College Football HQ

Nick Saban claims SEC football rival Texas A&M "bought every player on their team"

The rivalry between Alabama and Texas A&M just got turned up a little.
James Parks|
Nick Saban claims SEC football rival Texas A&M "bought every player on their team"
Nick Saban claims SEC football rival Texas A&M "bought every player on their team"

Alabama football coach Nick Saban went off on SEC rival Texas A&M and head coach Jimbo Fisher, comparing how the two programs go about their recruiting business.

Saban went as far as to claim that Fisher and A&M "bought every player" they signed during their historic 2022 recruiting effort.

“I know the consequence is going to be difficult for the people who are spending tons of money to get players,” Saban said via AL.com. 

“You read about it, you know who they are. We were second in recruiting last year. 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, aight? 

“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.”

Saban, whose seven national championships are an all-time college football record, has been strongly critical of how new NIL rules have changed recruiting.

The head coach approves of players making money off themselves, but fears that the new system has colleges essentially using money, or the promise of money, as a recruiting tool, a practice the NCAA has banned.

Saban is clearly comparing Texas A&M to Alabama and saying that he and the Crimson Tide program are doing things the right way, while the Aggies are not.

Fisher strongly defended his program against those very accusations earlier this year when faced with questions that Texas A&M used NIL as a recruiting method.

But it's clear that at least one of his most prominent colleagues and rivals doesn't agree.

(h/t AL.com)

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.

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