Nick Saban called out two notable coaches this week in Jimbo Fisher and Deion Sanders. As you’d expect, it didn’t take long for them to fire back at him.
On Thursday, Fisher called Saban a “narcissist” during a press conference. He also called out Saban’s past in the process.
Sanders, meanwhile, took a different approach. While on “I AM ATHLETE,” he shared his thoughts on Saban’s rant about college football programs allegedly paying recruits.
According to Sanders, the reason Saban called him and Fisher out is because he was using them as pawns in his plea for more funding.
“Coach Saban used me and used Jimbo Fisher as pawns in his plea for help from his boosters and his donors,” Sanders said. “We were just pawns. He was really going at his people to up the ante so that he could out-do Coach Fisher.”
Despite Saban’s comments, Sanders has made it known that he still respects the legendary coach. However, he believes they need to publicly address this matter.
“I haven’t talked to Coach Saban. I’m sure he’s tried to call. We need to talk publicly — not privately,” Sanders said. “What you said was public. That doesn’t require a conversation. Let’s talk publicly and let everybody hear the conversation. You can’t do that publicly and call privately. “
Saban and Sanders will have plenty of time this offseason to settle this dispute.