Jimbo Fisher 'Wraps Bow' on Nick Saban Exchange

Fisher spoke with the media at SEC Spring Meetings on Wednesday, seemingly putting an end to the two weeks of drama.

DESTIN, Fla. — Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher finally met with the media on Wednesday afternoon to discuss his involvement at the 2022 SEC Spring Meetings.

While Fisher served as the chair of the SEC's football committee this season, a position that rotates among the coaches on an annual basis. The most pressing issue was not his position, though. Instead, it was the ongoing spat between Fisher and Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

When addressing the reporters present, Fisher was quick to dismiss the conversation.

“We spoke in the very beginning and what he accused us of — both things,” Fisher said. “It’s over with. We’re done talking about it [and] what happened and we’re moving on to the future — what goes on — and try to fix the problems of what we have in college football where [there are] a lot more pressing needs than our argument.”

Back in May at an event promoting the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Saban noted that he believed Fisher and the Aggies bought their entire recruiting class by utilizing NIL collectives. Fisher responded the following day in an impromptu press conference, condemning Saban and his comments.

“Some people think they’re God," Fisher said back on May 19. "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.

"We build him up to be the czar of football. Go dig into his past or anybody that’s ever coached with him. You’ll find out anything you want to find out about what he does and how he does it.”

While Saban has responded to the accusations on multiple occasions — including in his meeting with the media on Tuesday — Fisher had remained silent since his May press conference.

Along with stating that the issue had been resolved, Fisher added that conversations between himself and the coaches of the SEC as a whole had been constructive.

“We had any [interaction] just like we would on normal conversations within the issues that we had,” Fisher said. “We all had a lot of dialogue — probably since I’ve been here, and I’ve also been in the ACC meetings for all those years when I was a head coach — one of the best dialogues as far as a group of coaches with everyone speaking and having opinions that I’ve been around. One of the best ones that we’ve had because everybody knows the pressing issues. But we had dialogue.

"If we had an opinion, we had an opinion. I mean, we all discussed things very professionally and in the right way.”

Fisher also said that he was putting a bow on the situation, even joking that he was going to "double-knot it."

The responses from both Saban and Fisher this week seemingly puts an end to the fiery public discourse that has been a topic of conversation in the media for two weeks now.

“We’re moving on to do what we gotta,” Fisher said. “I have no problem. [...] What he said, what we said — it moves on,” Fisher said. “We’re moving on to the next thing.”

Gallery: Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher

Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban
Alabama Athletics
Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban
AllAggies.com
Photo | Mickey Welsh / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Joey Blackwell
JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.