Florida State academic gets Jimbo Fisher's email

• Jerry Fisher gets emails meant for Seminoles coach
• Academic sometimes answers football emails
• The two Fishers have met in the past

The most entertaining emails pour in midway through a close FSU football game, one that isn't going as well as many Seminole fans may have expected.

Some are rants, others contain strategy suggestions.

The emails' intended destination: FSU football coach Jimbo Fisher. (Presumably, some people think he routinely scans his in-box during games.) The actual, unfortunate recipient: Jeremiah "Jerry" Fisher, the academic coordinator for the political science department at FSU.

That's what happens when your FSU email address begins with "jfisher" and your tenure at the university pre-dates the football coach, whose email address contains one extra letter as a result. "It happens frequently, but the ones that come in during a game, there are sometimes a lot of grammatical errors and misspellings.

There's some high-end crazy stuff. It makes me think it's liquid courage (doing the talking)," said the 31-year-old Fisher, who would never be mistaken for FSU's football coach if he was standing on the sidelines during a game.

Fisher receives all sorts of emails intended for the more famous Fisher at FSU. Some are from fans eager to praise the coach, especially this year with the team at 7-1 and nationally ranked. He even got one from a dealership in Orlando confirming the sale of a truck.

In many cases, Fisher responds to the emails, letting the sender know that it went to the wrong Fisher, in many cases forwarding the email to the correct address – especially if it's a request from a charity or non-profit.

Sometimes he hears from junior college football players, hoping to attract the attention of FSU's head coach.

"Believe me, I can really tell when recruiting season is revving up," Fisher said.

The two Fishers have met just once, though it's unlikely the football coach remembers the occasion. It was the annual Fan Day at the Civic Center a couple of years back, and the younger Fisher was in a long line of 'Noles die-hards eager to shake Jimbo's hand. There was no time to mention their identical last names, and the resulting email confusion.

"I'm pretty sure he has an idea this is happening. I think somebody checks his emails. There are days I wish I had the same

benefit," Fisher said.

Jimbo Fisher in fact may not be aware that some of his emails end up in Jerry Fisher's in-box. The football coach relies on text

messages to communicate with recruits and his staff, and his assistant, Joy Beech, brings relevant emails to his attention. Computers are not his thing.

"I can respond to (an email), but I'm not great on it," he said with a laugh. "I get (young sons) Trey and Ethan to show me things."

Jerry Fisher is a native of Lafayette, La. He attended Louisiana State University, and while he was there Jimbo Fisher joined the football staff as offensive coordinator.

"I think he's following me," the younger Fisher said.

Democrat sports editor Ira Schoffel contributed to this story.