College football has turned into a royal rumble this week. Nick Saban fired off shots at Texas A&M and Jackson State, and Jimbo and Deion brought the fire in their responses to the 7-time National Champion and current Alabama Head Football Coach.
Saban, in a panel discussion talking about NIL, said that Texas A&M paid for every one of their recruits last year. He did add that they did so through NIL.
It is the wild-west for NIL deals. Eventually, there will likely be more regulations, and some of the deals athletes are getting now may end up being against future regulations. Though, it is also possible that the regulations are lifted even more so than they currently are. Regardless of what you think of the current regulations, NIL is changing recruiting.
While Saban is correct in saying that NIL is changing recruiting, it is important to note that it is not alleged that Texas A&M did anything outside of the NIL and current regulations in obtaining their recruiting class. Furthermore, Alabama is no slouch in the NIL game, with their alumni and local businesses supporting Alabama players with NIL deals with total values only exceeded by a few other programs.
Jimbo Fisher, the Texas A&M Head Football Coach and former Nick Saban assistant, did not take too kindly to the comments from Saban. He fired back with this reply:
The reply from Fisher has gone viral. It should be noted that Saban did not say that any A&M player did anything illegal, nor that the school did anything illegal. Though, it is fair to say that Saban somewhat implied that the school may have been involved in some capacity in arranging or encouraging the NIL deals (which would be a violation). But, the general narrative than ran from Saban’s comments were that there was a tone of accusing A&M of cheating, and Fisher went to back for kid student-athletes and school. And, important for our site to note, around half of those recruits were former Texas high school football athletes.
Never one to miss the primetime spotlight, Deion Sanders also replied to the comments from Nick Saban.
Sanders, the current Jackson State coach, was more diplomatic than Fisher. After defending his player, Sanders made a lot of interesting points about the NIL, including the challenge for coaches and reports that are interacting with top players that are now often making more money than they are.
The Nick Saban comments on Sanders relate to the rumor that Travis Hunter, the #1 recruit in the nation at his position, received $1 million to go to Jackon State. It was an unusual choice for Hunter to pick an HBCU school, and he is the highest-ranked player ever to do so, but while the rumors of some sort of cash payment have been buzzing, there has been absolutely no proof of such a payment.
Sanders made multiple other comments on other talk shows and to other reporters, and basically, don’t expect to see any new Sanders & Saban Aflac commercials anytime soon.
Alabama and Texas A&M meet on October 8th in Alabama. All eyes will be on any possible pre-game or post-game handshake. Fisher became the first former Nick Saban assistant to beat Saban when A&M took down Alabama last year. Former Saban assistant, Kirby Smart, became the second when Georgia beat Alabama for the National Championship. The Aggies and their top-ranked recruiting class will be the underdogs, as Bama is likely to be a pre-season Top 3 and have Heisman Winner Bryce Young returning.
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