National Football League

Jimbo Fisher: Saban feud over, realignment will improve SEC

Published Jul. 28, 2022 11:14 a.m. ET

Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher and Alabama head coach Nick Saban are cool again.

That's according to Fisher, who joined Colin Cowherd on "The Herd" to discuss his spat with his former boss and the future of the SEC.

The Aggies, of course, recently signed the top-ranked recruiting class in the country. They've also been among the best teams in the SEC of late. Last season, they went 8-4 in the regular season (4-4 in SEC play), which followed a 9-1 campaign (8-1 in SEC play) in 2020. Texas A&M has won at least eight games in each of Fisher's four seasons in College Station.

That could become a bigger challenge in the coming years, as Big 12 powers Oklahoma and Texas are set to join the SEC in 2025. Fisher told Cowherd he embraces realignment, believing it will balance out competition.

"We're in the SEC West and I think in the new rules when we add [teams], I think we're going to mix up and play more Eastern teams," Fisher said. "Eastern teams are going to play more Western teams, and you're not all the way set in with just only the West schedule plus a couple of your Eastern schedule.

"I think it's actually going to balance the scheduling out a lot more because in the SEC … sometimes the East is really good, sometimes the West is really good. Or better I say, they're both always really good, but one side's better than the other."

Jimbo Fisher downplays feud with Nick Saban

Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher joins Colin Cowherd to discuss the latest in college football, including his recent feud with Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Texas A&M defeated Alabama last season, 41-38, following a last-second field goal at Kyle Field. The Aggies then had the No. 1 ranked offseason recruiting class. Saban later said that Texas A&M "bought every player on their team" through name, image and likeness (NIL).

Fisher vehemently denied Saban's claim about the Aggies, proceeding to go on a firestorm in defense of the university. At one point, the Aggies head coach referred to Saban as a "narcissist" and insinuated that the Crimson Tide head coach holds himself in the same esteem as God.

Despite the brash back and forth, Fisher claims he's now on cordial terms with Saban, whom he worked with at LSU from 2000-04.

"We're past it," Fisher said. "Understand something — we drank the same water growing up. When you're coming from West Virginia, you fight, scratch and crawl for everything you got. And people in our state and where I grew up and the way I grew up, what was on your mind came out your lips. Five minutes later, you said what you said, got in a fight over it and then played five minutes later, or you said, ‘OK,’ and you walked off.

"We're cut from the same cloth."

Alabama hosts Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Oct. 8 this year.