Paul Finebaum: Jimbo Fisher credibility comes into question after Nick Saban dust-up

It’s been a few weeks since Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban had their public back-and-forth about NIL and recruiting. The SEC meetings have also come and gone, but we’re learning more about how the spat was perceived.

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum joined McElroy and Cubelic this week to discuss the aftermath of the situation. It all got started when Saban said Texas A&M “bought every player on their team” last month and Fisher responded with a fiery emergency press conference, calling the Alabama headman a “narcissist” for his “despicable” comments.

It turned into the storyline of the SEC spring meetings last week in Destin, and fans were curious how the two would interact. Fisher held a press conference and reaffirmed his desire to move on, and Finebaum didn’t seem impressed with how Fisher handled everything. He also called out the Aggies coach’s credibility in the process.

“One coach told me off camera that the first day was very tense and then things calmed down. I think it’s just a matter of one of the problems Jimbo Fisher had in continuing this feud internally was he’s chairman of one of the big committees, so he has to sit at the head of the table and lead the coaches,” Finebaum said. “Saban was Saban. He acted like nothing happened. Saban tried to make everyone believe he didn’t say anything, which was so smart, I think. … It looked like Jimbo had gone by his dentist’s office and taken some laughing as before [he got his] wisdom teeth pulled. He just had that smile painted on his face.

“He still didn’t handle the press conference in an articulate manner. He just kept saying, ‘I’m moving on.’ He should’ve just came out with a statement. … Instead, he acted like he had stolen the cookie and the father caught him and he was still trying to explain it by saying, ‘Come on, let’s move on.’ And I think that’s where his credibility starts to come into question.”

Jimbo Fisher on his feud with Nick Saban: ‘Put a bow on it’

During his press conference, Fisher told reporters he was ready to talk about other topics at hand. He made his stance clear on where things stood regarding the situation.

“It’s over with, we’re done talking about it,” Fisher said via On3’s Jesse Simonton. “We have a lot more pressing needs than our arguments.

“Put a bow on it,” Fisher later said. “Double-knotted.”