Nick Saban: "A&M bought every player on their team."

Not only did Texas A&M win the recruiting national title in 2022, the Aggies' 30-man haul -- with eight 5-stars, four of them on the defensive line, and 19 4-stars -- set the record for the greatest recruiting class of all-time. For A&M's first recruiting natty to come immediately after the NIL rules went into effect and, well, the whispers started almost immediately.

On Wednesday, Nick Saban didn't whisper. He shouted.

Speaking at an event in Birmingham on Wednesday night, AL.com's Mike Rodak not only accused the Aggies of "buying" players, he accused them of buying "every player on their team."

“We were 2nd 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. 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,” Saban said.

Saban also said Alabama had 25 players collect around $3 million in NIL money and did it "the right way."

Here are the full comments, which get good around the 5-minute mark. Don't miss Saban's stray comment about Jackson State, led by GEICO pitchman colleague Deion Sanders. 

"The right way" here implies the money went to Crimson Tide players already on campus, in cash-for-services deals, whereas A&M's NIL deals were inducements in order to get them on campus.

Jimbo Fisher has responded strongly to accusations that A&M paid recruits to become Aggies. 

“There is no $30 million fund. There is no $5 million. There is no $10 million. This is garbage, OK? It pisses me off,” Fisher said in his signing day news conference. “It comes from a site called ‘Bro Bible’ by a guy named ‘SlicedBread’ and then everybody runs with it. So it’s written on the internet and it’s gospel. How irresponsible is that?”

This is not the first time Saban and Fisher have traded barbs. When Fisher guaranteed last May that Texas A&M would beat Alabama before Saban retired, Saban answered, "In golf?" A&M defeated the Crimson Tide in College Station last October. 

It's one thing for Fisher to tee off on Sliced Bread, an anonymous message boarder with no avenue to defend his words. Let's see what Jimbo has to say when Nick Saban comes after him.