WV Natives Clash as Jimbo Fisher Delivers Fiery Response to Nick Saban's Accusations
Just when you think it's the "dead" part of the college football offseason, a pair of West Virginia natives just had to stir things up.
Recently, Alabama head coach Nick Saban (Fairmont) openly accused Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher (Clarksburg) of "buying players." In the new world of NIL deals, some schools are using it as a way to get some of the top tier talent that the high school ranks have to offer instead of using it for what it was meant to be used for.
Saban said the following at an event with local leaders in Birmingham, "I mean, we were second in recruiting last year," Saban told the audience. "A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team -- made a deal for name, image, likeness. We didn't buy one player, all right? But I don't know if we're gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it. It's tough."
Not only did Saban accuse Texas A&M of "buying players", but also Jackson State, who landed the nation's top recruit, Travis Hunter, a few months ago.
"I mean, Jackson State paid a guy $1 million last year that was a really good Division I player to come to the school. It was in the paper, and they bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it. I mean, these guys at Miami that are going to play basketball there for $400,000, it's in the newspaper. The guy tells you how he's doing it."
Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders didn't take too kindly to these accusations and stated on Twitter that he will be addressing these "lies" soon. Meanwhile, Jimbo Fisher scheduled a press conference early Thursday morning to discuss the matter and boy, did he let all of his frustration out.
"First of all, I'll say, it's a shame that we have to do this. It's really despicable. It's despicable that somebody can say something about somebody and an organization and more importantly, 17-year-old kids. You're taking shots at 17-year-old kids and their families. That they broke state laws. That we bought every player in this group. We never bought anybody. No rules were broken. The way we do things, the ethics in which we do things, it's despicable that a reputable head coach can come out and say this when he doesn't get his way or things don't go his way. The narcissist in him doesn't allow those things to happen and it's ridiculous. The parity in college football he's been talking about? Go talk to coaches who've coached for him. You'll find out all of the parity. Go dig into wherever he's been. You can find out anything. It's a shame that you've got to sit here and defend 17-year-old kids and families and Texas A&M because we do things right - we will always do things right. We're always going to be here. It's amazing. Some people think their God. Go dig into how God did his deal and you may find out about a lot of things you don't want to know. We've built him up to be the czar of football, go dig into his past. You can find out everything he does and how he does it. I know the guy. Know him really well. I apologize to our fans for someone saying things like this about Texas A&M. I can promise you this -- there are no violations, there is nothing wrong. This is the second time that we've had to do this with grown men who don't get their way and pout and throw a fit and act up. Just ask the people that worked for him, you'll know exactly what he's about. My dad always told me this, 'when people show you who they are, believe them.' He's showing you who he is."
When asked if he has had any contact with Coach Saban, Fisher responded, "No," but stated that he did try to reach out to him. However, Fisher did not want to talk.
"Not going to. We're done. He shows you who he is. He's the greatest ever, huh? When you've got all of the advantages...it's easy.
"You coach with people, like Bobby Bowden, and learn how to do things. You coach with other people and learn how not to do things. There's a reason I ain't went back and worked for him with opportunities. Don't want to be associated with it."
Texas A&M is scheduled to travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama on October 8th at 3:30 p.m. EST.
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