Pete Thamel suggests there's more to Jimbo Fisher's rebuke of Nick Saban

Is there more than meets the eye when it comes to the relationship between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher? Prior to comments made by the Alabama coach and the passionate rebuttal from the Texas A&M leader, many believed the coaches — who worked together at LSU — were on good terms, at the least.

Evidently, Pete Thamel of ESPN believes there’s some hard feelings coming to light. In an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Thursday, Thamel questioned whether there’s more animosity between Saban and Fisher than originally known.

“Don’t forget, Jimbo worked for Nick,” added Thamel. “I mean, Nick really gave Jimbo one of his biggest breaks back at LSU in the early 2000s. If I remember right, Jimbo was at Cincinnati before then. So, for him to really go scorched earth on his old boss the way that he did, it actually hints that there’s really more probably to this, and more probably in the undercurrent. But that’s probably the most surprising part.

“You have to think on some level there’s a good relationship there, between those coaches. Or at least there was at some point. But boy, is there not anymore.”

As you can see, Thamel believes there’s something there that hasn’t been uncovered that caused Saban to attack Fisher, and the Texas A&M coach to respond in the manner he did. Nevertheless, Thamel added that the entirety of the college football world is waiting to see what’s next.

“If I could only count the number of popcorn emojis, the number of anything going on in college football todays, the number of administrators, coaches, assistant coaches who’ve checked in,” revealed Thamel. “I mean, the entire college football world is agape right now at this high-level like, blood feud.”

It’s a new age in college football when Nick Saban is in the headlines for a feud with another coach, but it’s even more shocking for it to be with a former assistant like Jimbo Fisher. Over the next couple months, there will be plenty of questions for both coaches to answer.

Jimbo Fisher effectively ends his longstanding friendship with Nick Saban: ‘We’re done’

From now on, Jimbo Fisher will be leaving Nick Saban on read. In his first comments following the Alabama leader calling Texas A&M out for “buying” recruits, Fisher revealed that he’s “done” with Saban.

“No,” Fisher responded, stating he’s had no contact with Saban since the initial comments were brought to his attention. “Oh, he’s called.”

While Saban may be trying to get in contact with Fisher, the Texas A&M coach is severing ties.

“Not going to. We’re done,” Fisher responded, explaining he won’t be reaching out to Saban. “He showed you who he is.

“.. He’s the greatest ever, huh? When you got all the advantages, it’s easy.”

As you can see, the longtime relationship between Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban seems to have reached its end. There will be no love between the two former colleagues — and friends — on the field when Texas A&M and Alabama meet in 2022.