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Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher is outraged over allegations made by Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who claims Texas A&M "bought every player" in its vaunted 2022 recruiting class. That class has helped propel the Aggies to the 5th shortest CFP champion favorites.
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.
"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 HC Jimbo Fisher just fired back at Nick Saban for saying they "bought" recruits.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 19, 2022
Fisher calls Saban a "narcissist" and says he won't take his call.
"We built him up to be this czar of football. Go dig into his past." pic.twitter.com/iG4UQ4BH3I
Saban during a local business leaders meeting on Wednesday singled out Texas A&M for "buying" its top-ranked signing class and threw a spotlight on the unintended effect of name, image and likeness rights on recruiting.
"I mean, we were second in recruiting last year," Saban told the audience. "A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team -- made a deal for name, image, likeness. We didn't buy one player, all right? But I don't know if we're gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it. It's tough."
Saban said coaches know how much money is available from their school's collective -- a group of program supporters who pool their resources to offer deals to athletes -- and "how much he can promise every player."
"That's not what it was supposed to be," he said. "That's what it's become. And that's the problem in college athletics right now. Now every player is saying, 'Well, what am I going to get?'"
Only Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Clemson had shorter odds to win the national title over the Aggies.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
