Jimbo Fisher delivered a fiery rebuttal to Alabama football coach Nick Saban's comments from Wednesday night that Texas A&M "bought every player" in its vaunted 2022 recruiting class, calling Saban's comments "despicable" numerous times in a quickly assembled 9½-minute news conference.
Fisher, who was visibly angry, said there was no truth to Saban's accusations.
"We never bought anybody," the Texas A&M coach said. "No rules are broken. Nothing was done wrong. It's a shame that you've got to sit here and defend 17-year-old kids and families and Texas A&M. Because we do things right. We're always going to do things right. We're always going to be here. We're doing a heck of a job."
Fisher seethed, obviously taking Saban's comments personally. And while he didn't name Saban, Fisher's response was similarly personal.
"It's despicable that a reputable head coach can come out and say this when he doesn't get his way," Fisher said. "The narcissist in him doesn't allow those things to happen. It's ridiculous when he's not on top."
Texas A&M signed five five-star prospects in the 2022 ESPN300, with 20 of them ranked in the top 150. The class is widely considered the top-rated group in the modern era of recruiting rankings. Fisher, who served as Saban's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at LSU from 2000 to 2004, cast accusations of his own against Saban.
"Some people think they're God," Fisher said. "Go dig into how God did his deal. You may find out ... a lot of things you don't want to know. We build him up to be the czar of football. Go dig into his past, or anybody's 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."
Saban said Wednesday night that Alabama players made $3 million "doing it the right way" last year and that only 25 players were able to leverage name, image and likeness opportunities.
