Alabama Football: If you come for the king you better not miss
Texas A&M is buying out its head coach Jimbo Fisher as the Aggies are currently 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the SEC. Jimbo Fisher leaves A&M with a 45-25 record over his six seasons at Texas A&M and leaves just two years after signing a ten-year 95-million-dollar contract. While leading A&M to impressive recruiting classes Jimbo Fisher decided to take things a little too far coming for Alabama Football coach Nick Saban.
Fisher had a lot to say about Saban and Alabama Football after Nick Saban brought up how Texas A&M used name, image, and likeness to land the best recruiting class in the country. Fisher called the Alabama Football head coach a narcissist while also adding the following:
"Some people think they’re God, 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 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."
After calling Alabama Football’s coach Saban a “czar” and a god Fisher decided to officially cross the line by saying the following:
"There’s a reason, people, I ain’t back and worked for (Saban). Don’t want to be associated with him. You can call me anything you want to call me. You can’t call me a cheat. I don’t cheat and I don’t lie. I learned that when I was a kid. If you did, your old man, slapped you upside the head. Maybe somebody should’ve slapped him."
Fisher used the conversation around his program’s use of Name, Image, and Likeness to make Alabama Football a rival rather than using it as a platform to tell recruits yeah, we pay players, and you could be next. The rant put a massive target on his back from the Alabama Football program as well as other coaches across the country. Nick Saban responded by beating the Texas A&M Aggies twice once with Jalen Milroe making his first career start and once this season.
Alabama Football: Could the Crimson Tide lose a coordinator to Texas A&M
Texas A&M is one of the top coaching jobs in the country and it will be the most attractive job open this offseason barring an unexpected firing. It’s possible that one of the Alabama Football coordinators is a candidate for the job with both likely being considered in some capacity. If Texas A&M is to poach one of the Alabama Football coordinators, I’d expect them to pursue Tommy Rees over Kevin Steele. The way Rees has adapted to Jalen Milroe’s play style is attractive for any school looking for an offensive-minded coach. The likely replacement for Jimbo Fisher isn’t coming from Alabama Football but rather from Duke. Mike Elko was the Texas A&M defensive coordinator from 2018-2021 before leaving for Duke where he’s turned the program completely around. Outside of Elko, there are no glaring big-name coaches for Texas A&M to pursue unless they wish to lure Urban Meyer off of the desk of Fox’s big noon kickoff.
Note: Stats and buyout via ESPN.