Pete Thamel on Texas A&M's rebuttal: 'That place has been filled with unfulfilled potential'

Opinions came in from all over about the back-and-forth between Alabama coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher on Thursday. One of them came from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who joined The Paul Finebaum Show to comment on the situation.

Thamel didn’t talk as much about how Saban alleged Texas A&M “bought every one of their players” or how Fisher called Saban a “narcissist” in his press conference, though. He more pointed to Aggies athletic director Ross Bjork’s remarks calling for a penalty from the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey against Saban.

Thamel called out Texas A&M’s performances in recent years and said the Aggies still need to prove themselves on the field. He acknowledged Texas A&M’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the nation this year, according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking, but said the Aggies still have to get it done in game action.

“I don’t think [Sankey] fits anywhere into it,” Thamel told Finebaum. “I think there’s part of A&M that still has that ‘second school’ mentality. It’s honestly like using this as a way to announce themselves. That’s [the way] I took Ross Bjork’s comments. There’s no way Greg Sankey’s going to sanction Nick Saban on any of this. I thought that was a little bit corny and a little bit low brow for A&M to go tattle to the principal about this. I really think that A&M has built a wonderful program. We’ll believe it when we see it. That’s a school that hasn’t won a conference championship in a generation, right? On the field, they’re feeling their oats, they’re feeling their recruiting rankings.

“Look, they are set up in the NIL era because of the money that school has to be a power. I mean, there’s no reason why Texas A&M shouldn’t be a power. But there’s also a sense, before the Ross Bjorks of the world get too chesty, they have to do it on the field. And they have not done that yet in no way shape or form under Jimbo Fisher or anyone before him to R.C. Slocum, to be honest.

“That place has been filled with unfulfilled potential. I just think before you’re going to undress the emperor, you’d better beat them and win a national championship. They did beat them last year, but I really think that they put the cart before the horse a little bit. Those comments … are going to keep coming up and keep coming up.”

Of course, Thamel ended up being correct — in a way. After the interview, the SEC publicly reprimanded Saban and Fisher, but didn’t take any more formal action. Still, fans are circling the Oct. 8 matchup between Alabama and Texas A&M on their calendars.