COLLEGE STATION -- On a shelf behind John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr.'s desk are various framed photos of his sons, Trey and Ethan, and one of a gray-bearded, barrel-chested bear of a man.
John James "Big Jim" Fisher Sr.
Jimbo says the photo of his father was taken on his last Christmas Day, in 1993. Jimbo was Auburn's 28-year-old quarterbacks coach. Big Jim, farmer by day, coal miner by night, had black lung disease.
A quarter-century later, Big Jim's commanding presence, which exceeded his 6-3 stature, still resonates back home in West Virginia -- and here at Texas A&M, personified in Jimbo's magnetism, mannerisms and homespun proverbs.