Fisher just went Nuclear on Saban
These are all quotes from his press conference today...
-- “Some people think they’re God,” Fisher says. “We build him up to be the czar of football.
-- “Go dig into his past,” Fisher says of Saban.
-- Jimbo Fisher said he ignored Saban’s call today. “We’re done,” Fisher said.
-- Fisher said there is a reason he has not worked with Saban since LSU. “I don’t want to be associated with him,” he said.
-- Fisher said Saban was “soliciting funds from the crowd” in Birmingham before talking about Texas A&M. “When you walk on water, I guess, it don’t matter.”
-- Fisher said he does not know what collectives are doing. “You can call me anything you want to call me. You can’t call me a cheat. I don’t cheat. I don’t lie.” Fisher said his “old man” would have slapped him and “maybe someone should have slapped [Saban].”
-- “It’s despicable for what it does for the sport, and the operations and the way things were done the other way, when the parity was there. ... There never has been parity. Certain people never followed the rules anyway.”
When is Dabo's press release?
About his retirement because players are "just now" getting paid? Lol.
Or to get a raise. We can't abuse our church's funds so our offense is paid more than me!
catfight.gif
Agreed. Let them go at it! You just can't look away.
I needed this, especially this week! It will only get better when others start sending their hot takes.
When corrupt power is threatened, the most common human response is to deflect attention to a lesser corrupt power. Saban seems to be deflecting, no???
When called out on something one has done wrong, the most common human response is to become angry and lash out against the accuser. Fisher seems angry and lashing out, no???
I'm interested to see how "Old Man Sankey" handles a spat between his darling eldest child and the younger sibling who no longer wants to walk in the elders shadow. Someone's getting a spanking tonight.
Nick touched a nerve. The correct response should have been no response or something vanilla.
Saban literally accused A&M of buying every single player in their last recruiting class. I'm not sure that a polite "no comment" would really suffice.
I bet what Jimbo really wanted to say is "How dare you call me a cheat? I learned it from watching you!"
I remember this commercial like it was yesterday.
Yeah. I do too. It shows my age a bit, but it's worth it. haha. I use that "I learned it from you!" line a lot when my wife get's mad at me for doing something that she does all the time. haha
Edit: I should add that it never goes over well, but it gets the point across. haha
Methinks Jimbo doth protest too much.
popcorn.gif Looking forward to a similar post with Deion's comments.
Its like two monkeys at the zoo throwing shit at each other. Its fun to watch, kind of sad, but overall it stinks for everybody involved.
Welp, keeping slinging that poo Jimbo and Nick. Not involved and loving this shit show.
Definitely. The more that comes out about how this stuff really isn't new, the better.
After I saw the USC 24/7 thread in which it documented that year's Alabama player's/recruits cars I could give a shit what happens to Saban. He's been a cheating piece of shit for years and I hope he burns.
Primetime said essentially the same about Saban. The thing is technically A&M did not break the rules as they are currently written in the last cycle. On the flip side Saban, Smart, and a handful of others have been breaking the rules for a very long time.
Saban should have kept his mouth shut. Did he really think that other coaches would just keep theirs shut now that they have a more level playing field?
It’s one of those unspoken things and Bama was one of the worst offenders, along with Georgia. And now you have Bama and Georgia head coaches making the biggest stink about other teams being able to pay guys. They should have kept it unspoken because now other coaches are going to start calling them on their BS.
Sure, but it's also not like Fisher wasn't breaking the rules for years as well. A&M's classes are just as full of guys getting the bag as any other SEC program. Nobody has the moral high ground here and nobody should even try to claim it.
The disingenuous "We need parity back... How dare you suggest I would ever seek an unfair recruiting advantage!" sanctimony of both coaches is off the charts.
Whether it was the old SWC or the SEC or the ACC, their motto has always been "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'!"
Absolutely. The pearl clutching coming from these two guys is comical and the good faith given to them is insane to me. I do feel like Saban sort of knows he's full of BS but doesn't care as long as it helps him win, while Fisher may legitimately believe he's getting these guys to come to a town that's over 1.5 hours away from Houston and Austin (and 3+ hours from Dallas) based on his charm.
And I'm getting tired of ethically-challenged members of this site lamenting Harbaugh's refusal to stoop to the level of Nick and Jimbo...
Saban isn't dumb - he knew Fisher would overreact like this (he overreacted after NSD as well when people pointed this out), and now he's got Fisher hysterically throwing shade at everyone and coming across a bit unhinged while Saban is still out there recruiting almost as well. And while everyone knows that Saban is a hypocrite he's at least won a bunch of titles at Alabama; Fisher has the one from FSU (itself full of accusations of cheating and the many issues with Winston) but has otherwise underwhelmed at A&M. And now Fisher is going to have a big chip on his shoulder for their game and I'm sure will do something dumb.
None of this matters in the end and I'm starting to come around to the idea that NIL may level the playing field a small bit at the top of the sport but this was exactly how I expected Fisher to respond. Saban knows what he's doing.
Eh, I'm tired of these "masterminds", about Saban, about politicians, etc.. I think Saban said what he said because he lost some recruiting battles and didn't like it. And truth be told, if people do dig into it, they will find he's dirty. He is not being smart, making a news cycle about how players are recruited. The more people find out, the worse Saban will look.
Like many successful college coaches (think Saban, Urban), when the recruiting advantage goes away, they look like good coaches, not great ones. Saban knows he could be in trouble with a level battlefield.
Saban always knows what he's doing
I'm disappointed in Lane Kiffin. He had a chance to chime in and actually decided to demur and say nothing.
That's not how things are supposed to go in pro wrestling (er ...... SEC college football)!
https://twitter.com/brucefeldmancfb/status/1527310036417974272?s=21&t=I6J_3ASkATSVpsVFP7x5fA
Saban was smart to say this with A&M visiting Bama this year.
NIL's the only reason A&M pulled in the class they got. They have only one 10-win season or second place finish in their division in the Big12/SEC since 2000.
The SEC lost their minds when Harbaugh came up with the fantastic idea of satellite camps. Now that A&M has found a honeypot they have to protect it and complain about anyone else who calls them out for it.
And the NCAA stopped it per SEC request.
"Fisher said he does not know what collectives are doing. “You can call me anything you want to call me. You can’t call me a cheat."
Fuck Nick Saban and all but he's 100% right that TAMU bought their recruiting class. Literally everyone knows it and Jimbo's protestations are a bit too much.
The Saban video is interesting. He really does talk a good game and speaks of himself and Alabama as some type of highly ethical entity. I actually like that Jimbo called him out.
College football writers need to flock to Alabama and Texas A&M and dig up as much dirt as possible. This fire needs a little more gasoline for our entertainment purposes. I really wouldn't be that hard to find the dirt because there is a lot of it.
Don't think they need to dig...maybe just blow a little or sneeze....
Easy there, Pitino, no blowing necessary here!
If it gets two of the most sanctimonious coaches out of the sport, the better. Maybe go to Clemson too while they are at it. Make it a summer of hurt feelings for these guys.
Yep, those 3 a-holes are in a class by themselves. The more shit they throw at each other, the better
Don't forget Urban Meyer!
I hate Saban, but is there anyone that believes Fisher here? It's so obvious they are cheating. They didn't even really try to hide it.
How is he cheating? Texas A & M has an incredibly well organized and funded NIL program and he's using it to legally pay for the players he wants. Saban is mad because his previous edge in recruiting (paying recruits) is now legal and everyone with the will and capital can now go toe-to-toe with Alabama financially. Unless I've missed something Saban is 100% right - Fisher did pay for every recruit - and by the standards under NIL he did so perfectly legally.
Candiidly what A & M is doing is what i had HOPED Michigan would do to level out the recruiting playing field with OSU. But we're Michigan ferGodssake so we really dont want to get that involved in paying recruits.
I wonder how much of that is the AD vs donors not having the appetite to fund big NIL spending. Because if a donor offers the #1 recruit for the next cycle $1m to come to UM, I doubt the AD would stop them.
My guess is that rich dudes in the south just care more about football.
"How is he cheating?"
The Texas law says you can't use NIL for recruiting, only compensating existing student-athletes.
So does the Michigan law.
Soooooo, he's not denying the claim...
Jimbo seems to be the dirtiest of the dirt in the SEC. Saban is no Saint either, but something about Fisher saying "we do things the right way" makes me wanna laugh as hard as I have ever laughed before.
When I saw the title I said to myself, I have to listen to the Round Table podcast to hear what Seth said!
Oh well, never mind, Seth is still sane, and the SEC still sucks. lol
When asked about the situation, Urban Meyer offers his thoughts...
"All I know is when I was the head ball coach I could kick people whenever the fuck I wanted."
Maybe I'm way overreading it, but the "dig into his past stuff" sounded to me like insinuating something more sinister than bagging before bagging was legal. Are there rumors about that kind of stuff with Saban?
You mean like NSK5H?