Greenwave81

Where is the article about LSU and Brian Kelley? At least Jimbo has won something. Sure A&M pays Jimbo a lot of money. But A&M has a lot of money. LSU is much more strapped for cash. Why are they paying Kelley so much? Doubt the bayou bengals ever get an appropriate return on that investment.

Just reported that only 1 of the Aggie early enrollees has a NIL deal. That person has to be Evan Stewart who had more than 200,000 instagram followers ever before he committed to A&M. A guy with that kind of following could get a NIL deal even if he didn’t play a college sport.

All that schools should able to do is just say to the recruit, we’ve got a really good NIL collective. Here’s their number. Whatever goes on between you is none of our concern.

And not played a single down of any significance.

Saban and his hypocritical statement about doing it “the right way” when he bragged over and over and over again last year how the Bama collective got the Bama QB a 7 figures NIL deal. Remember, when this happened that QB had not started a single game for the Tide. In other words, all he had done is play a few minutes of garbage time after Bama already had the game won by a wide margin. What a hypocrite!

@GabrielRTR - you realize Saban did that through the highly questionable practice of trapdooring errr grayshirting recruits (ssme thing). Of course, you likely have no problem with that.

Well said. Oh the irony of Saban mouthing off about Fisher when last year he was bragging about the Bama QB getting a seven figures NIL deal even before that player had even started a single game at the college level.

Nick Saban sounds like a giant hypocrite when you consider how he went to the Texas High School Coaches meeting last year and bragged about how their QB was getting paid seven figures. This was before said player had ever started a single game at the college level. Let that sink in.

Who is to say Saban and Bama haven’t been paying their players big money for years? In corrupt 21st century America, would that surprise you in the slightest? I wouldn’t be. In fact, I very much suspect that is the case.

Jimbo was limited his last few years because FSU wasn’t giving him full control over the program. Example: when Jimbo was there the FSU football team had to share some of its facilities with other sports. Also, unlike A&M, the Noles didn’t give Jimbo the budget to hire whoever he wanted as assistants. You have no idea if money played a significant role. Sure A&M is a wealthy school with a lot of wealthy donors but that’s not evidence of anything. Let me ask you: are you okay with Bama’s QB getting a giant NIL deal even before he’d played a significant down? Is that the “right way” of doing things (Saban’s words, not mine)? Also, with respect you’re flat out wrong: there are a lot of reasons why a recruit would choose A&M over those programs. A&M’s facilities are among the best. Plus, A&M gave Jimbo the resources to hire whoever he wants as an assistant. Consequently, Jimbo has assembled an all-world staff for most positions Then there is the game atmosphere; it’s among the SEC’s best. It’s like the nation’s number 1 2022 defensive recruit said: if it was about the money he’d gone to another program close to his home. Fisher is great at creating a family atmosphere too. Plus A&M is located closer to more talent than any other SEC school by a mile because of its proximity to DFW, Houston and San Antonio/Austin. There’s a combined 19 million people in those three metro areas alone.

Don’t kid yourself. Saban is a very calculating human being. For him to now slam A&M twice shows one thing: he is seeking to plant and advance a false narrative that A&M does things the wrong way.

You make a distinction without a difference. Fisher is the captain of the ship. By saying A&M paid all outs player to acquire their players, Saban was condemning Jimbo.

Translation: God forbid that A&M would out recruit Alabama despite A&M having a national championship coach, incredible facilities and a primo location for recruiting. Gimme a break.

Let me add to my other comment another giant advantage Texas A&M has in recruiting over Alabama and other SEC programs. It’s called geography. Yes there is a lot of talent on the State of Alabama and within 300 miles of Tuscaloosa. But consider about the same number of people live in the Harris County, Texas, whose county seat is Houston, as in the whole state of Alabama. And consider how much amazing talent comes out of metro Houston alone. The DFW metroplex is only 160 miles away from College Station and it’s even bigger than metro Houston by a hair. San Antonio is an hour and a half away and the San Antonio/Austin area has about 4 million people. So here you have Texas A&M in the middle of the Texas triangle with all these huge population centers. Add to that the facilities, the coaching and the prestige of an A&M degree in the Lone Star State and it’s easy to see why just based on these factors alone why A&M presents a huge threat to Saban. Most recruits want to play reasonably close to home so they can be seen by family and friends.

Used NIL to buy? Good grief.

Paying players through a collective for their name, image and/or likeness is legal. Not just that it’s appropriate. It’s about time the players got a piece of the pie because they’ve made millions upon millions upon millions of dollars for a lot of folks as well as their respective schools. In my view, schools like Bama have probably been paying people under the table for years. What I like about the new NIL rules is now it’s all above board. Not only that but a school like A&M has many thousands of very wealthy donors who would never be involved in under the table paying of players. They view that as a sleazy practice, as they should. But now that it is above board, legal and is really just compensating the player got his name, image or likeness, expect to see a throng of really rich Ags rush to give to the Collective as a way to give back to the school they love. That my friend obviously scares the heck out of Coach Nick Saban.

Maybe so this year. Despite all that new talent most need a year in the program to develop. But those days of getting teeth kicked in by Bama will soon be over. The way they’ve been recruiting, soon A&M is going to have a roster full of first and second round draft picks. That’s pairity and is exactly what Saban does not want. If you notice, the past decade he only thrives when he has a major talent edge. When he doesn’t have that edge, such as was the case in the NFL and Michigan State, his won-loss record was just average.

Question: why does Saban’s hate A&M so much. He’s alway insinuating the place is crooked. Screw that. I hope all 450,000 living A&M alumni give the football program or the A&M collective $1000 just to show Saban that he shouldn’t poke the bear.

9mm Dave — Saban made the accusation so it’s his burden to prove it. Since he presented no proof, he should just STFU. It’s not A&M’s burden to disprove it. This is still America where the accuser bears the burden of proof, not the accused.

Saban fired the first shot by making that outrageous public comment.

If the recruit was in in for the money, all he’d have to do is look at A&M’s pockets vs Alabama’s pockets. There really is no comparison. Things are about to get really interesting because there is one program in Austin with that level of wealth (and then some) joining the SEC soon.

If you notice, the past 10 years Saban has only been great when he enjoys a talent disparity. On a level playing field he’s usually only average such as was the case when he coached the Dolphins. Little wonder he’s being such a crybaby.

Naw. You guys might match but not outspend. That’s because there is just so much than can be spent before you start plowing over old ground. Looking forward to playing you again.

So what? As long as the collective does it legally. I mean the hell. All the SEC schools have a collective. Quit being a crybaby.

You do realize Texas A&M has more Fortune 100 CEOs than any other school? In the State of Texas, an A&M degree is really really powerful medicine — especially in the oil patch. And unlike many Bama grads who are losing their shirts now because of the economy with oil at $110 a barrel there are tons and tons of Ags just raking it in right now. Your comment is just silly.

There was a time when the game was a lot less important to the Ags than it is now. So?

We use the term buy here too loosely. A&M has the resources to provide outstanding NIL deals. Like Bama doesn’t?? All legal. And appropriate. The players should get a piece of the pie given the money they bring in. Wait until Saban sees A&M’s new facilities after the upgrades. They were already one the very best in college football. They are about to become the nicest facilities in any sport any team has ever enjoyed — whether pro or college or even Olympic.

You guy’s may win but A&M has a lot of NFL level talent on its team. Won’t be no beat down.

These A&M haters just can’t believe the Aggies could land a class like that. They forget A&M was ranked 4th at the end of tgec2030 season and were Orange Bowl champions. They forget they beat the #1 team with a back up QB in front of 107000+ people on national tv. They forget that A&M is located right smack dab in middle of the richest area talent wise in the nation. They forget that A&M’s facilities would make any NFL team blush. They forget about the Aggie network and the fact that A&M is the SEC’s wealthiest school in terms of torso wealth. They forget that A&M has given Jimbo Fisher a blank check to bring in the best position coaches in the country. They forget that Jimbo is one of only five active coaches to have won a national title. He is one of only two to have won a national title both as a coordinator and as a head coach. There are a lot of reasons too talent round want to go to A&M other than getting paid. Saban of course knows this so he basically just threw a temper tantrum. Kiffin knows these things as well and he is just envious. Trust me, if he could trade jobs with Jimbo he’d do do in a nanosecond.

He cdlled them out based on hearsay wrapped in hearsay. Maybe A&M should sue him personally for defamation. Would be most interesting to see what discovery woukd yield.