Jimbo Fisher addresses NIL rumors from 2022

The Jimbo Fisher era came crashing down, with the final two seasons being a disappointment. Part of the reason there was so much excitement was because of the famous 2022 recruiting class. Texas A&M finished with the No. 1 class, beating out the likes of Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State.

Questions arose about how Texas A&M was able to land these players and claim the top overall spot per the On3 Industry Team Rankings. Then, somebody by the name of Sliced Bread claimed the Aggies were dishing out over $25 million for the class. People ran with the number and thought Fisher was handing out cash to recruits like it was nothing.

Fisher had the opportunity to address Sliced Bread when appearing on Barstool’s Pardon My Take. He said all of it was a lie and “far from the truth.” NIL was still a new concept back then and Fisher claimed all of Texas A&M sports had not been too active in the department.

“College football changed on a lie,” Fisher said. “I’m going to write a book on this one day. When he wrote those numbers, I said ‘My gosh, where’s it at? I wish that would have happened.’

“The amount of NIL deals at A&M, at that time, in all sports combined — he said our class was $35 million — there was right at $1 million for all sports combined. That’s what upset me so much about it. You can insinuate all those things. But I’m telling you, that was as far from the truth as anything that was ever out there.”

Texas A&M signed eight five-star players in 2022, with half of them being Five-Star Plus+ prospects. A lot were at important positions as well, with Fisher building what seemed to be one of the best defensive line classes the sport had ever seen. Players were coming from all across the country, not just in the Lone Star State.

However, the class has slowly begun to fall apart and Fisher’s firing did not help. Of the top-10 ranked players who originally signed with Texas A&M, just half remain in College Station. Other blue-chip guys have left the program too, with all of them opting to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Funny enough, newly hired head coach Mike Elko was around the recruit most of the players as the defensive coordinator. For those who decided to stay with the Aggies, they will have the opportunity to finally play under Elko. And entering their third season in college football, development should finally be showing on the field.

Fisher just wanted to make sure the story was straight with the 2022 class. In his eyes, Sliced Bread caused all of this controversy on a lie and caused a ripple effect throughout college football.