In a roughly 10 minute address on Thursday morning, Jimbo Fisher brought out a flamethrower and scorched every stretch of grass from College Station to Tuscaloosa, with particular ire toward his former boss.
It all started last night when Nick Saban alleged that Jimbo paid every player on his roster after landing the top recruiting class in the country last year.
“We were second 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.
Fisher called a press conference to address Saban's accusations, and address he did.
"Seventeen year old kids. You're taking shots at 17 year old kids and their families. We never bought anybody. No rules were broken, nothing was gone wrong. It's despicable that a head coach could come out and say these things when things don't go his way," Fisher said.
"The parity he talks about? Go talk to the people that have worked for him. There never has been parity. Certain people have never followed the rules.
"Our fans, I apologize to you guys for people saying things about Texas A&M. I promise you this, there are no violations."
Fisher plenty bothered that, for the third time since Texas A&M secured its record-breaking recruiting class, he had to defend his school's and his player's honor and integrity. But he was especially perturbed he had to defend his player's honor and integrity from Nick Saban, at one point calling him "a narcissist."
"Some people think they're God. Go dig into God did his deal, and you may find out about a lot of things you don't want to know," he said. "We build him up to be the czar of college football. Go dig into his past."
"My dad told me, When people show you who they are, believe them. He's showing you who he is."
Asked if the two had spoken since Wednesday night, Fisher said the opportunity arose but he declined. "I'm not going to. We're done. He's the greatest ever, huh? When you've got all the advantages, it's easy."
"You coach with people like Bobby Bowden and learn how to do things. You coach with other people and learn how not to do things. There's a reason I haven't gone back and worked for him. I've had opportunities. Don't want to be associated with him."
"You can call me anything you want to call me, but I don't cheat and I don't lie. I learned that when I was a kid. If you did, your old man would slap you upside the head," Fisher said. "Maybe somebody should've slapped him."
Fisher also pointed out this oddity in Saban's remarks from Wednesday night.
"What's funny, right before he said that about us, wasn't he soliciting funds from the crowd? When you walk on water I guess it doesn't matter."
Fisher and Saban will be in the same room later this month, for the SEC spring meetings in Destin. SEC media days await in July. And then there is their Oct. 8 meeting in Tuscaloosa, as Alabama looks for revenge for last year's 41-38 Aggie victory, the first time a Saban assistant ever defeated The Boss. You can bet College GameDay will be in Tuscaloosa in October -- can they also be in Destin this month? -- to gobble up every angle of the awkwardness, but Fisher said he won't run from it.
"I don't mind confrontation. Lived with it my whole life. Kinda like it, myself. Backing away from it wasn't the way I was raised," he said.
In that same speaking engagement, Saban brought up allegations regarding Deion Sanders and his program at Jackson State as well, and Deion has also pledged to address Saban's comments as well.
We'll have more on that when Coach Prime decides to take the spotlight, which could be later today.