Texas A&M assembled the top-ranked recruiting class in the country because it bought every player with name, image and likeness deals, according to Alabama coach Nick Saban.
NIL was being used unfairly because of the influence of money. He said that the Alabama class was the second-ranked one.
A news conference was hastily assembled by Jimbo Fisher on Thursday morning in order to respond to the fire.
Fisher said that some people think they are God, and that he was the offensive coordinator at LSU.
Fisher said that he was the greatest ever.
Fisher's news conference was over when coaches weren't talking about the comments. The SEC assistant said his phone was blowing up. He was on the road recruiting and the high school coach wanted to talk about something else.
The comments struck a nerve, not just because of what was said, but also because of the subject matter involved. The first class to have NIL as part of the recruitment process was the 2022, and many coaches are worried about the impact it is having. They have described the lack of rules as creating an environment similar to the wild West.
It was shocking that two of the highest paid and most accomplished coaches in the game would go after one another so directly. In October of last year, Texas A&M beat Alabama on a walk-off field goal, and Fisher was the first of the Tide's former assistants to beat them.
The assistant who once worked for Saban said that Fisher had the confidence to go after the win and that he must have seen an opening after the win. He and everyone he talked to wanted to know what Jimbo was thinking.
Yes, the man was wrong. The assistant said that he was surprised that the usually calculating Saban allowed himself to be filmed saying what he did.
Why do you want to poke the bear? The coach was surprised by Fisher's reaction and pointed out that the coach never said they were cheating.
It was riveting.
The coach said that he wouldn't watch the game because he didn't know who we were playing.
The Fisher-Saban dustup will be discussed by coaches and athletic directors across the country when the two coaches meet in Bryant-Denny Stadium in October.
Texas A&M beat him on the recruiting trail. Are you concerned about the trajectory of college football? Maybe a little bit of both. People start listening when Saban talks.
The SEC has to handle issues like this, hopefully not in the public eye, because they have caused a lot of confusion.
A lot of us thought it was a call to action. The way that they have been doing it is not holding up in this new age. Everyone across the country is calling for a booster to step up.
Power 5 head coach: "Nick's point, albeit valid, he's smarter than that." He doesn't usually put his hand in the nest. There was no reason for him to cross the line. He had to be vague and macro. Something happened there. Jimbo did something, and the professor didn't like what he did.
Everybody knows that Nick is very smart. There is a reason he is doing this. It is almost like for him to do this, A&M is a serious threat. I believe he sees this as a crisis. Unless something changes, he says you have to do something. I think he sees this as man and he is trying to ring the alarm.
The Big Ten assistant said that there was a universal 90 minutes where no one got their s--- done because they were just laughing their ass off.
Group of 5 head coach: "It is like the sequel to the best movie ever." Fisher is going to offend Saban more than Jimbo is because he won't pick up the phone. We had a break while I was in the meeting. I looked at my phone and laughed.
I have gotten texts from coaches in the Big Ten and the SEC. The whole sport ignored calls from recruits to focus on the press conference. There was a lot of lost production in college football today.
The world of big-time college football is in a state of chaos. There is a widening gap between the SEC and Big Ten, spurring talk of a possible CFB Super League. The future of the NCAA is uncertain following numerous legal defeats and the impending departure of president Mark Emmert. The NIL has caused a lot of concern throughout the sport. Will a high-profile dispute between two of the game's marquee coaches, which resulted in public reprimands for both from the SEC office, change anything?
The sport is much healthier than the atmosphere around it. People are saying what is on their minds more than ever before, but it is not like these things have not been said before. They didn't name anyone in particular, but they were more general about it. There are so many rumors out there, even when some of the athletes' representatives are telling the coaches. Unless the people involved with the figures actually come out and make statements about it, it is hard to know if the figures are real or not. This makes for great theater but it is an example of what concerns people behind the scenes who are not saying it out loud.
This is unsustainable and I am concerned about where college athletics are going. We will be fine, but the rest of it is coming from a football coach. Nick was correct. The other sports are going to die if we go down this path.
I thought our profession had hit an all-time low. The coaches look like a bunch of buffoons. We have the issues we have when we have adults and people in leadership positions handling things this way.
Power 5 head coach hopes it creates some urgency for a new governance structure. Our game is in complete chaos, and this is a result of that.
Power 5 assistant: "What I keep coming back to, from a 30,000-foot perspective, is how are we gonna fix any of this stuff?" I know that there is a lot of fun on the social networking site. It stinks to me. The sport is in tatters right now and there are two people that have a chance to save it.
This will be decided on the field when the two programs with national championship ambitions meet in Tuscaloosa.
It better be a night game. I think it will be one of the highest-rated games of the year. They are going to circle it. Nick is going to say we are going to show them. Jimbo is going to say that these guys said bad things about you. Get your popcorn ready.
The story was written by Heather Dinich, Adam Rittenberg, Alex Scarborough, and Tom VanHaaren.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
