"I am gobsmacked" - When Paul Finebaum was dumbfounded by Nick Saban's stern remarks on rival program's recruitment
Retired Alabama coach Nick Saban fostered several coaches who went on to have stellar careers in their own rights during his extensive coaching career. Among them are Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian and Georgia Bulldogs' Kirby Smart who are some of the cream of the crop in current college football circles.
One of Saban's best coaching prodigies was former Texas A&M Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher, Saban's offensive coordinator when he was the coach of the LSU Tigers between 2000 and 2004. The duo fell out spectacularly in 2022 after Saban accused the Aggies of using NIL to buy their entire team which caused backlash from Fisher that kept escalating.
During a 2022 segment of "ESPN College Football," outspoken ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum spoke about Nick Saban's tirade against the former Texas A&M coach's Aggies recruitment (0:40).
"I am gobsmacked by what he said," Paul Finebaum said. "Not because I haven't heard him insinuate that privately, but for Nick Saban, the greatest coach of all time to go public and accuse one of his biggest rivals of essentially cheating, although that is open for interpretation, is really stunning.
"He has insinuated this in the past, but one thing you have to remember about Nick Saban, he always is complimentary to everyone else, even when you know it's passive-aggressive.
"This was way off script. He's been leading towards this for some time but that volcano erupted last night. Let's remember a couple of things. He lost to Jimbo Fisher, first time he's ever lost to an assistant. He lost the championship game to another assistant and now you have a new force in recruiting."
How the Nick Saban-Jimbo Fisher beef started
During an event in Birmingham in May 2022, Nick Saban kickstarted the war of words between himself and coach Jimbo Fisher. Saban lambasted the Texas A&M Aggies for using NIL to recruit the top recruitment class in college football that year while the Crimson Tide were No. 2:
“I know the consequence is going to be difficult for the people who are spending tons of money to get players,” Saban said.
“You read about it, you know who they are. We were second in recruiting last year. A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness. 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.”
Jimbo Fisher called a news conference the next day addressing Saban's comments and called him "narcissistic" because the Crimson Tide no longer had a monopoly on recruits. The matter was handled by the Southeastern Conference whose Commissioner Greg Sankey handed out public reprimands to both Nick Saban and Fisher for their conduct in the matter.