- [Narrator] He thinks he's God.
He's despicable, a narcissist.
Someone should have slapped him as a kid.
This is Jimbo Fisher describing Nick Saban.
It's also a description
for something more commonly known as beef.
Just eight months before those comments,
here is how we knew Fisher and Saban,
a friendly, competitive but ultimately
happy relationship spanning 20 plus years.
They had shared success on the field and respect off of it.
Together, they brought a national title to LSU
with Fisher running the offense under Saban.
Apart well, they also found success.
Maybe Saban's track record, slightly overshadows Fisher's
but really that's gonna be the case for anyone.
Saban turned an Alabama football program
mired in controversy and mediocrity
into a powerhouse so efficient
that it could power other powerhouses.
Similarly, Fisher righted the ship at Florida State
on the way to his own national championship.
Oh, and convenient to us,
to do so, he took down Bama's most hated rival.
These are like-minded guys,
molded by West Virginia communities
that instilled strong work ethics,
determination, and highly competitive spirits.
All in all, they've got more in common than not.
So it made sense that whenever given the chance
they spoke glowingly about one another,
each leaned on respect to summarize
their relationship even used the word friend.
That was all we heard out of Saban and Jimbo
for literal decades.
And then December, 2017 changed everything,
Jimbo jumped ship for Texas A&M,
and joined Saban and Alabama in the Southeastern Conference.
The move meant Fisher even shared a division
with his former boss.
Therefore, they'd face off yearly,
they became each other's direct competition
and most importantly,
if there were any fireworks they'd be set off from a stage
that just meant more.
That's important to this story
because the highest level of competition in college football
also elevated the highest level of beef
we've seen between two premier coaches.
Now, sharing the SEC on its own did not create this beef.
So how did it all start?
Well, for that, we need to rewind.
Sorry, wrong show.
Back in 2000, when Saban coached LSU
he sought out a 34-year old Fisher
wanting to hire him from just what he'd seen on tape.
Saban is a defensive minded coach to the Nth degree.
His teams run through his defense.
Therefore, the offense must compliment his defense.
Minimize turnovers that could create short fields.
Keep drives alive,
not just to score but to rest the defense,
basically don't do any stupid shit.
That is why Fisher attracted Saban,
ball control governed Jimbo's offense.
He burned clock, he ran to set up play action.
Most importantly he minimized risk.
And as we know the paring worked out pretty
well for both parties.
But Fisher also got his first exposure to the Saban way.
Saban's whole vibe is one of control,
control every detail, every decision,
and every individual in order to maximize
the chance of succeeding.
For coaches on Saban's staff
that translates to a very demanding job.
If you've bought in, the success makes it worth it.
However, while defensive coaches worshiped
their leader, offensive coaches,
Jimbo included, existed on a slightly different plane.
And what made Jimbo different from other assistants
and maybe too similar to Saban,
was that he's the one who's happy to push back.
Even if they shared an offensive ideology.
Jimbo wanted it run his way,
not Nick's, and he felt Nick's way
limited what he was capable of.
Not great for an offensive coach trying
to make a name for himself.
Whether as a form of petty revenge
or to try and show what the offense
was truly capable of at practice,
Jimbo would pull out every trick
in order to get the better of LSU's, defense.
If he proved his plan could beat the best in practice
surely Saban would cave and roll with it on Saturdays.
Trouble was Saban rolled with a different plan,
a plan that he believed all of his coaches
were also rolling with.
If this plan was deviated from - something like,
let's say using a formation in more plays
than Saban had previously agreed to,
then the coach, i.e. Fisher would hear it,
and apparently everyone else could too.
Every part of Saban's structure grinded Fisher down.
On Saturday mornings Saban held a mandatory meeting
about recruiting.
No matter where you were, you called in.
Jimbo didn't like that.
The script for practice
was often planned with such precision
that the preparation left little time
for his offensive plays to get sorted out.
Jimbo didn't like that.
Sometimes Saban even forced Fisher
to hand over said offensive plays
so the defense could practice knowing what was coming.
Jimbo, yeah, that one's obvious.
Fisher seemed like a creative child
who felt his father didn't understand his art.
Jimbo didn't believe Saban's process
was correct complaining to his peers
that there were much better ways.
And kind of sounded like he wanted a new dad
or to be his own dad.
Maybe that's why when Saban left LSU
to coach in the NFL,
Fisher found a new dad at Florida State.
Either way their time together established
a clear difference of opinion
and how they felt things should be gone about.
But what was known at that time
within coaching circles was not meant for the public.
College coaches are part of a fraternity.
Dirt doesn't get spilled easily
and therefore beef is a rarity.
Fortunately for us, so are these guys.
They go about things unlike anyone else.
While Saban's winning ways showed as much,
Jimbo carried a chip on his shoulder
as he sought to prove himself.
He wasn't like those other ex-Saban assistants.
He wasn't part of that coaching tree.
Fisher considered himself unique,
paving his own path, doing it his way.
That's why their time apart likely did them some good.
Each guy could coach his own way
far enough apart to rarely serve as direct competition.
When they did share the field, everyone played nice.
Maybe their truest competition
actually came on the recruiting trail
when Fisher managed to land in Jameis Winston.
In addition to lifting FSU up to greater heights
the quarterback represented the first time Saban
had ever lost out on the number one prospect
from the state of Alabama.
However, one recruit does not a beef make,
it would take a few more to do the trick.
In December, 2017 when Fisher jumped to the SEC
the truth as we knew it remained that these guys got along.
A couple weeks after joining A&M,
Jimbo was working on TV when Alabama
won another national championship,
and Fisher stuck around for
over an hour just to congratulate Nick,
and maybe to promote his new school on national television,
but what's the harm in that?
I suppose it is smart to compliment the king
as you enter his castle.
Alabama had had A&M's number.
Fisher probably knew his arrival alone wouldn't change
that. His first three years in College Station,
three straight losses to Saban.
But in order for the Aggies to overtake Bama,
Jimbo knew they needed to play the long game.
He was comfortable in guaranteeing a win
but was pretty smart not to name a date.
I mean, while no one is infallible
Saban did have a perfect record
against his former assistants.
But somehow Fisher's tempting of fate
did not blow up in his face.
On October 9th, 2021,
five months after making that claim
Jimbo and A&M did it.
They toppled Alabama in shocking fashion,
not only spoiling Saban streak against assistants
but snapping the school's 100 straight wins
against unranked opponents.
When given the chance Fisher didn't gloat,
he was proud of the win
but mostly proud of his team for pulling it off.
This wasn't about him,
Saban unsurprisingly was not pleased.
He wanted his team to remember this feeling,
to hang on to it and not forget what it's like to lose.
Unfortunately, they got more reminders of that feeling.
Sure, they reached the national championship
but that won't ease the blow for a program like Alabama.
February offered another gut punch,
one possibly just as painful for Saban.
He failed to win national signing day.
He did sign an impressive class per usual
but this year's ranked second
to no one else but Jimbo and A&M.
Now, a big key to understanding what came next.
That 2022 national signing day represented
the first class of recruits who could take advantage of NIL.
In 2019, California passed a law
that allowed student athletes
to make money off of their name, image and likeness.
As other states followed suit,
the NCAA which had previously considered paying players
to be harmful, unconstitutional,
and an existential threat to college sports,
well, they walked things back a little bit.
By July 1st, 2021, students could finally get paid
which shook up the recruiting trail.
University alumni and local businesses pooled funds
to help schools land top talent
no longer relying solely on success
and legacy being the selling factors to recruits,
nor relying on the money previously paid under the table
wait, what, who said that?
Saban had long held reservations about this development,
but finally there existed a power well out of his control,
one that could even the playing field a bit.
That mindset is what finally brought this long
simmering beef to light.
On May 18th, 2022, Saban spoke to boosters in Birmingham
during a casual fireside chat.
There weren't reporters asking questions,
the majority of the evening wasn't meant to be filmed,
everyone outside of that room should not have been aware.
Saban's message was directed
at the deep pockets in the room
who needed to rally together in order
to get Alabama to a place where
they could compete with schools
that had much wealthier boosters.
But the cameras were still on.
Everyone outside that room heard his message too.
So we all saw him call out Jimbo Fisher,
Texas A&M had bought every single player
in their recruiting class.
Now, cameras on or off, Saban knew what he was doing,
the words he chose and he likely knew the response Jimbo
was capable of.
The very next day, Fisher called a press conference.
He summed up his feelings about having to even address
such comments as.
- It's really despicable.
- [Narrator] He considered the fact Saban
could sit up there and say those things to be-
- Despicable.
- [Narrator] The fact Fisher had
to defend his and A&M's actions.
- It's despicable.
- I know you're probably wondering,
he said despicable eight times
during his nine-minute response.
While many parts of this were despicable
Jimbo went so far as to claim Saban
should have been slapped as a kid to learn his lessons.
He painted a picture of Saban
that no one else had ever so comfortably offered up.
He called him a narcissist and referenced Saban's,
God complex that has led to some questionable tactics.
- Some people think they're God.
Go dig into how God did his his deal,
you may find out about about a guy that
a lot of things you don't wanna know.
- [Narrator] When asked if he'd spoken to Saban
since the comments Fisher made it very clear
where their relationship was now at.
- [Interviewer] Have you had any contact with Nick since?
- No, oh, he's called.
- [Interviewer] You just didn't take the call.
- Not going to, we're done.
- [Interviewer] And-
- He shows you who he is.
- [Narrator] Fisher explained why he'd never worked
with Saban again.
Never wanted to even be in the same breath as him.
Unfortunately, for Jimbo his response meant
they'd share many breaths in the days ahead.
Despite thinking he was firing a blank,
Saban did fire the first shot,
but Fisher made it personal.
It's easy to understand why he reacted,
Jimbo felt the need to stand up for himself
and for his program,
regardless of what respect
may have existed between the pair.
Saban overstepped in calling out a member
of the coaching fraternity,
no matter who his message was actually intended for.
Fisher couldn't help himself from taking
this opportunity to smear Saban
finally revealing his true feelings
for a man that everyone else in the sport worshiped.
He did make it very clear he was different,
he was unique, but Jimbo also separated himself
through what was viewed
to be the most childish way possible.
Before this fire could spread further,
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey chimed in,
look this beef actually violated conference bylaws.
Those bylaws are what have traditionally kept
feuds between coaches under wraps.
They've kept beef from spilling out into the public eye
and they've managed to keep any feelings
felt within the coaching fraternity locked away
in the frat house.
After that, Saban and Fisher both played their part.
Saban said he's sorry,
Fisher encouraged everyone to just put it to rest.
By the time they played again
in October the focus was back to football.
Alabama pulled off a narrow win,
the coaches shared a handshake
that looked near identical to the one a year prior
and each moved on saving whatever
true thoughts they might've had just for themselves.
Their beef came from nothing special,
two people so similar that they struggled to coexist.
Competitive individuals who hate anyone else having control.
Proud men who want to be defined
by their hard work and not by anyone else,
but instead thanks to a 24 hour period in 2022.
We'll always remember them together because of this beef.
Hey, thanks for watching,
and also thank you to the Athletic College Football staff
for their reporting on this story back in 2021.
Brody Miller, Bruce Feldman and Matt Fortuna.
If you like this, well, we've got more for you.
Don't forget to subscribe
to "Secret Base" and we'll see you soon.