John Calipari weighs in on coaching feuds, Nick Saban-Jimbo Fisher situation

Coaching altercations aren’t just a college football commodity, there are plenty of them throughout every level of athletics, including college basketball. Just ask Juwan Howard and Greg Gard.

With Alabama and Texas A&M head coaches Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher’s war of words making national headlines over the last two weeks, Kentucky head coach John Calipari weighed in on the situation, giving advice based on personal experience alone.

Paul Finebaum reminded Calipari that the UK coach was in a notable coaching mishap himself with former longtime Temple head coach, the late John Chaney. The altercation nearly came to blows if it weren’t for a multitude of bodies blocking the way for them, and Chaney went as far as to tell Calipari in a room full of reports that he was going to “kick [Calipari’s] ass.”

“That was after a game, but you know what, he and I became great friends,” Calipari said. “And I know Nick [Saban] and Jimbo [Fisher] are friends, it kind of surprised me and it surprised everybody, but I think they got it worked out.”

Calipari is referring to when Saban criticized Fisher and his Aggies, saying that he bought his entire team and even went as far as to say Deion Sanders and Jackson State paid five-star-plus recruit Travis Hunter $1 million to play for the NFL great at the FCS powerhouse. 

Fisher and Texas A&M would call an impromptu press conference the following morning, where the Fisher and Aggies denied any wrongdoing regarding Saban’s accusations. Fisher slammed his former co-worker, saying that someone should have slapped him as a child on top of calling him a narcissist and his comments despicable.

“When it happened for me – and I would say those two would say the same – you just don’t feel good walking away from it, even if it wasn’t you,” Calipari said about the moments following altercations with other coaches.

Whether Fisher and Saban may or may not have fully buried the hatchet, both seem ready to move on from the feud and begin focusing on more pressing issues while in Destin, Florida this week of the SEC’s annual spring meetings.