Alabama coach Nick Saban addressed the comments he made regarding Texas A&M buying its players on Tuesday at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings.
"I didn't really say that anybody did anything wrong," Saban said, per 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello. “I’ve said everything I'm going to say about this. I should have never mentioned any individual institutions, as I’ve said before.”
The Alabama coach came under fire after he alleged that the Aggies “bought every player on their team” through name, image and likeness deals. In a scathing response, Fisher called the accusation “despicable” and called Saban a “narcissist.”
Saban later apologized for calling out specific institutions and for the accusations he lodged against A&M and Jackson State. He said that the Tigers “paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school. It was in the paper. They bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it.”
“I should have never singled anybody out,” Saban said on ESPNU radio’s Off-Campus. “That was a mistake and I apologize for that part of it."
“I really wasn’t saying anybody did anything illegal in using NIL,” he later added. “That was something assumed by what I said. It’s not what I meant. There’s nothing illegal about doing this. It’s the system. That’s the issue I have.”
Fisher revealed that his former mentor reached out to him but he did not answer, adding that “we’re done.” The SEC issued public reprimands for both coaches following the war of words.
Saban added Tuesday that he has “no problem with Jimbo at all.” The two coaches are scheduled to play each other on Oct. 8 as the Aggies take a trip to Tuscaloosa.
