College Football

Jimbo Fisher Fires Back at ‘Narcissist' Nick Saban After Claim of Buying Players

Saban said Texas A&M "bought every player on their team" through NIL deals

Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban
USA TODAY

The college football season doesn't start for more than three months, but Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher and Alabama coach Nick Saban continue to sound off as if it's gameday.

Fisher held a press conference Thursday to respond to Saban's claim that Texas A&M "bought every player on their team," referring to the name, image and likeness deals given to A&M's top-ranked recruiting class.

“First of all, I'd like to say it's a shame that we have to do this," Fisher said. "It's really despicable. We never bought anybody, no rules are broken. Nothing was done wrong.”

Fisher, a former assistant under Saban at LSU from 2000 to 2004, called his former boss a "narcissist." 

"Some people think they're God," Fisher said. "Go dig into how God did his deal. May find out about a guy, a lot of things you don't want to know. We build him up to be the czar of football. Go dig into his past. Or anybody that's ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to find out. What he does and how he does it. And it's despicable."

Fisher said Saban attempted to contact him Thursday, but he ignored the call.

"We're done," Fisher said. "He showed you who he is."

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the NCAA could no longer bar payments to student-athletes, which forced the NCAA to lift most of its rules against athletes earning money from sponsorship and endorsement deals. That led to concerns of NIL deals being used as recruiting inducements.

Saban made his comments about Texas A&M's spending at an event on Wednesday in Birmingham to promote the World Games.

"We were second in recruiting last year," Saban said. "A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness. We didn’t buy one player. But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough.”

Earlier in the year, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin also commented on the Aggies, saying, "Texas A&M was going to incur a luxury tax in how much they paid for their signing class," according to ESPN.

Fisher refuted those claims Thursday, saying, "we didn't buy any players."

"You can call me anything you want to call me," Fisher said. "You can't call me a cheat. I don't cheat and I don't lie. I learned that when I was a kid, if you did that, your old man slapped you 'side the head. Maybe somebody should have slapped [Saban]."

Fisher and the Aggies take on Saban and the Crimson Tide on Oct. 8 in Alabama.

"I have nothing to hide ," Fisher said. "Our program has nothing to hide. It would be interesting if everybody could say that."

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