Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher Doesn't Regret Previous Comments About Beating Nick Saban, Alabama
HOOVER, Ala. — Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher made headlines earlier this summer when he was asked about waiting until Nick Saban retires at Alabama to beat the Crimson Tide.
"We're going to beat his ass while he's there, don't worry," was Fisher's response then at the Houston Touchdown Club, and on Wednesday afternoon inside the Wynfrey Hotel for 2021 SEC Media Days, he noted that he doesn't regret it at all.
"No, I don't have any regrets at all" Fisher said. "That's what we are for, isn't it? Isn't that what makes this league? That's what we expect to do at Texas A&M."
Fisher is heading into his fourth season at the helm in College Station and is 0-3 so far against Alabama, including a lopsided 52-24 defeat inside Bryant-Denny Stadium a season ago.
"In saying all of that, Nick and I are friends," Fisher added. "We've known each other a long time and coached with each other. We are from the same world if that makes any sense. I have the utmost respect for what he has done and what he has accomplished. He is the standard and [Alabama] is the standard to what you have to play to...
"Just like the standard at Florida State was to take over the ACC and go win a National Championship. That's our standard here, and you have to play at that standard, and they have set that standard. That's what great teams do. You've got other teams that want to match it, accept that challenge and go play at that level and go play him and beat him. We have to play him each and every year."
Despite finishing fifth in the final College Football Playoff rankings and compiling a 9-1 record last season, the Aggies will return 15 starters, nine of which come on the defensive side of the ball.
Aggies junior offensive lineman Kenyon Green shared in his coach's excitement for the Oct. 9 meeting between Texas A&M and Alabama.
"Our coach is confident in our team, and I'm confident too," Green said. "We're going to go out there, and we're going to play our game, and we're going to give it our all."
Texas A&M defensive end DeMarvin Leal believed Fisher's original comments could light a fire under the team that could propel the Aggies to meet lofty preseason expectations.
"My reaction is just that Jimbo has the most confidence in us, and he knows what we can do, and he knows how we're going to do it," Leal said. "His comment, I just loved it because it shows how much he believes in us, and it shows having a coach like that to stand behind you, and it matters a lot."
While being a former assistant under Saban while he was at LSU, Fisher again highlighted his relationship with his former boss and how what he has built at the Capstone is the standard for all of college football.
"We look forward to playing [Saban]," Fisher said. "Understand we have the utmost respect. Understand me saying we're going to beat them doesn't beat them. We have to develop the skills, the right practice habits, coach the heck out of the players and let them play, and be able to play those games and understand how to play those games. How you do that is that Kent State is Alabama. Colorado is Alabama. New Mexico is Alabama. You play at that standard all the time. You play big games is how we had such success at Florida State. The bowl games, the National Championship games, that's the standard you play.
"Your opponent has nothing to do with how you play. You play to your standard. The standard is the standard of excellence, and you have to meet that standard. It doesn't matter who your opponent is. [Alabama] has set a high standard. We have to play to that standard each and every week, so when we play them, it's like playing another game. You have respect for them. I have the utmost respect for Nick and his program and everything he's done...
"We feel confident in ourselves. Me sitting here saying that doesn't mean it. We want to beat them. They want to beat us. Who can do the most work and become the best football team until then is what's going to make the difference."
