NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher was thrilled with the way Jameis Winston ran the two-minute drill to win the BCS national championship.
That wasn’t the case leading up to the big game.
Fisher says he kicked the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback out of the final practice before the Seminoles left Florida to travel to California.
Fisher says he took issue with how Winston was performing during a two-minute drill and sent the quarterback to the locker room.
“The thing about two-minute that you’ve got to be real careful of, it’s not about you,” Fisher said Tuesday. “You can get so involved that you’re going to win the game — the key is to use all the weapons around you. He did that in that game.”
“The mindset that you have to have, which he had all year, I just saw it drifting,” he said.
On Monday night, Winston led the top-ranked Seminoles on an 80-yard drive inside the Rose Bowl. He threw a 2-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds left to beat No. 2 Auburn 34-31 and finish off a perfect season for Florida State.
Fisher said the two came away from that practice in Florida with a better understanding of each other.
Fisher, however, has the final say.
“It’s good to be the king,” Fisher said. “He’ll be the king one day. When he’s in pro ball he might have thrown the coach out. But the thing about it, though, he waited for me to get off the field and we had a long discussion and we had it out. He’s an unbelievable guy to be able to process and transition and go right back.”
“It was just a point I thought I needed to make to him at the present time as a young guy, and like I say, sometimes you have to be their coach. You can’t be their friend,” he said.