COLLEGE STATION -- Twelve years ago, Jimbo Fisher waited for a plane ride that could have altered his career.
In 2006, Fisher was an assistant at LSU and ready to take over a program of his own. He was in serious discussions with UAB to become the Blazers' next coach. The next step in the courtship was for Fisher to fly from Louisiana to Birmingham, Ala., to meet university administrators and finalize the process.
It took one phone call to nix those plans.
"They called back and said, 'No, we're going in a different direction and it wasn't going to happen,'" Fisher said.