Steve Spurrier comments on Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher debacle

On3 imageby:Barkley Truax05/21/22

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Former Florida and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier weighed in on the war of words centered on NIL between Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher and Alabama head coach Nick Saban from earlier this week. Spurrier, who has wins over both coaches, believes the entire thing was blown out of proportion.

“I don’t know why [Fisher] is mad at Saban,” Spurrier said. “Did Saban say something that wasn’t true?”

When Fisher addressed the media the following day, the Aggies headman had some choice words to say about Saban, calling him a hypocrite, among other things.

“Since [Fisher] beat him last year, I guess he can talk now,” Spurrier said. “[Fisher] hasn’t beat much of anybody, but he beat Saban last year. But they haven’t won the division or anything since he’s been there.”

Spurrier is still the most recent SEC East Division coach to beat Saban in a regular-season game, which happened way back in 2010 while still the head ball coach at South Carolina.

Nick Saban: ‘I don’t have any regrets over what I said Wednesday night’

Alabama head coach Nick Saban told ESPN’s Chris Low that he shouldn’t never singled out Texas A&M or Jackson State, and admitted he should have been more specific when using the word “bought” in reference to compensating players through NIL. 

“But other than that, I don’t have any regrets over what I said Wednesday night,” Saban said.

Saban spoke at an event Wednesday night, giving his take on NIL and the schools he alleges payed players through NIL to play for Fisher in College Station. The comments quickly made the rounds on social media, which drove Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher to address the media that next morning. 

The seven-time national champion may not regret his words from Wednesday night, but believes someone needed to speak up on the under-handed method he alleges those schools recruited certain players.

“A lot of people are silent [on using NIL to pay players to go to school],” Saban said. “But, you know, at this stage of my career, I’m not worried about what people think of me.”