Texas A&M chancellor calls Alabama’s Nick Saban a ‘desperate, threatened king’

Harrison Mantas
·2 min read

Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp laughed off comments by Alabama football coach Nick Saban accusing the rival Aggies of “buying” their recruiting class.

“When kings are threatened with being dethroned they get pretty desperate, and that’s where he’s at,” Sharp said at an event in Fort Worth Thursday.

His comments came after university regents voted unanimously to affirm the planned expansion of Texas A&M’s campus in downtown Fort Worth.

“Saban’s so paranoid, I bet you he thinks we’re building all of this just so we can recruit better in Fort Worth,” Sharp joked.

Saban commented at an event in Birmingham, Alabama, on Wednesday that Texas A&M had unfairly built its No. 1 rated recruiting class by enticing players with promises of name, image and likeness deals.

“We didn’t buy one player. But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It’s tough,” Saban said.

Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher called Saban’s comments “despicable” and called him a “narcissist” for suggesting the Aggies had unfairly recruited their draft class.

The NCAA loosened its rules in July 2021 to allow student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image, and likeness. Some have worried this will entice university boosters to pay student athletes to play for specific schools, but the NCAA clarified its rules to specifically ban wealthy alumni from direct involvement in the recruiting process.

Fisher said he stayed within the NCAA’s guidelines for its incoming recruiting class and called Saban’s comments an insult to the players and families who signed to be a part of Texas A&M’s football program.

“I don’t cheat. I don’t lie. If you did my old man slapped me across the face. Maybe someone should have slapped him (Saban),” Fisher said.

The two had worked together when Fisher served as Saban’s offensive coordinator at LSU during their 2003 national championship season, but said Thursday he wants nothing more to do with him.

“Some people think they’re God. Go dig into how God did His deal. You may find out about a guy, a lot of things you don’t want to know,” Fisher said Thursday.

Texas A&M beat Alabama during the 2021 regular season, but the Crimson Tide went on to win the Southeastern Conference before getting beat by Georgia in the national championship game.

Alabama will face off against Texas A&M at home in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 8.

This report contains information from The Associated Press.

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