Nick Saban is done talking about Texas A&M's 2022 recruiting class, but Jimbo Fisher isn't.
In an interview with KSAT-TV of San Antonio, Fisher said, "I just researched this. Of the 11 guys we have that came early, one guy has an NIL deal. So all these stories you're hearing are complete lies. It started with the BroBible, Sliced Bread deal, so everybody believed it."
For those who don't recall, Sliced Bread is a poster on Oklahoma's 247 message board who alleged Texas A&M built a $30 million slush fund to fund its record-breaking class. His post was aggregated by the site BroBible.
"That had nothing to do with this class, this was hard work by our staff ... it's insulting that to the kids that come here that you insinuate that."
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) February 2, 2022
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher GOES OFF on NIL rumors about the Aggies #SigningDay @LateKickJosh | @247Sports pic.twitter.com/O6zsFpcYWf
A&M's 2022 class consisted of 30 players -- eight of them 5-stars, and 19 4-stars. So that leaves 19 recruits who could have secured, NIL deals that, according to several investors in Texas A&M's collective, totaled in the "low single-digit millions." From The Athletic's story on A&M's collective last month:
Several investors in The Fund told The Athletic that while several members of the 2022 class did secure deals, the total numbers on the deals are in the low single-digit millions. Asked why they’d bother to correct an assumption that almost certainly would lead more recruits to consider Texas A&M, the answers were similar. They don’t want current players to feel shortchanged, and they don’t want future recruits to be disappointed when they learn the actual numbers.
Now, it's possible no one is lying here. "Several" could include as few as four of five recruits, and it's plausible only one of those four or five enrolled early. It's also possible Texas A&M doesn't know about every NIL deal its recruits signed.
Most big money deals aren't brokered on marketplaces. only a fraction of all NIL activity is being reported to school compliance teams, and have the schools don't share any of that data with FOIA.
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) May 23, 2022
Where are reporters supposed to get ACTUALLY accurate NIL data?
In that same story, Fisher said he didn't want players who only wanted to attend Texas A&M on the condition of securing an NIL deal. And, according to A&M's, 10 of the first 11 to arrive from the most scrutinized recruiting class in college football history got nothing more than a scholarship and some maroon and white gear when they arrived in College Station.
"I'm asking you," Fisher asked his KSAT interviewer, Greg Simmons. "Did you do your research? No, so you just assumed. And that's the way this world goes now. As soon as it's written on social media and someone says it, you believe it. So where does that put you guys as reporters?
"Nobody wants the truth. You want a story and a click and a hit."
We may never know how much A&M's 2022 class did or did not get paid during their time in Aggieland, but this much is crystal clear. Jimbo is tired of talking about it, and so we should continue asking him questions until long, long after the '22 class is gone, because this is some amazing content.