Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher 2022 NIL War Triggered College Coaches Into Uncomfortable NIL Conversations| Wallace

Looking back on the kerfuffle heard around the world, maybe it was Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher that set off a chain reaction in the college football world as it pertains to NIL. 

Almost two years ago, Nick Saban sat in a room in Birmingham discussing the landscape of college athletics at the time, with coaches around the country still trying to grasp the new era of NIL. At the time, the former Alabama coach did something that is frowned upon in the coaching business, he called out another program for buying its roster. 

If there's one thing you don't do in this business, it's rat on other programs, while the same could be going on inside your house, at least not publicly. We were already one cycle into the NIL era, with coaches and players still trying to figure out what was legal in this new world surrounded by collectives. 

We all had a feeling of where this could potentially lead, with high school and transfer portal athletes getting paid to attend a certain school, under the umbrella of benefiting from their name, image and likeness. Heck, there were times when coaches were reaching out to reporters, trying to get a feel of how this new phenomenon in college athletics could change the sport. 

There were certainly a lot of rumors at the time that Texas A&M boosters were ready to go all-in on the 2022 recruiting class, loading up the roster with players who could contribute early, while also cashing-in on the premise of NIL. So when Jimbo Fisher landed the top-ranked recruiting class, it was easy at the time to contribute this to a loaded war chest that finally paid-off for the Aggies collective. 

All of this was going on while Nick Saban tried to convince the world that Alabama had not used NIL on any player that committed to Alabama during that 2022 recruiting cycle. If you choose to believe him, that's your right, but what transpired in the following months set the sport on a wild trajectory that scared the hell out of opposing coaches in the sport. 

Speaking at the event in Birmingham alongside Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats, Nick Saban infamously went after Jimbo Fisher for allegedly buying his entire class, which led to a firestorm of accusations that nobody say coming. 

"I know the consequence is going to be difficult for the people who are spending tons of money to get players," Nick 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, aight? 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."

At that very moment, phones around the country started lighting up, coaches and boosters scrambling to find out if this was an actual quote from the Alabama head coach. Did Nick Saban really just call-out another school for bending the rules, while acting as if nothing shady was going on inside his own house? 

Sure, we were in the beginning stages of a new era in college athletics and coaches were still trying to wrap their brains around publicly talking about paying players. But for a coach to call out another program, you just knew that Jimbo Fisher was going to respond in fiery fashion. 

Everything Changed Once Jimbo Fisher Responded To Nick Saban

If you thought that airing dirty laundry outside the confines of a conference office building was the right move, Jimbo was about to change college athletics, with one press conference. After hearing about Saban's comments late that night, Texas A&M hastily called a press conference for the next morning, and the rest was history. 

After sitting at the podium and mentioning that Nick Saban was a ‘narcissist’ and calling his comments ‘despicable’, Jimbo had decided it was time to go all-in on his former boss. 

"Some people think they're God," Fisher said. "Go dig into how God did his deal. You may find out ... 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's that's ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to find out, what he does and how he does it. It's despicable."

Jimbo would go on to proclaim that his program followed all Texas state laws, and that they didn't buy a single recruit, while also proclaiming there was a reason none of Saban's former coaches wanted to go back and work for him, ensuing that the Alabama coach was also partaking in illegal activities when it came to recruiting. 

But the biggest takeaway from that whole saga centers around where we are right now in college athletics, where coaches are still uncomfortable with talking about paying players, during a time where we are headed for a professional model. 

NIL Being Legal Isn't Going To Make Coaches Comfortable Enough To Talk

Whether it's college baseball or women's basketball, coaches are not comfortable talking about NIL and what players are making. Sure, they might talk in broad terms and throw-out words like ‘Free Agency’ and how this is hampering the sport. But Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban scared them into silence, knowing that things have only gotten crazier since that feud in the spring of 2022. 

It doesn't matter that a judge in East Tennessee made it legal for collectives to discuss specifics when it comes to how much a player will be making if they attend a particular school. For something that has been brought out into the light, coaches are still working as if all of this is taboo. To be honest, I can't say I blame them. 

One day there is a ‘guy’ handling things for the program when it comes to getting a player to sign, and then the next day it's an open-market, with collectives tied to schools making sure the roster is filled with a few five-stars and the current stars are happy. 

U.S. senators Marsha Blackburn and Corey Booker have reintroduced the Accountability Act, aimed at the NCAA investigation and infractions process.

(OutKick / Trey Wallace)

But when it comes to openly talking about how much a player is making or even monetary figures that are being thrown out, coaches would rather not sit at a podium and discuss what they know. 

College Football's Next Transfer Portal Period In April Has The Makings Of The Wildest One Yet

Unfortunately, that day is coming. If we continue to head down this path, college players will be signing contracts with the schools, making them employees. Then it will turn into a professional model, where college GM's will be taking the stage to discuss their team's salary-cap, while the head coach tries to hide behind the corner. 

But make no mistake about it, just as Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher were involved in one of the wildest arguments in college football history, we're getting closer to it happening again. 

One coach was fired and received his massive buyout, while the other retired and is still raking in millions of dollars per year, while keeping an office on-campus. 

Looking back on where we were just two years ago with Alabama and Texas A&M, it's important to notice how much NIL was involved in the trajectory of these two programs. 

Both of them are starting over.