'It's over with': Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher moving on after war of words with Alabama's Nick Saban
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – If Jimbo Fisher knows of any malfeasance within Nick Saban's program, he's not going public with it.
Last month, as part of a verbal feud with the Alabama football coach, Fisher implied there's impropriety within Saban's operation.
Asked directly Wednesday whether he has evidence to support such an implication, Fisher demurred.
"I just made comments, and we're moving on to the next thing," Fisher, the Texas A&M coach, said at the SEC spring meetings.
As for his spat with Saban, Fisher said "it's over with."
"We're done talking about it and what happens," said Fisher. "We're moving on to the future of what goes on and trying to fix the problems of what we have in college football. We have a lot more pressing needs than our arguments."
Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne on Wednesday expressed comfort in the operation of Saban's program.
"I know we feel very good about our compliance and what we do at Alabama," Byrne said Wednesday. "That has been in the past and is going to continue into the future."
Fisher was Saban's offensive coordinator for five seasons at LSU, and he compared their relationship to that of brothers who quarrel.
"We had a great relationship," Fisher said, when asked about working for Saban. "We had a lot of success, did well, and wasn't many issues at all.
"Did you ever argue with your brother? Did you love your brother? Did you support your brother? That's the way coaches are."
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Last month, the gloves came off.
Saban, during a speaking engagement in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 18, alleged that the Aggies "bought every player on their team."
Saban's remarks came after his program experienced a pair of setbacks to Texas A&M. The Aggies upset then-No. 1 Alabama 41-38 last season at Kyle Field, then signed the nation's. No. 1-ranked recruiting class. Alabama's signing class ranked second.
Fisher fired back hours after Saban's initial remarks and suggested that someone ought to look under the hood of how Saban operates. He also called Saban "a narcissist" and described him as a false 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. "We built him up to be the czar of football? Go dig into his past."
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Fisher on Wednesday refused to elaborate on what he meant by those comments and declined to say whether he'd been contacted by the NCAA about his veiled accusation.
"I'm done. I'm through talking about that," Fisher said. "We've moved on."
Saban also declined this week to validate his claim that the Aggies bought their roster.
"I didn't really say that anybody did anything wrong," Saban said Tuesday.
But, in fact, Saban did point to misconduct when he accused the Aggies of buying their roster. Even in an era in which players may profit off name, image and likeness deals, NCAA rules continue to prohibit pay-for-play recruiting inducements.
Fisher maintains such inducements did not occur, and he recently said that only one early enrollee from A&M's 2022 recruiting class has reported an NIL deal to the university.
"We never bought anybody. No rules were broken. Nothing was done wrong," Fisher said last month.
Fisher became the first former Saban assistant to defeat the legendary coach when the Aggies delivered a stunning upset last October.
The teams will meet on Oct. 8 in Tuscaloosa.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Jimbo Fisher vs. Nick Saban feud 'over with,' Texas A&M coach says
