On Wednesday night, Nick Saban went into what some called ‘scorched earth’ mode about the Texas A&M football program. Some quick social media responses stated Saban accused A&M of cheating. Saban did not do that. In a nearly ruleless college football world, fueled by the complete failure of NCAA enforcement, cheating has a fuzzy meaning.
What Nick Saban said was the Aggies ‘bought’ their entire 2022 recruiting class through NIL deals. There was immediate refutation from A&M-friendly media and other typical anti-Saban media retorts.
Nick Saban will not be fazed by the pushback. No Alabama football fan should leap to his defense. He does not need our help. The reason he doesn’t is because he has truth on his side. When Saban said TAMU got NIL deals for every recruit, you can be sure he was right.
Enough of speaking for Saban, the video below allows him to speak for himself.
"Per Saban – In 2022 recruiting “A&M bought every player … we didn’t buy one player.”"
The video deserves a full watch, rather than using this post or tweets to form an opinion. Saban’s comments will go down as another one of his rants. That is wrong. He was not ranting. Clearly, the issue frustrates him, but his comments were measured and thoughtful. To anyone with an open mind, his words should also be thought-provoking.
For those not having time to watch the video, know that Saban did not attack only Texas A&M. Saban also discussed the $1M NIL deal for a player to play football at Jackson State and the $400K per season payments for Miami basketball players.
All Aggies, especially Jimbo Fisher will be livid. So be it.
Alabama football fans should applaud Nick Saban for stating what he believes. The not-Alabama fans who will claim Saban’s argument is self-serving could not be more wrong. He is talking about the future of college football specifically, and the future of college sports overall.
The tweet below is a good summation.
Nick Saban does not run up scores on any opposing team. More than a few times, Crimson Tide fans have wished Saban would have punished an opponent more. But Saban is not petty and he will not try to embarrass the Aggies next fall. But there will be an air of acrimony in Bryant-Denny. Given the shared histories between the two programs that will be a shame but …