Mr. CFB: Saban-Fisher Feud Continues As The SEC Spring Meetings Began Tuesday
Destin, Fla.—Nick Saban knew the question was coming. He also knew he wouldn’t have to wait long for it.
After Saban’s opening remarks before the beginning of the SEC’s annual spring meetings, the first question came from Olin Buchanan of TexAgs.com, a Texas A&M website.
“What evidence do you have that Texas A&M bought its entire recruiting class?” Buchanan asked.
“I didn’t say that anybody did anything wrong,” Saban quickly replied. He had barely finished his sentence when Buchanan shot right back:
“But you said they bought their recruiting class.”
“I didn’t say that anybody did anything wrong,” Saban repeated. “And that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
In May Saban was addressing a group of businessmen in Birmingham and during the Q&A he was asked how the legislation of Name, Image, and Likeness was impacting recruiting. It was then that Saban used the word “bought” when it came to Texas A&M’s No. 1 recruiting class.
The next day Saban apologized insisting he wasn’t accusing Texas A&M of buying players in the classic sense. He said he never should have singled out Texas A&M in his criticism. His point was that the Aggies’ interpretation of the NIL rules was not, in his opinion, how the rule was intended.
But for Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher, once a pupil of Saban, the damage had been done and could not be explained away.
He next day Fisher called a press conference in College Station and lit into Saban, calling his words “despicable.” He labeled Saban as a narcissist and, in not-so-subtle language, suggested that reporters would benefit from doing some digging into Saban’s past recruiting practices.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey publicly reprimanded both coaches but everyone knew the feud would continue all the way to Tuesday’s coaches meeting which started at 11 a.m. CT. No word on how the meeting went, but it’s a good bet that Sankey told his coaches to knock it off.
A Texas A&M spokesperson said that Fisher would not be talking to the media on Tuesday. He may speak publicly on Wednesday.
Several SEC coaches met with the media on Tuesday morning and they were all asked by the dustup between the two high-profile coaches. Not surprisingly, no one really wanted to touch it.
“They are two of the greats,” said Eli Drinkwitz, the Missouri head coach. “They probably should not have (feuded) publicly.
The coaches were asked about a number of issues they will have to ponder this week.
All the coaches agreed that NIL will have to be adjusted because the way it us being used now “is not sustainable,” Saban said.
“It’s like we’re living in a world with no walls,” said new Florida Coach Billy Napier, who was attending his first SEC Spring meetings.
“Somebody said it was like putting a canoe on top of the car and not strapping it down,” said Saban. “You just hope for the best.”
The coaches were also asked to look at a number of football scheduling models for the future. One model called for the SEC to stick to its current eight conference games. Another model would feature nine conference games.
Both Saban and Georgia Coach Kirby Smart have long advocated for playing more conference games.
“I just want to do what is best for the SEC,” Smart said.
There is a sense of urgency on the scheduling model because Texas and Oklahoma are scheduled to join the SEC for the 2025 season, if not before.
“The first year I was in the league we played 10 conference games,” said Drinkwitz of the COVID-altered 2020 season when the SEC played a 10-game conference-only schedule.
The conference wraps up its annual meetings on Friday.