Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher didn’t wait long to respond to Nick Saban’s comments from Wednesday night, where Saban alleged Texas A&M “bought every player on their team.”
Fisher met with reporters for 15 minutes on Thursday morning. He referred to Saban, his former boss, as “a narcissist” and said the comments on Wednesday night were “despicable.”
Among Fisher’s comments on Thursday:
— On Saban’s accusations about A&M’s 2022 recruiting class:
“We never bought anybody. No rules were broken.”
“I just know that what we did was nothing wrong. Not done the wrong way. Nothing was promised. Nothing was a deal. And we didn’t buy any players.”
— On Saban:
“Some people think they’re God. Go dig into how God did his deal, you may find out about a lot of things that you don’t want to know. We build him up to be the czar of college football. Go dig into his past.”
“The narcissist in him doesn’t allow those things to happen when he’s not on top.”
— On whether things will be awkward with him and Saban in the future:
“I don’t mind confrontation. Lived with it my whole life. Kinda like it, myself. Backing away from it wasn’t the way I was raised.”
— On if Saban attempted to contact him after Wednesday night’s comments:
“Oh, he’s called. Not going to. We’re done. He showed you who he is. He’s the greatest ever, huh? When you’ve got all the advantages, it’s easy.”
— On the current state of college football:
“It’s disgusting what we’re into right now. Especially about the people throwing the darts, having no glass in their house.”
— On himself and his program:
“I have nothing to hide and our program has nothing to hide.”
“You can call me anything you want to call me, you don’t call me a cheat. I don’t cheat. I don’t lie. I learned that when I was a kid, if you did, your old man would’ve slapped you upside the head. Maybe somebody should have slapped him.”
On Wednesday night at a speaking engagement with Birmingham business leaders, Saban said that the Aggies “bought every player on their team” during the last recruiting cycle, and that his Crimson Tide “didn’t buy one player.” The comment came in response to a question about the changes that name, image and likeness legislation has brought to college sports, most notably in college football recruiting.
Texas A&M had the top-ranked recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports Composite rankings. Alabama’s class was ranked No. 2.
Saban and Fisher verbally sparred last offseason, too. During an appearance with the Houston Touchdown Club last May, Fisher told A&M supporters that “we’re going to beat his ass,” in reference to Saban. The Aggies went on to beat the unbeaten Crimson Tide, 41-38, in College Station last fall.
Prior to Thursday’s comments, Fisher has previously been outspoken about the accusations that A&M’s recruiting class was “purchased.” A&M’s 2022 class, which is the all-time top class in terms of 247Sports Composite rankings, included eight five-star prospect all in the top 25 overall nationally.
In a press conference on national signing day, Fisher referred to critics as “clowns,” to the allegations as “garbage” and saying “it pisses me off” to hear the talk.
“To me, it’s insulting to the players that we recruited that that’s why they would come here,” Fisher said. “You ever been to a game here? You ever come to school here and see the education? You ever talk about the 12th Man, the Aggie Network when you’re done? There ain’t a better university in this country.”
