Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher Fires Back at Nick Saban After Buying Players Accusations

05/19/2022 09:05 pm EDT

The 2022 college football season is less than four months away, but the fireworks have already begun. Alabama Crimson Tide Nick Saban called out the Texas A&M Aggies for buying players via name, images and likeness (NIL). Jimbo Fisher, the head coach of Texas A&M, fired back at Saban for the accusations. 

"It's despicable that we have to sit here at this level of ball and say these things to defend the people of this organization, the kids, 17-year-old kids and their families," Fisher said, per CBS Sports. "It's amazing. Some people think they're God. Go dig into how 'God' did his deal. You may find out about a lot of things you don't want to know."

Fisher continued: "We build him up to be the czar of football. Go dig into his past or anybody that's ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to find out, what he does and how he does it. It's despicable; it really is." Texas A&M has the No. 1 recruiting class in 2022, according to 247Sports. The thing that stood out with the class is Fisher signed more five-star recruits this year than in his entire career with the Aggies. 

"It's going to be difficult for the people who are spending tons of money to get players,"  Saban said on Wednesday.  "You've read about them. You know who they are. We were second in recruiting last year. [Texas] 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. 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." Fisher, who won a national championship at Florida State, has been with Texas A&M since 2018. He coached under Saban when both were at LSU, and Fisher defeated Saban for the first time as a head coach last year. 

"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," Fisher said. "We never bought anybody. No rules were broken, nothing was done wrong. These families, 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."

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