Jimbo Fisher Defends Texas A&M After Being Called ‘Villain’ in Recruiting

The Aggies coach said he doesn’t plan on changing his recruiting methods.

Texas A&M has the top-ranked recruiting class this year, per 247 Sports, and that hasn’t sat well with other programs. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin referenced how the arrival of the NIL and the updated transfer portal have impacted talent acquisition in college.

“It’s basically like everybody’s got different salary caps,” Kiffin said, via Brad Crawford of 247 Sports. “I joked the other day that they’re gonna implement a luxury tax on Texas and Texas A&M. What they’re paying the players is unbelievable. It’s legal. You’ve got players who have never played before making hundreds of thousands or even a million dollars. It is what it is, but it’s not going to be an equal playing field around the country at all.”

Jimbo Fisher has responded to these kinds of criticisms. The Aggies coach gave his take as to why he believes his program is being singled out as a ‘villain.’

“I guess they haven’t done it as much,” Fisher said at a press conference. “Guess you have to get used to it, guess we have to keep doing it. We’ve been in the top four, five or six every year. Whatever they feel and say, I don’t worry about somebody else. Like I said before, all the things that went on, it had nothing to do with NIL…I think NIL and transfer portal is truly affecting college football, but that wasn’t the case with us.”

Fisher added he agrees with other coaches that player acquisition is a bit out of control, but he is just defending he and his program’s right compared to other schools’.

“I don’t worry about it, I don't think about it — who cares,” Fisher said. "The only thing I ever said before was because it was directly pointed to us. Do I think NIL is an issue out there? Yes. Do I think transfer portal is an issue out there? Yes.”

Fisher believes anyone who has an issue with his program is being unfair to the Texas A&M players.

“Those were pointed fingers right at us. That’s unfair to the kids who got recruited, that’s unfair to their families and it’s unfair to the staff that recruited them. And it’s unfair to Texas A&M.”

This is not the first time Fisher has fired back at critics. In February, he responded to a report that Texas A&M directly pays there recruits.

“We worry about the kids and social media. How about grown ups?” Fisher said, Mike Rodak. “How about coaches that are supposed to be doing the right thing? I’ll tell you what, I know how some of those guys recruit, too. Go dig into that. I know the history, I know the tradition and I know things. Trust me, you don’t want to go down that avenue. 

“It’s ridiculous and it’s irresponsible and it’s unbelievable. I ain’t just talking about one. Multiple people got NIL issues.”

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