Jimbo Goes Off
Jimbo puts sliced bread, Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban and a Notre Dame VP in his cross hairs. By: The Hammer
Jimbo went scorched earth in his national signing day press conference. I absolutely loved it. The combination of the internet rumor mill and other SEC coaches making the comments they did, he had to respond. If anyone thinks any head coach at a high profile Power 5 program would let this kind of rhetoric be spewed about their program, you are crazy. If it had just been “sliced bread” and message boards, Jimbo would have ignored it. But when Lane Kiffin says “I joked the other day I didn’t know if Texas A&M was going to incur a luxury tax and how much they paid for their signing class" in his press conference, Jimbo had to respond.
I know Lane was kidding/trolling/joking whatever you want to call it. It’s what he does, and he is really good at it. It’s entertaining as hell. But Jimbo is no nonsense. He doesn't have social media. He doesn't care about likes, views or clout online. However, he does care about his program, his team and the recruits. Which is exactly why he had to address these comments by Kiffin. It’s important to point out that Kiffin did not say it was NIL, the common internet rumor, that A&M used to secure their recruiting class. Lane said “paid.” And if Lane is the master troller he seems to be, that was on purpose. Paying players is still against the NCAA rules. The likelihood of the NCAA doing a damn thing about any of this is miniscule because there isn’t a more feckless, weak or pointless group of people on earth than the NCAA, but that is a conversation for another day. The point is a head coach in the SEC mentioned Texas A&M paying recruits in his national signing day press conference. As anyone would, Jimbo took offense to that and called him a “clown act.” Phenomenal.
Photo by Jonathan Bachman, Getty Images
But Jimbo didn't stop with Kiffin, he went on to call Nick Saban out by name multiple times, and referred to Saban as a “clown” along with Kiffin. I love it. Calling Saban a clown is quite possibly the most brazen move by an SEC coach since Saban entered the league and began dominating. Jimbo just called the greatest college football coach of all time a clown. Why? Well, because Saban made some comments earlier on signing day that were untrue and came off with a very holier than thou tone. Here are a few excerpts from Saban’s interview that clearly struck a nerve with Jimbo.
“When we start using name, image and likeness for a kid to come to our school, that’s where I draw the line.” Later he said, “I hear these crazy people on TV who say now you’re doing it above board. We never did it. We never did it. We never cheated to get a player. We never paid players to come to our school.” - Nick Saban
Now look, I get why Saban said this. Jimbo also said that NIL had “nothing” to do with the 2022 class, which I don’t buy either. It’s coach speak. Although I understand why Saban said it, that doesn't make it true. Jimbo knows full well how Saban and Alabama recruit. He’s been on Saban’s staff in the past and recruited against him for over a decade. He knows what Saban said was a lie, and he called him on it. Fisher stated, “I know how some of those guys recruit too. Go dig into that. I know the history, I know the tradition and I know things. Trust me, you don’t want to go down that avenue.”
Photo by Ashley Landis, The Dallas Morning News
Basically, Jimbo is saying he knows exactly where the bodies are buried and everyone has skeletons in their closet in this business, especially a coach who has been around as long as Saban. Now, before Alabama fans get all upset at me for not believing Saban, let me be clear: I have no issue with how Alabama recruits. Everyone has done it. As they say, if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. But let’s not put our heads in the sand and believe Alabama has never illegally enticed a player to come play in Tuscaloosa. I mean, half the roster has been driving brand new dodge challengers for over a decade now. I’m calling BS, Paaaawwwlll.
Back to A&M - did NIL help Texas A&M bring in the highest rated recruiting class of all time? Sure, it probably played a role. It would be foolish to believe it had nothing to do with it, as Jimbo stated. But to think that this class was paid $30 million, or that every other school isn’t trying the exact same thing is ludicrous. Every school is trying to use NIL to entice recruits. Plus, if Texas A&M did have a $30 million dollar NIL slush fund, why wouldn’t they use a bunch of that money to pay guys currently on the roster who are helping the team win games? The Aggies have 9 players heading to the NFL combine for the 2022 NFL draft. Some of those guys might have stayed in Aggieland if they could make a million dollars or more next year. That’s more than some will make in their rookie deals. Seems like a better use of money than handing it to a 17 or 18 year old who had produced exactly nothing on a college football field.
Clearly A&M is doing a great job with NIL, but to dismiss this class as simply a by-product of A&M paying recruits through NIL comes across as jealous or ignorant. It was a combination of a bunch of factors, including NIL. First of all, many of the teams A&M recruits against were complete dumpster fires. Oklahoma, LSU, Texas, Auburn, Florida, Miami, etc. These are all proud programs who usually recruit at a high level that were all a complete mess by early signing day. No doubt Jimbo and the Aggies plucked a few players in this cycle that under normal circumstances would have gone to one of those schools instead. Another thing that really helped Jimbo is all the LSU rumors. Once Ed O was shown the door in Baton Rouge, every college football pundit claimed Jimbo was headed to the Bayou. Recruits saw that. Then Jimbo denounced the rumors twice, and he kept his word by staying at A&M and turning down $13+ million per year reportedly. In a landscape where other coaches, schools and programs were a complete mess and likely lying to recruits (ahem, Lincoln Riley) Jimbo kept his word. That means something.
Furthermore, Jimbo has been an elite recruiter his entire time as a head coach. Bringing in the highest rated class ever is definitely a step up, even for Jimbo, but this is a guy who consistently brings in top 5 classes. And before I hear someone whining about how you can’t bring in the top class after just winning 8 games, Alabama had the #1 recruiting class in 2008, following up a 7-6 season. At that time, Saban only had one title to his name from another school, sound familiar?
Fascinated to see if there is a cordial exchange before A&M and Bama face off in 2022. Photo Crimson Tide Photos, UA Athletics
And this phenomenon isn’t limited to Alabama or A&M. Plenty of schools recruit way higher than they should if recruiting was simply based on record from the prior year. If that is all you think matters in recruiting, I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you. Just this year there are numerous examples, Texas A&M included, of programs bringing in very highly rated recruiting classes despite a disappointing season in 2021. For instance, North Carolina went 6-6 and has the 10th ranked class. Texas went 5-7 and has the 5th ranked class. Penn State went 7-6 and has the 6th ranked class. Missouri went 6-7 and has the 14th ranked class. Stanford went 3-9 and has the 17th ranked class. Oh my, but how can that be? All those teams had bad records last year! Perhaps it is because recruiting is about far more than one season of wins and losses.
All this to say, before you buy into internet rumors, some context and critical thinking is helpful. A stacked class in the Houston area and coaching turnover at major recruiting rivals aided the Aggies more than any potential NIL deals. Having the two biggest recruiting visit weekends for the Alabama (106,000+ in attendance) and Auburn games (109,00+ in attendance) does not hurt either. But hey, if you want to buy into the message board rumors and worship at the table of sliced bread and bro bible, Notre Dame may hire you for a Vice President position.
