess I have said enough. I think you get where I am coming from. You only go around once as far as I know. I will never ever regret the years I spent as the head basketball coach at Glenbard East. jc

[Western_101]

Really great post NFS71. Probably in my top 10.

[GV Dad]

Totally agree 71, after you've been THE guy it would be hard to go back to A guy. Plus, he's on path to be a HC at the next level anyway, if the team keeps performing. With his contacts, he could be a position coach in FBS pretty much whenever he wants it. Why go to ASU now? Unless he just really dislikes Macomb?
He wasn't recruiting like he was wanting or looking to leave. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'm hoping the silence means they are working on a new deal to keep him happy at Western. If he was leaving, I think it would have been a quick decision. As a position coach, he would be expected to be out making new contacts. Not enjoying a quiet Christmas with the family.

[ST_Lawson]

Totally agree 71, after you've been THE guy it would be hard to go back to A guy. Plus, he's on path to be a HC at the next level anyway, if the team keeps performing. With his contacts, he could be a position coach in FBS pretty much whenever he wants it. Why go to ASU now? Unless he just really dislikes Macomb?
He wasn't recruiting like he was wanting or looking to leave. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'm hoping the silence means they are working on a new deal to keep him happy at Western. If he was leaving, I think it would have been a quick decision. As a position coach, he would be expected to be out making new contacts. Not enjoying a quiet Christmas with the family.

That's how I feel too. If it was a "done deal"...I'd think something would have been announced either at ASU or by us, and he'd already have changed his twitter info, be tweeting about ASU stuff, and getting himself down there and meeting with people...and we'd have heard something by now. If he was able to be successful for a couple more years here, he could easily pick up some job offers from some MAC, Sun Belt, or CUSA teams for a HC position, if that's the route he wants to take. I know it's a pay increase, but it seemed like he really was enjoying the HC position here...so it's surprising that he'd want to jump for a non-HC position at the FBS level, when he's already done that (at Penn State and Temple).

[Neckfansince71]

Gotta "trust the process!" jc

[rocki]

Gotta "trust the process!" jc

Well, that's cryptic.............

[GV Dad]

I would gladly trust the process, if I knew what the process was!

[sealhall74]

In the sports world, "trust the process" generally means to never let short-term failures get in the way of long-term goals. For the Sixers, trusting the process meant tanking a lot of games in order to secure early picks in the draft.