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Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher meets the press at BCS Championship Game Media Day on Jan. 4, 2014, at the Newport Beach, California Marriott Hotel and Spa. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

NEWPORT BEACH, California - Does Jimbo Fisher ever consider how his life and career could've been different?

Does he ever wonder where he'd be today if some University of Alabama trustees hadn't killed a deal for him to become the head football coach at UAB after the 2006 season?

Fisher smiled at the thought Saturday.

"Somebody made a decision," he said. "It's funny in this business. You coulda went here. You coulda went there.

"Luckily, I'm glad they made that decision."

He should be. Fisher addressed that little flashback during BCS Championship Game Media Day at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa as the head coach of the undefeated and top-ranked Florida State Seminoles.

Would he be here if he'd taken over a UAB program without the full faith, confidence and support of the University System's trustees? Probably not.

After spending seven successful years as offensive coordinator at LSU, five under Nick Saban and two with Les Miles, Fisher was ready for a change after the 2006 season. He would, at different times that December and early January, have at least three realistic options.

1. Rejoin Saban at Alabama as the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator.

2. Take his first head coaching job at UAB.

3. Rejoin the Bowden family and go to work as Bobby's offensive coordinator at Florida State.

After some twists in the road, Fisher joined Bowden's staff at FSU. A year later, he was named the coach-in-waiting. Two years after that, Bowden retired and Fisher took over.

In four years as the FSU head coach, he's 44-10 with two ACC titles, one BCS bowl victory and a shot Monday night at a BCS title. The Seminoles have become a national power again as they were for so long under Bowden.

In a strange way, Fisher and Florida State have the Alabama trustees to thank.

When UAB let Watson Brown go after the 2006 season, the school was set to hire Fisher as head coach. It made sense for both sides. Fisher was one of the hottest coordinators in the business, and he had Birmingham ties. His wife, Candi, is a Birmingham native, and he'd played and coached at Samford.

The two sides agreed to a deal worth $600,000 a year with half the money to come from UAB boosters. UAB was about to send a plane to Baton Rouge to bring Fisher back to be introduced when the Alabama trustees threw up a stop sign.

They said they wouldn't approve the contract, citing the need for fiscal responsibility. UAB officials suspected another motive: Keeping Fisher available as an offensive coordinator candidate for Saban at Alabama.

Alabama had yet to hire Saban but had good reason to believe it was only a matter of waiting for the Miami Dolphins' season to end.

Long story short, Alabama got Saban, Florida State got Fisher and UAB got Neil Callaway.

Two out of three weren't bad.