Alabama head coach Nick Saban did not mince words when discussing NIL deals and college football recruiting yesterday, taking shots at both Texas A&M and Jackson State. But the Aggies’ lead man Jimbo Fisher and the Tigers’ Deion Sanders were not for the slander, responding via Twitter and a press conference today.
Nick Saban’s comments on NIL deals and recruiting
Texas A&M fielded the top-ranked recruiting class in 2022, landing more five-star players (eight) than any other school, including Alabama (three). While it’s not completely unprecedented for a program to earn the commitments of so much talent, it is interesting that those eight five-star signatures are more than Fisher has secured in the previous four cycles combined (five).
Speaking at an event in Birmingham, Alabama, Saban did not hold back his feelings toward the Aggies’ recruiting class. “A&M bought every player on their team — made a deal for name, image, and likeness. We didn’t buy one player. 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.”
Saban continued to explain how Alabama has conducted itself with NIL deals. “They [Alabama players] created $3 million worth of opportunity for themselves by doing it the right way. And I have no problem with that, and nobody had a problem on our team with that because the guys that got the money earned it. There were only 25 guys on our team that had the opportunity to earn money.”
But Saban didn’t only target Texas A&M in his remarks. A few minutes later, he brought up No. 1 recruit Travis Hunter choosing the HBCU route, taking his talents to Jackson State. “Jackson State paid a guy $1 million last year who was a really good Division I player to come to their school. It was in the paper, and they bragged about it. No one did anything about it.”
Deion Sanders and Jimbo Fisher fire back
Sanders quickly took to Twitter to voice his opinion, calling Saban’s comments a lie and stating he would address them soon.
You best believe I will address that LIE Coach SABAN told tomorrow. I was & awakened by my son @ShedeurSanders that sent me the article stating that WE PAYED @TravisHunterJr a Million to play at @GoJSUTigersFB ! We as a PEOPLE don’t have to pay our PEOPLE to play with our PEOPLE.
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) May 19, 2022
Hunter also responded in a tweet, stating that if he had a million dollars, his mom wouldn’t be living in a three-bedroom house with five kids. But while the college football world awaits Sanders’ response, Fisher has already spoken at the podium.
Fisher called a press conference at Kyle Field, ready to defend a recruiting class with ink on the signatures that haven’t even dried yet.
“It’s a shame we have to do this — it’s despicable someone can say something about someone, and more importantly, 17-year-old kids. It’s despicable that a reputable head coach would come out and say this when things don’t go his way. … The narcissist in him doesn’t let this happen. … I know that what we did, there was nothing wrong. We didn’t buy any players. It’s disgusting what we’re into right now. Especially from those throwing the darts who don’t have glass in their house.”
The Aggies head coach did not let up, stating, “Some people think they’re God. Go dig into how God did his deal.” Reporters asked if Saban had reached out to Fisher, to which he explained, “He’s called. Not going to [answer]. We’re done.”
Fisher was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Saban at LSU in the early 2000s. But as Fisher said, “There’s a reason I didn’t go back to work with him. I don’t want to be associated with him. … When people show you who they are, believe them. He’s shown who he is.”
With Sanders’ press conference still to come, and Saban scheduled to be on air this afternoon, this story has only just begun.