Greg Sankey addresses what he told coaches amid Jimbo Fisher, Nick Saban tension

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey found himself in an interesting position at the SEC Spring meetings this week following the drama between Alabama coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M head man Jimbo Fisher. The two coaches were set to meet publicly for the first time since Saban called out Fisher for the Aggies’ use of NIL in recruiting, and it was Sankey’s job to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Asked after to describe how the coaches’ meeting went, Sankey said it was more tame than you’d think.

“Jimbo’s our chair,” he said. “He’s a rotating chair so he was very engaged. What I said at the beginning was, ‘We need to have 14 football coaches that focused and engaged in the conversation.’ Recognizing that we’ve had a lot of transition since people have been here. We need the kind of meaningful ideas that will leads us to solutions to some of the problems we have. We had some of the best substantive conversations. Candid at times, agreeing at times, disagreeing at times. There was a pretty good level of laughter a few times when I walked in. That’s the kind of help you need and expect to have.”

Greg Sankey also said that with all coaches aware of the feud between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher, he really didn’t have to say much at all. At the end of the day, they were there to do a job and focused on not letting outside distractions get in the way of that.

“I think before everyone showed up there was a recognition of how we expect people to behave themselves,” he said. “It’s a frustrating time. That’s not to defend or represent anything. I think everyone has their opinion. If there’s anything I’d encourage, it’s that your responsibility as a leader to talk about your players and your team.”

Jimbo Fisher addresses Nick Saban drama at SEC Spring meetings

Usually, there is not a ton of headlines coming out of the SEC Spring Meetings but this is not an ordinary week. Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher set the world on fire by both making comments about one another. Saban sent out the first shot before Fisher fired back the following morning over Texas A&M‘s 2022 recruiting class.

While the feud still seems to be lingering, Fisher is ready to move on.

Both head coaches are in Destin and Fisher spoke to the media for the first time on Wednesday. Fisher said he and Saban spoke before meetings began yesterday. While they did not clear the air over the comments, both are done discussing it.

“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.”

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.