Jimbo Fisher opens up about Nick Saban feud, NIL at SEC Media Days

Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher is apparently heeding SEC commissioner Greg Sankey’s advice at SEC Media Days. Asked about his offseason feud with Alabama head coach Nick Saban on Thursday, Fisher opted for a response that was quick and to the point.

“I have no issue with coach Saban,” Fisher said, via TexAgs. “NIL is a hot topic. We need uniformity.”

The Aggies head coach doesn’t take the podium until Thursday afternoon but he’s already nipping the popular media days talking point in the bud. His response echoes Nick Saban’s from earlier in the week.

Saban said he has “no issues” with Fisher, adding, “I always take criticisms or whatever in a positive way to self-assess me personally in terms of maybe there is something I can do better. So any comments that anybody makes — you or any coach — I always take into consideration.”

According to Saban, he used the back-and-forth with Fisher as a way to assess himself. He also used his time at the podium to discuss how NIL is impacting the competitive balance of college football.

SEC coaches weigh in on Fisher-Saban drama over NIL

Reporters at SEC Media Days couldn’t resist trying to get a soundbite out of Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach on Tuesday, with one asking him if he sides with Team Saban or Team Fisher. Although the Alabama and Texas A&M coaches put their feud behind them in Destin, their offseason drama is still a heavy topic of conversation in Atlanta.

“I think they both kind of illustrate the frustration of how things are right now and it’s not sustainable, so something’s going to change,” Leach said. “Right now, we haven’t defined what exactly is an amateur or a student-athlete versus a professional and I think we need to do that. I think there are ways to do it. I think for some football players it may be in their best interest to remain a student-athlete under that model under professional and vice versa.

“Currently, college athletes have more privileges than anyone at any other professional level and whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t think that stays the same because there are responsibilities that go along with being a professional,” Leach continued. “Go up to your favorite NFL guy and say, ‘I heard the NFL is going to have unmitigated free agency, 365, 24/7, and, by the way, there isn’t going to be a salary cap and there are going to be bidding wars.’ Watch the expression on their face.

“I don’t think the dust has settled. We’re in a big transition period on a number of things in college football. We’ve got sharp guys actively trying to sort it out and I hope that it will be.”