The only thing perhaps quicker than Steve Spurrier's visor-toss might be his wit.
So now Spurrier, the former national championship-winning Florida coach who revolutionized college football offenses and lifted South Carolina's program to new heights, has provided his take on the Nick Saban versus Jimbo Fisher war of the words that dominated sports headlines this week and prompted a public remand for both coaches from Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey.
After Saban, Alabama's iconic coach and the sport's record-holder for national championships, said Wednesday night in a gathering of business leaders in Birmingham, Alabama, that Fisher and Texas A&M had "bought every player" in the No. 1-ranked recruiting class, considered to be one of the singularly great recruiting hauls of the modern era, Spurrier could find no fault in Saban's words.
"I don't think Saban told any lies in there," Spurrier said, according to the AJC's DawgNation Web site. "So, I don't know what (Fisher) was mad about."
While Fisher led the Aggies in 2020 to the program's highest ranking in decades, he hasn't been an overnight success in the SEC's rugged Western Division; Fisher's Aggies are 34-14 since his arrival, with four or more losses in the three of those four seasons.
However, the Aggies did topple then-No. 1 and undefeated Alabama last season in College Station, Texas, -- an element also not lost on Spurrier.
"Since (Fisher) beat him last year," Spurrier said, "I guess he can talk now."
For those keeping track, Saban's and Fisher's teams collide in exactly 140 days on Oct. 8 inside the Crimson Tide's Bryant-Denny Stadium.