No Fisher-Saban Feud, No Schedule, No Expansion at SECMD22
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Purists probably loved the politically-correct discourse this week in Atlanta at SEC Media Days.
Agents of chaos were disappointed.
The biggest news Friday was Arkansas picked to finish third in the SEC West and, as usual, got a homer vote to finish in first place. It's the results of the media poll and there weren't any surprises.
Maybe the most disappointing in the whole thing for some people were a couple of West Virginia guys publicly buried the hatchet.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher shown on the stage during SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame. (Dale Zanine / USA TODAY Sports)
Alabama's Nick Saban and Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher are "fine" with each other.
We suspected that was the case all along. If you're squeamish, you really don't want to be around a coaches' meeting.
The whole thing was a frustrated reaction to this name, image and likeness mess. Players should have been allowed to get money for doing stuff for decades, but now it's the wild West and everybody is just making it up as they go along.
The NCAA can't do anything about it. The conferences probably can't really do anything about it.
Sooner or later somebody's going to try, then the lawyers are going to get in the middle of everything and it will blow up.
NIL caused the whole Saban-Fisher flap.
"There's no rules," Fisher said. "Each state has its own rules. It's not just an NCAA thing or a national thing. Each state."
It's already having an impact. Ole MIss coach Lane Kiffin has talked about having it thrown up at him in recruiting.
Fisher knows there are differences and he's probably seen it.
"In Texas, we cannot bring up NIL to a recruit," he said. "We can't say it, we can't promise. All we can say if guys on our team have it, that's all we can say."
Some states let the teams literally do the negotiating.
"Other states can present written contracts," Fisher said. "They can send a written contract to a guy. I've been going through that in a recruiting thing."
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher shown on the stage during SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame. (Dale Zanine / USA TODAY Sports)
What frustrates coaches is nobody is playing by the same rules.
"It's just the world we're in," Fisher said. "We are frustrated because there's no unification of what happens and the way it happens.
"It's a different day and time."
That will be the one thing that won't change.
HOGS FEED:
OLE MISS HAS MUCH SMOOTHER SCHEDULE THAN RAZORBACKS THIS YEAR
HOGS GET HIGH PROFILE ALLY IN QUEST TO CHANGE OUTDATED RULE
HOGS' OFFENSE WILL NEED TO RELY ON RECEIVER BY COMMITTEE
ALL-AMERICAN SAFETY JALEN CATALON ON INJURY LAST YEAR, LOOKING AHEAD TO SEASON
HOGS' BUMPER POOL ON COMING BACK FOR BONUS SEASON TO LEAVE PROGRAM BETTER
SECMD22: RAZORBACKS QUARTERBACK KJ JEFFERSON ON GETTING BETTER
SEC NATION COMING BACK TO FAYETTEVILLE FOR OPENER
RAZORBACKS' SAM PITTMAN SHOWS HE'S RELATABLE TO FANS ONCE AGAIN
SEC OFFICIALS DIDN'T HAVE PRACTICE ON HOW TO DEAL WITH TENNESSEE-OLE MISS
GREG SANKEY PUNTING ON MOST ISSUES BECAUSE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANSWERS, EITHER
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