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Nick Saban cheating accusation draws response from polarizing head coach

Saban's allegations against Texas A&M drew a rebuke from a fellow coach.
Joe Cox|
One former head coach took exception to Nick Saban's recent accusations against a fellow SEC school.
One former head coach took exception to Nick Saban's recent accusations against a fellow SEC school. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

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Alabama Crimson TideTexas A&M Aggies

The scars of SEC battle might fade, but it doesn't mean that the passion underlying those scars ever fades away. That dispute became noticeable again earlier this week. In his second year away from head coaching, Nick Saban still had a bone to pick with a former SEC rival.

On Thursday, Saban made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. The ESPN analyst talked about his past expereiences with Texas A&M, where the Aggies will host Miami in a first-round College Football Playoff battle on Saturday.

"They pipe in noise," argued Saban. "You can't hear yourself think when you're playing out there, and it is a huge advantage when they play at home." Saban admitted that he had lobbied the SEC offense extensively with his claims of illegally piped-in noise by the Aggies.

In the war of words, Texas A&M didn't take the allegations dropped by Saban easily. In fact, another former coach, ex-Aggie boss Jimbo Fisher, stepped in with his reaction to Saban's take. Unsurprisingly, the take wasn't one of sympathy for the former Alabama boss.

"It will be the most deafening environment in college football," Fisher said of A&M's anticipated environment for Saturday's game. Then he took aim.

"Contrary to what Nick says, they do not pipe in noise," stated Fisher. "They don't have to. I know everybody thinks that. This place... remember this is engineering here.... It's extremely loud. It's as good of a home field environment... as any there is in college football."

A&M's Kyle Field holds 102,733 seating capacity, which is the fourth-most in college football (just 47 seats behind third-place Ohio State). The Aggies are 33-7 in the 2020s at home, and posted a 7-0 mark in the 2025 regular season. While A&M's football record of 110,633 was set in a 2014 game against Ole Miss, the Aggies aren't the biggest show to ever hit Kyle Field. A 2024 George Strait concert bested the football mark by 272 fans.

Fisher's defense of A&M is interesting as his split from A&M was somewhat legendary for the sheer acrimony involved. Fisher's buyout reported at nearly $77 million was-- and still is-- the largest buyout in college football coaching history. Fisher came to A&M after winning the 2013 national title at Florida State. He was 45-25 in his time at College Station and came closest to a title in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when the 9-1 Tide finished No. 4 nationally in both polls.

Alabama leads the all-time series with Texas A&M 13-3. Saban's Tide lost to the Aggies 41-38 in College Station in 2021 and were upended by Heisman-winning QB Johnny Manziel and A&M at home in 2012.

With A&M and Alabama on opposing sides of the CFP bracket, they couldn't meet until the CFP title game. At this point, it sounds like the former coaches might have as much heat as the current rivalry.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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